Tutorial 2

FAAB 0111 (Introduction to Construction Technology and Material)

Concrete

Section 1 Planning the Work

Use of Tools and Equipment
o Manual, mechanical and electrical tools
o Measurement equipment
o Motorized equipment
Tools / Equipment
Groover

Functions
To control the location of cracks
that may form when the slab
"contracts" due to drying
shrinkage or temperature changes

Tampers(Jitterbugs) To push the coarse aggregate in

the concrete below the concrete
surface and consolidate the
concrete

Fresno

To attach to long extension

handles so finishers don't have to
walk out on the slab.

Straightedge

To "strikeoff" or "screed" the

concrete. This process removes
excess concrete and brings the top
surface of the concrete to proper
grade

Diagram

Float

Edger

To level ridges, fill voids, and

smooth the surface in preparation
for troweling. Floats also can be
used to work in dry-shake color
hardener. Unlike trowel finishing,
floating won't close the surface,
which is important at this stage to
permit water to bleed out. A float
also helps bring paste to the
surface by pushing down the
coarse aggregate.
To produce a neat rounded edge
along the slab perimeter which
helps the slab resist chipping and
spalling damage after the forms
are removed.

Work Organization
o Calculation the quantity of materials
- Using images 1 and 2 above and in a bid to also demystify the raft
foundation cost, this article will deal extensively on how to calculate your
concrete materials like cement, sand and granite that you will use for the
foundation.
- Often time concrete are mostly mixed in 1:2:4 ratio, when you see such
specification it simply means one bag of cement to four head pans of sand
and eight head pans of granite.
- Notice that first number represent a bag of cement which is equivalent to
two head pans, hence the sand is taken as four head pans and the granite
represented by 4 in the ratio is taken as eight head pans.
- To do this calculation, add the sum of ratio 1+2+4=7
- Calculate the cubic volume of concrete for foundation.
- Going by the previous article the total length of trench was taken as 65.6m.
Height of concrete beam is 1.1m or 1100m from image 2 and width is
0.225m or 225mm, therefore total volume of concrete beams =65.6m x 1.1
x 0.225 =16.236. Now divide 16.236 by the sum of the ratio which is 7,
16.236/7=2.31943m3. Taking a constant, the volume of a bag of cement is
0.035m3. Divide 2.31943 by 0.035 = 66 bags of cement to do all the
concrete beams, however dont forget that cement and sand will also be
used for the blinding before the concrete beams are placed.
- For the sand reqd., multiply 2.31943m3 by 2 to know the volume since it
is in ratio of 1:2:4 Therefore volume of sand requires =4.63886m3. If we

take volume of a tipper as 3.8m3 then 4.63886/3.8=1 1/2 trip of 5 tons

tipper for the concrete beam.
For the granite use the same ratio of 1 bag of cement to 4 head pans of
sand to 8 head pans of granite. So for granite reqd, multiply 2.31943m3 by
4 to know the volume since it is in the ratio of 1:2:4, therefore volume of
granite requires=9.27772. If we take volume of a tipper as 3.8m3
then,9.27772/3.8=2 1/2 trips of granite (Disregarding water and other
attending expenses

