INTRODUCTION

The cost of concrete construction can be

reduced, sometimes dramatically, by following a
few simple rules in the preliminary layout and
design of the project. Summarized below are
suggestions on formwork, reinforcement, and
concrete. The more nearly these suggestions are
followed, the more likely a least cost frame will
result. Occasional exceptions for special
conditions will be evident to experienced
engineers.
FORMWORK
Select one framing scheme and stick with it
throughout the project. Two framing schemes can
only be justified on a large project and then only
for special reasons such as different occupancies
in two parts of the building. Each framing scheme
costs something for mobilization and formwork
material as well as a learning curve for the con-
tractor's personnel.
Arrange framing member sizes and spacing so
that the capacity of minimum-sized members is
fully used. For example, slabs of minimum
thickness controlled by fire ratings should span at
least as far as the minimum reinforcement will
permit. Also, concrete walls of minimum thickness
and reinforcement may carry column loads, act as
grade beams or transfer girders, provide
resistance to lateral loads, and serve as partitions
or exterior walls all simultaneously.
Use architecturally exposed concrete framing.
The extra cost of more careful formwork, details,
steel and concrete placement may be less than
other options such as stone.
Orient all framing in one direction for one-way
systems, such as beams and joists. There will be
less time-wasting confusion on the job and fewer
expensive problems in the areas where the
framing changes direction.
Use "flying forms" to form large areas of walls or
floors where the forms can be moved in large
sections and reused many times (say, 10 or 20
times or more) on one project. More intricate
shapes can be justified without unduly increasing
the forming cost shapes that may reduce con-
crete or reinforcing steel, add architectural
interest, or have other advantages.
Space columns uniformly. Uniform sizes for col-
umns, joists, and beams will result and formwork
will be simpler, hence cheaper. The contractor can
reduce costs in a repetitive production line setting.
Make all columns the same size, vertically in
one stack as well as horizontally in one story. Vary
the amount of reinforcement and concrete
strength to achieve size-uniformity. Column forms
will be cheaper, fewer expensive variations to slab
or beam forms will be required, and steel
fabrication can be standardized.
Use shallow floor framing, limited primarily by
deflection considerations. Architects and owners
want to minimize floor-to-floor heights because it
reduces total project costs. The cost of walls,
mechanical risers, stairs, and the structural
framing itself is increased by greater story heights.
ECONOMICAL CONCRETE
CONSTRUCTION
CRSI
ENGINEERING
DATA REPORT
NUMBER 30
A SERVICE OF THE CONCRETE REINFORCING STEEL INSTITUTE
933 N. Plum Grove Rd., Schaumburg, Illinois 60173-4758
Copyright 1988 by the Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute
Make all beams and joists the same depth. The
savings in formwork and shoring will exceed any
cost increase in concrete and steel. Furthermore,
reducing or eliminating structural interferences
with mechanical ducts and piping reduces project
costs. A level structural ceiling simplifies the task
of avoiding structural-mechanical interference.
Heavily loaded beams on long spans can be
made as wide as necessary, up to four or five
times their depth, to carry the load.
Keep the same beam concrete outlines even
though loads and spans are not the same, and
vary the amount of reinforcement. Only if the
maximum moment on a beam is more than 100
percent higher than that on typical beams, should
two sizes be considered.
Use one joist pan size in a project because all
sizes cost about the same. The cost of shipping
and handling two sizes of pans on a job can rarely
be overcome by other savings. Furthermore, the
floor structural depth is established by the
deepest pan or deepest beam so that no space
saving is realized by using a shallower pan.
Use standard form sizes for one-way joists and
two-way domes because nonstandard sizes are
specially fabricated and the entire cost may be
charged to the one project rather than amortized
over several projects. Contact potential suppliers
for pan size availability in the area of the project.
Use prismatic members. Avoid tapered haunches.
Make the beam wider than the column on each
side by at least 2 inches so that bars in the
corner of the beam and bars in the corner of the
column can pass unobstructed. Furthermore, it is
cheaper and easier to cut a hole in the bottom of
a beam form for a column penetration than it is to
cut holes in the side of a column form for a beam
penetration.
Keep floor-to-floor heights constant. if changes
are necessary, reduce the height in the upper
stories. It is cheaper and easier to cut off a
column form than it is to stretch it.
Use a flat plate for spans up to about 25 feet
because it is the cheapest, fastest, and shallowest
framing method available.
Consider using steel shear heads to avoid col-
umn capitals and drop panels in flat plate con-
struction if the slab is at least 8 inches thick and if
the shear head will not interfere with either slab or
column bars.
Use small drop panels around columns in flat
plates rather than tapered column capitals if shear
strength must be increased without using steel.
See Fig. 1.
Fig. 1 Column Capitals in Flat Slabs
Make the height of drop panels fit standard
lumber dimensions. See Fig. 2.
Fig. 2 Drop Panel Height for Economy
Specify when forms may be stripped. Use a time
criterion for columns and walls (e.g., 12 hours) and a
strength criterion for beams and slabs (e.g., 60
percent to 75 percent of design strength) but
require reshoring until design strength has been
reached to prevent excessive deflection. Allow
stripping at lower strength if adequate shoring re-
mains to support the green concrete at all times.
Unnecessarily conservative specifications may
double or triple the quantity of formwork required
for a project and increase the cost of form ma-
terial proportionally.
Use high early strength concrete to permit early
form stripping if the time saved avoids winter con-
creting, reduces total construction time or has other
advantages.
Allow reasonable tolerances. Some tolerances
specified by ACI 117 can be relaxed by 50 per-
cent or more in many cases. Specifying tight tol-
erances only where they are needed, such as loca-
tion of bars in beams and columns, allows the
contractor to concentrate his effort where it is
most important. Tight tolerances require more field
labor, hence more cost.
Locate construction joints where the contractor
wants them with as little restriction by the en-
gineer as possible. That allows the contractor to
select the most efficient sequence of pours for the
construction method used.
Use mechanical bar splices or lap splice con-
nector systems to eliminate dowel penetration of
reusable formwork. Holes for dowels may ruin a
piece of plywood.
Eliminate recesses, protrusions, offsets, haunches,
brackets, corbels, pilasters, bulbs, nodes, bumps,
stubs, curves, wiggles, knuckles, knees, knobs, and
