The industry should be thankful it has changed with the times, just like our Influencers.
Everyone in the concrete industry has received the dreaded call about low strength on a job. Typically, high water content, high air content, or low standards from the testing company is the primary cause of the problem.
THE NEED TO reduce CO2 emissions has led to the development of many new cementitious materials—a trend that will likely continue for the foreseeable future. But the powerful international portland cement business hasn't given up yet.
Green products and technologies create a buzz at concrete's big event.
Q: I'm a quality control manager for a mid-size ready-mix producer and am dealing with several quality issues which need resolution. I am having difficulties convincing the owner that he needs to increase funding for the quality system in order to produce more consistent concrete. How can I...
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Program Houses Registry of Product Conformity to Standard Test Methods
Q: We are experiencing low compressive strength test results on some concrete we supplied to a job. We know it is due to poor testing of the cylinders. How do we convince the contractor and engineer where the issue is?
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We are seeing more news surrounding one of the more exciting innovations in the concrete industry: roller-compacted concrete (RCC).
Computers have greatly enabled vehicles' safety systems.
Building Information Modeling will make precast producers more efficient.
Q: We are a small but growing ready-mix producer. We have just decided to open a portable plant to service a multiyear project. We are considering hiring a full-time quality control manager. At what annual production volume does it make sense to make this hire?
Producers strive to collect standard data from different batching systems.
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Members of the Concrete Industry Management program's National Steering Committee visited the newest CIM location, Texas State University. The group toured concrete lab facilities at the Ingram School of Engineering, which include state-of-the-art testing equipment and a large moist curing room.
Using real numbers to solve real problems.
It seems that many of the field labs had performed gradation tests with worn sieves. While most differences were minor, they introduced a degree of unnecessary variability when combined. How can we can minimize our testing variables on these large projects?
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Q. The last few seasons we've had difficulty controlling our water demand and our yields due to the sand's variability in absorption and specific gravity. Our quality control problem is compounded because our stockpile area is rather small. So by the time the lab sends us the sample results, the...
Q. We are involved in a quality claim in which the testing lab reports the hardened concrete did not achieve the specified design strength. Our testing lab broke cylinders from that same job and all achieved proper strength. We are confident that we will achieve proper strength if the coring is...