o Conditions of the construction site

o Layout of materials and equipment

Section 2 Placing Concrete

Applying Concrete
o Elements of concrete
Concrete is a composite material composed mainly of water, aggregate, and
cement. Often, additives and reinforcements are included in the mixture to
achieve the desired physical properties of the finished material.
Aggregate consists of large chunks of material in a concrete mix, generally a
coarse gravel or crushed rocks such as limestone, or granite, along with finer
materials such assand.
"Cement", most commonly Portland cement is associated with the general
term "concrete." A range of materials can be used as the cement in concrete.
One of the most familiar of these alternative cements is asphalt. Other
cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, are sometimes added
to Portland cement and become a part of the binder for the aggregate.
Water is then mixed with this dry composite, which produces a semi-liquid
that workers can shape (typically by pouring it into a form). The concrete
solidifies and hardens through a chemical process called hydration. The water
reacts with the cement, which bonds the other components together, creating a
robust stone-like material.
"Chemical admixtures" are added to achieve varied properties. These
ingredients may speed or slow down the rate at which the concrete hardens,
and impart many other useful properties including increased tensile strength
and water resistance.
"Reinforcements" are often added to concrete. Concrete can be formulated
with high compressive strength, but always has lower tensile strength. For this
reason it is usually reinforced with materials that are strong in tension (often
steel).
"Mineral admixtures" are becoming more popular in recent decades. The use
of recycled materials as concrete ingredients has been gaining popularity
because of increasingly stringent environmental legislation, and the discovery
that such materials often have complementary and valuable properties. The
most conspicuous of these are fly ash, a by-product of coal-fired power plants,
and silica fume, a byproduct of industrial electric arc furnaces. The use of
these materials in concrete reduces the amount of resources required, as the
ash and fume act as a cement replacement. This displaces some cement
production, an energetically expensive and environmentally problematic
process, while reducing the amount of industrial waste that must be disposed
of.
o Transportation of concrete

Transporting the concrete mix is defined as the transferring of concrete from

the mixing plant to the construction site. Keep in mind that not all concrete is
mixed on the actual construction site and could require some significant travel.
This is most common for ready-mixed concretes. The main objective in
transporting concrete is to ensure that the water-cement ratio, slump or
consistency, air content, and homogeneity are not modified from their intended
states.
There are many modes of transportation as shown below:
1.
Wheelbarrow or motorized buggy
2.
Truck mixer
3.
Bucket or steel skip
4.
Chute
5.
Belt conveyor
6.
Concrete pump
7.
Pneumatic placer
o Planning the construction site
o Consolidation
Good concrete consolidation is essential. Lack of consolidation can cause
voids, rock pockets, honeycombing, and poor bonding with the rebar. In
extreme cases, improper consolidation can affect the structural integrity of the
walls. On the other hand, excessive vibration can create bulged walls and
blowouts.

Leveling Concrete
o Landmarks
o Concrete leveling
Concrete leveling is a procedure that attempts to correct an uneven concrete
surface by altering the foundation that the surface sits upon. It is a cheaper
alternative to having replacement concrete poured, and is commonly
performed at small businesses and private homes as well as at factories,
warehouses, airports and on roads, highways and other infrastructure.
o Leveling and flatness tolerances

Section 3 Finishing, Curing and Protecting Concrete

Finishing Concrete
o Floating of concrete
i

Purpose: to flatten minor ridges and holes, as well as embed aggregate

particles further into the concrete, bringing the smoother "cream" consistency
concrete to the surface for better finishing. In addition to removing surface
imperfections floating will compact the concrete as preparation for further
steps.

ii Tools: A concrete float is a tool used to finish a concrete surface by making it

smooth. A float can be a small hand tool, a larger bull float with a long handle
or a power float (also called a power trowel) with an engine.
iii small hand tool(float):

iv larger bull float with long handle:

power float(power trowel) with engine:

o Fresh concrete floor treatement

o Shaping of fresh concrete
i

If the sculpture you want to create is orthogonal in shape you will want to
make a form out of plywood and 2x4's in order to contain the concrete until it
is set. When the concrete is set you can remove the form and your sculpture, or
part of it will be cast in the shape of the inside of the mold you have created.

ii if you want to create a sculpture of a more organic nature using concrete, your
task will require a different technique . you will need to build a steel
framework using steel, rebar, and "pencil" rod (up to 1/4 steel rod) welded
together in the basic shape of your sculpture. You will also need to add
fiberglass to your concrete mixture, and the mixture will be a little drier than
for pouring as you will be applying it to your framework by hand.
iii Using mold:

iv More organic sculpture shaping:

Shaping edge of concrete using edgers:

o Tooling of concrete
i

Straight edges:

Straight edges are used to "strike off" or "screed" the concrete.

This process removes excess concrete and brings the top surface of the
concrete to proper grade.

This step in the finishing operation is the most important in producing

a true plane surface and takes place immediately after the spreading of
the concrete.