anything else that will botch, bungle, butcher, blight,
bugger up, screw up, louse up, damage, demolish,
degrade, destroy, fudge, frazzle, fray, mar, abrade,
spoil, ruin, maim or wreck the formwork. Formwork
represents about half the cost of a concrete frame
and deserves tender loving care.
REINFORCEMENT
Use Grade 60 bars. Grade 40 requires 50 percent
more steel than Grade 60. Grade 75 is available in
bar sizes #11, #14, and #18 at competitive prices
only on mill orders in lots ranging from 20 to 75
tons per bar size. Smaller quantities can probably
be obtained at higher prices from warehouses.
Availability from warehouses for quantities less than
full heat lots should be checked prior to and includ-
ing Grade 75 in the design of a structure. If a
minimum mill order of one bar size can be used for
column vertical bars in a tall building, Grade 75
may lower the cost of material.
Use the largest bar size that will meet design
requirements. Large bars reduce the quantity and
therefore the placing costs. In most cases, it takes
as much time to place one small bar as it does one
large bar.
Use #14 and #18 bars for column verticals in
heavily loaded columns if the project requires at
least five or ten tons of one size. The large bars
reduce congestion of steel and reduce the cost of
splices. However, because a crane is required to
place heavy bars, their use might increase the
cost of construction if only a few heavy bars are
required or if a crane is not available on the job
site for other reasons.
Use tied columns instead of spiral columns.
The weight of spirals is two or three times as much
as the weight of ties in a comparable column and
the cost of spiral steel is about twice the cost of tie
steel. Furthermore, bars and machinery suitable for
main spirals are not found in every fabricating
shop, therefore, delivery of spirals in small quan-
tities may be delayed. Only rarely are these penalties
overcome by the 13.8 percent increase in column
capacity for spiral columns. [From ACI 318-83 (Re-
vised 1986) Building Code, Sections 9.3.2.2 and
10.3.5, the ratio of the strength of a spiral column
to that of a tied column is (0.85 x 0.75)/(0.80 x
0.70).]
Eliminate bent bars where possible, because bend-
ing increases fabrication costs.
Use ACI standard bending details because spe-
cial bends disrupt shop routine and cost more to
fabricate.
Keep bars in one plane because multi-plane bars
are more difficult and expensive to fabricate.
Make beams wide enough to avoid minimum bar
spacing because deformed beam bars that rub
against each other take longer to place. Bar con-
tact hampers movement, so ironworkers get tired
and slow down their work. Of course, bars that
don't fit in the space allotted require time-con-
suming solutions.
Repeat bar sizes and lengths. Many bars can be
a few inches shorter or longer while still meeting
design requirements. Combining two or more sizes
and lengths into one group makes job site storage
and sorting operations more efficient.
Permit the use of stock length of bars that can
be cut and spliced in the field for special trape-
zoidal or irregular-shaped walls and slabs. See
Fig. 3. The savings in fabrication costs, storage and
sorting in the field of many variable length bars
may be more than the cost of field cutting and lap
splicing. Of course, the splices should be staggered.
Fig. 3 Using Stock Length of Bars Cut
and Spliced in Field
Use lap splices whenever possible. The cost of
additional length of bar is usually less than the
cost of material and labor for mechanical splices.
Use mechanical splices in projects with a large
number of heavily loaded columns especially if the
splices result in less bar congestion. (Minimum
spacing must be maintained between bar laps.) In
large quantities, the unit cost of material and
placing labor for mechanical splices is lower and
less bar congestion reduces bar placing costs.
Use the least expensive type of mechanical splice,
preferably one with the lowest field labor installa-
tion cost. Use sleeved, square-cut bars in column
verticals with no tension in preference to splices
that develop fifty percent or more of the tensile
strength.
H N H 988/16M Printed in U.S.A.
CONCRETE REINFORCING STEEL INSTITUTE
933 N. Plum Grove Road, Schaumburg, Illinois 60173-4758 312/517-1200
WESTERN REGION OFFICE
1110 East Alosta Avenue, Gendora, California 91740
818/335-5292
This publication is intended for the use of professionals competent to evaluate the significance and limitations of its contents and who
will accept responsibility for the application of the material it contains. The Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute reports the foregoing
material as a matter of information and, therefore, disclaims any and all responsibility for application of the stated principles or for the
accuracy of the sources other than material developed by the Institute.
CONCRETE
Use low strength concrete (typically 3 ksi) in the
floor system unless there is a clear advantage to
using higher strength concrete such as, for exam-
ple, to limit the strength of column concrete to 1.4
times that of floor concrete, as required by ACI
318-83 (Revised 1986).
Use high strength concrete in columns if the
high strength reduces the amount of reinforcement
required or reduces the size of columns or the use
of high strength concrete permits one size of
column to be used. If high strength concrete is
used, use the same strength concrete in all columns
in each story because fewer mistakes will be made
in placing the correct grade of concrete in each
column. The engineer will sleep easier and the con-
teactor will make fewer costly repairs.
Use 6 inch slump and pea-gravel aggregate
where reinforcement is congested. Fewer expen-
sive repairs of honeycombs will be required. (A
special mix design may be required to maintain
strength, durability, and prevent aggregate seg-
regation.)
Specify few mix designs. Frequently only two
classes of concrete are necessary, such as, 4 ksi
air-entrained concrete for concrete exposed to the
weather and 3 ksi non-air-entrained concrete for
everything else.
Provide a 4 to 6 inch gap between closely spaced
top bars (if the grid of bars is several feet wide) to
allow placement of concrete below the bars.
Bundle some bars if necessary to provide the gap.
Concrete with 4 inch slump and inch aggregate
will not flow easily through a 2 inch space between
bars. Furthermore, a 2 to 3 inch vibrator head may
be required to consolidate the concrete properly
and the contractor may not be able to insert the
vibrator or it may become entangled in the steel
and cannot be withdrawn. An expensive vibrator
head may become an additional direct job cost.
Arrange column ties to facilitate concrete place-
ment by minimizing internal ties. The contractor
must get concrete to the bottom of the column to
have a viable structural member and columns of
reliable strength allow the engineer to design less
conservatively.
Limit coarse aggregate size to inch if the
minimum clear bar spacing will be one inch, as it
usually is.
Contributed by Russell S. Fling
ENGINEERING DATA REPORT was formerly called Product Service & Information (PSI).
Complete set of reports is available; Series include:

Serviceability Requirements with Grade 60 Bars-ACI 318-71 (Bulletin 7603A)

Splicing Reinforcing Bars-Welding and Splice Devices (Bulletin

7604A)

Reinforcing Bars Required-Minimum vs. Maximum (Grade 60) (Bulletin 7701A)

Saving Steel incolumns (Bulletin 7702A)

New Maximum
Column Capacities-1977 ACI Building Code (Bulletin 7703A)

Implication of Recent Tests Upon "Standard" Details, Part 1 of 2 (Bulletin 7801A) Part
2 of 2 (Bulletin 7802A)

Combined Strength-Slenderness One-Step Design for Columns in Ordinary Structures (Bulletin 7803A)

Grade 60 Bars in
Sanitary Structures (Bulletin 7804A)

Selection of (Open) Stirrups/closed) Ties in Plexural Members for Economy (Bulletin 7901A)

Update on ASTM
Specifications for Reinforcing Bars (Bulletin 7902A)

Evaluation of Reinforcing Steel in Old Reinforced Concrete Structures (EDR Number 11)

Field
Corrections to Rebars Partially Embedded in Concrete (EDR Number 12)

Preliminary Design for Tied Columns (EDR Number 13)

Epoxy-Coated
Reinforcing Bars (EDR Number 14)

Orientation of Bars in Round Columns (EDR Number 15)

Limitations Upon Use of Lap Splices in Columns (EDR

Number 16)

Lap Splice Lengths for Rebars (EDR Number 17)

Radius Bent Reinforcing Bars (EDR Number 18)

Suggested Project Specifications

Provisions For Epoxy-Coated Reinforcing Bars (EDR Number 19)

Placing Drawings for Reinforcing Steel-Obligations/Responsibilities. (EDR Number

20)

Rebar Design, Detailing and Economy (EDR Number 21)

Direct Solutions for Minimum Steel in FlexuralTension-ACI 318-83 (EDR Number 22)

Suggested Specifications-Reinforcement (EDR Number 23)

Suggested Specifications-Reinforcement Including Provisions for Coated

Reinforcing Bars (EDR Number 24)

Common Applications of Wide-Module Joist Systems (EDR Number 25)

ASTM Restores Grade 75 Rebar-By

Popular Demand For High-Rise Construction (EDR Number 26)

Proper Load Tests Protect the Public (EDR Number 27)

Reinforced Concrete
Design Includes Approval of Details (EDR Number 28)

Two Failure Modes for Column Footings (EDR Number 29)

Economical Concrete
Construction (EDR Number 30)