It must be completed before excess bleed water appears on the

surface.

There are a wide variety of scree ding tools-both hand tools (wood and
magnesium) and mechanical tools (vibratory, oscillating, and roller)

ii Concrete tampers:

Tampers (sometimes called Jitterbugs) push the coarse aggregate in the

concrete below the concrete surface and consolidate the concrete.

Most tamping is done with the finisher standing in the wet concretethough there are roller tampers that can be used from outside the
forms.

Tamping should only be done on low slump concrete. With high slump
concrete, the coarse aggregates sink naturally and tamping can cause
segregation of the aggregates.

iii Bull Floats and Darbies

Darbying or bull floating should be done immediately

after "screeding", or after the concrete has been tamped if tamping
was done.This process should be finished before excess moisture or
bleedwater appear on the surface.

The purpose of darbying or bull floating concrete is to level ridges

and fill voids left by the screeding operation. It should also slightly
embed the coarse aggregate to make subsequent finishing
operations easier.

Be careful when using these tools not to close up or seal the surface
of the concrete, which may cause blistering or scaling.

Use a bull float for areas too large to reach with a darby, though it
may produce a wavier surface.

iv Edgers:

Edgers produce a neat rounded edge along the slab perimeter which
helps the slab resist chipping and spalling damage after the forms are
removed. Perform edging after the bleedwater disappears from the
concrete surface, but before the forms are removed.
On most floors, edging will not be required, but on patios, curbs,
sidewalks, and driveways, it produces a tighter, cleaner looking edge
that is more resistant to chipping.

Groovers:

Jointing the concrete is accomplished by grooving tools (unless the

slab will be sawcut later). The purpose is to control the location of
cracks that may form when the slab "contracts" due to drying
shrinkage or temperature changes.
Look inside tooled joints or sawcuts and you will see the concrete is
crackedThe joint did its job and controlled where the concrete
cracked. Joints are most often hand-tooled into sidewalks, driveways
and patios and sawcut into floors, highways, and city streets.

vi Floats

Purpose: To level ridges, fill voids, and smooth the surface in

preparation for troweling. Floats also can be used to work in dry-shake
color hardener. Unlike trowel finishing, floating won't close the
surface, which is important at this stage to permit water to bleed out. A
float also helps bring paste to the surface by pushing down the coarse
aggregate.

vii Trowels:

Troweling produces a hard, smooth, dense surface and should be

done immediately after floating. Troweling can be done by
machine or by hand. If done by hand, the finisher will float and
trowel and area before moving his knee-boards.

viii Fresno:

A fresno is a steel trowel attached to a bull-float handle.

Putting a long handle on the trowel allows finishers to trowel the

concrete without walking out onto the slab. Fresno trowels do not,
however, produce the same density or wear resistance that is produced
by multiple hand trowelings where the finisher can apply greater
pressure to densify the concrete.

o Control joints
i

Contraction/control joints are placed in concrete slabs to control random

cracking. A fresh concrete mixture is a fluid, plastic mass that can be molded
into virtually any shape, but as the material hardens there is a reduction in
volume or shrinkage. When shrinkage is restrained by contact with supporting
soils, granular fill, adjoining structures, or reinforcement within the concrete,
tensile stresses develop within the concrete section. While concrete is very
strong in compression the tensile strength is only 8 to 12 percent of the
compressive strength. In effect, tensile stresses act against the weakest
property of the concrete material. The result is cracking of the concrete.

ii The most widely used method to control random cracking in concrete slabs is
to place contraction/control joints in the concrete surface at predetermined
locations to create weakened planes where the concrete can crack in a straight
line. This produces an aesthetically pleasing appearance since the crack takes
place below the finished concrete surface. The concrete has still cracked which
is normal behavior, but the absence of random cracks at the concrete surface
gives the appearance of an un-cracked section.
iii Concrete slabs-on-ground have consistently performed very well when the
following considerations are addressed. The soils or granular fill supporting
the slab in service must be either undisturbed soil or well compacted. In
addition, contraction joints should be placed to produce panels that are as
square as possible and never exceeding a length to width ratio of 1.5 to 1
(Figure 1). Joints are commonly spaced at distances equal to 24 to 30 times the

slab thickness. Joint spacing that is greater than 15 feet require the use of load
transfer devices (dowels or diamond plates).

iv

v
vi Joints may also be sawed into the hardened concrete surface. It is important to
understand that the longer sawing is delayed the higher the potential for cracks
to establish themselves before sawing is complete.
vii This means that any cracks that occur before the concrete is sawed will render
the sawed joint ineffective. Timing is very important. Joints should be sawed
as soon as the concrete will withstand the energy of sawing without raveling
or dislodging aggregate particles. For most concrete mixtures, this means
sawing should be completed within the first six to 18 hours and never delayed
more than 24 hours. Early-entry saws are available which may allow cutting to
begin within a few hours after placement.
Contraction/control joints must be established to a depth of the slab thickness. Proper joint
spacing and depth are essential to effective control of random cracking.

viii

o Bindings
i

ii
iii
iv
v
vi

Concrete is made up of three basic components: water, aggregate (rock, sand,

or gravel) and Portland cement. Cement, usually in powder form, acts as a
binding agent when mixed with water and aggregates. This combination, or
concrete mix, will be poured and harden into the durable material
Type 1 - Normal portland cement. Type 1 is general use cement.
Type 2 - Is used for structures in water or soil containing moderate amounts of
sulfate, or when heat build-up is a concern.
Type 3 - High early strength. Used when high strength are desired at very
early periods.
Type 4 - Low heat portland cement. Used where the amount and rate of heat
generation must be kept to a minimum.
Type 5 - Sulfate resistant portland cement. Used where the water or soil is
high in alkali.

Curing Concrete
Curing is the process in which the concrete is protected from loss of moisture and
kept within a reasonable temperature range. The result of this process is increased
strength and decreased permeability. Curing is also a key player in mitigating cracks
in the concrete, which severely impacts durability.
o By humidification
i

Mist the concrete with a garden hose to keep the top moist while it settles
every 12 hours for 3 days. Cover exterior concrete with either building paper
or burlap between misting.

ii Misting concrete:

iii Cover:

iv Interior concrete doesn't need to be misted, but you must make sure nothing
disturbs it.
v

Precaution: Don't poor concrete on hot days. Direct sunlight ruins concrete by
causing it to dry too quickly.

o With chemical products

i

Colored hardeners - Hardening agents in powder form consist of colored,

finely-ground, cementitious aggregates that are sprinkled (or "broadcast") onto
freshly placed concrete. Moisture seeps from concrete into the powder to
activate and monolithically bond it, creating a denser, harder finished surface.
Surface strength may be increased up to 7,500 PSI compared to 3,000 to 4,000
PSI for standard 4" concrete. Because the colorant is concentrated into the top
layer, hues can be more intense than integrally colored concrete. For improved
surface durability, use of colored hardeners is recommended prior to pattern
stamping, or in conjunction with chemical staining to produce brighter or
deeper finished colors, but the results may vary slightly from batch to batch.

ii Consolideck LS/CS is a penetrating lithium-silicate treatment that reacts with

concrete to produce insoluble calcium silicate hydrate within the concrete
pores. It densifies and hardens the concrete, and it renders treated floors
dustproof.

iii

Protecting concrete
o Physical protections against the effects of weather

Exposed surface need to be covered with some type of sheet material to hold
moisture in the concrete
ii Such as curing paper and plastic film.
iii Tar paper can also be used, but it normally stains concrete.
iv Wet covering material can also be used such as burlap or moisture-retaining
fabrics.

Use of equipments
i Use a cure-and-seal as part of the finishing process.
ii This provides a good cure and leaves behind an acrylic membrane to protect
the floor from typical construction traffic and debris.
iii A cure-and-seal will cost about $0.04 to $0.08 per square foot, depending on
the type of product used and the job size.
iv However, it could limit how you finish the concrete and what type of
topcoating you can apply. Be sure to confirm that the cure-and-seal is
compatible with whatever final finish or coating you plan to use.