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Keep an eye out for those often overlooked ways to cut your tax bill. It’s very simple: the more tax deductions your business can legitimately take, the lower its taxable profit will be.
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The Rooms-to-Go concrete tilt-up project faced a number of unique challenges due to its size, the Florida heat, and a scarcity of water.
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As the jury selected the winners in this year’s ACPA Awards, innovation was what made a project stand out.
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Concrete Construction, with assistance from the Strategic Development Council, invited a group of industry visionaries to come together this past summer to look at the big picture.
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Corrosion of reinforcing steel due to chloride ingress is one of the most common environmental attacks that lead to the deterioration of concrete structures.
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Air-entrained concrete is made by adding a detergent (an air-entraining admixture) to stabilize air bubbles trapped during mixing.
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Equipment manufacturers continue to develop skidloaders and excavators capable of working in cramped spaces in areas that are hard to reach.
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The World of Concrete is a magnificent mélange of educational and product-related events that, as a concrete contractor or designer or producer, you really can’t afford to miss.
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Running down the center of Queens Boulevard for nearly a mile, the Flushing Viaduct carries the Flushing Line through Long Island City, N.Y. Built in the early 1900s as a series of arches, the 128 columns were in need of structural rehabilitation, although the New York City Transit Authority...
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We were contracted to install a custom acid-stained floor for a new nightclub in a downtown Colorado Springs building. The scope of work included pouring a 6000-square-foot, lightweight slab on deck.
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In 1909 Daniel Burnham and Edward Bennett produced a long-range plan for the development of Chicago, which included Wacker Drive, a two-level street alongside the Chicago River circling approximately two-thirds of the Loop.
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Repair specialists describe how to strengthen a shear wall, protect post-tensioning tendons, and color-match a patch.
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Concrete contractors often look for the least expensive way to install their product. Often this means placing concrete directly from the ready-mix truck.
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To address the challenges, we must first drill down to the root cause of cold weather concreting problems.
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Not often do you hear “This stuff rocks, man!” when the “stuff” is concrete! But wild curves and thrilling rides can be found at the skate bowl in Glen Miller Park thanks to a demanding design and concrete craftsmanship.
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A look at three contractors who have grown despite the weak economy: Tom Ralston of Ralston Concrete, Boulder Creek, Calif.; Lee Clark of Garber Brothers Precision Concrete, Greenville, Ohio; and Bob Willcox of Solid Foundations of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
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In the past 10 years, European engineering has produced efficient, simple-to-use formwork. Although these systems are considerably more expensive (as much as three times the cost of conventional formwork), contractors have found savings in labor and a remarkable increase in production.
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Who makes the rules for form design? The American Concrete Institute (ACI) Committee 347, Formwork for Concrete, is generally regarded as the standards-setting authority in the United States—not only for vertical formwork but also for deck forms, shoring, and reshoring.
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Superflat floors are not your typical concrete floors. ACI’s "Guide for Floor and Slab Construction," ACI 302.1R-96, defines a superflat floor (Class 9) as one with Fmin number greater than 100.
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The Milwaukee Art Museum represents an exceptional and unprecedented use of concrete, steel, and glass. These unusual forms that draw the eye are primarily exposed structural elements, spectacular in form.
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One of the most litigious issues for the U.S. concrete industry is floor slab curling. Though all parties involved in a project, including the owner of the project, share responsibility for a problem floor when it becomes a lawsuit, the contractor who constructed the floor often bears the brunt of...
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From humble beginnings more than 30 years ago as scrap byproducts of the carpet and steel wool industries, fibers today offer many advantages for reinforcing concrete. Today's market offers great variety, from short, hair-thin strands (micro- or monofilament) to macro-fibers up to about 2 inches...
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In 1985, David Somero built a prototype laser-controlled screed that could strike off freshly placed concrete. A short time later, he and his brother started Somero Enterprises to manufacture and market their idea, and in 1987 they were awarded a patent for their invention. Their machines can...
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As late summer is turning into fall, many of us are spending less time cutting the grass. In fact, as the weather turns cooler up North, we start thinking about raking leaves and putting lawn mowers and weed trimmers away for the season. It's no coincidence that the same change in seasons cools...
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A few years ago, a subcontractor's employee was hurt on a Clayco jobsite while working on a tower crane boom arm 230 feet above the ground. With a storm coming and his leg injured, the immobilized ironworker needed immediate assistance (a high-angle rope rescue) from the Clayton fire department's...
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A very important part of providing a durable concrete slab on grade is the proper treatment of control joints and construction joints. Support of the slab edges is one aspect often overlooked.
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Past the 25,000-pound bronze doors of Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral in Los Angeles, the entrance corridor rises at a pitch of 95 feet per quarter mile. Cardinal Roger Mahony felt that through the effort needed to climb this "mountain" to the cathedral's nave, the penitent would shed the cares of...
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Shaped as if by the forces of wind and water, a curvilinear concrete edifice clad in limestone is rising in a place of honor on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Scheduled to open in 2004, the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) will pay tribute to and...
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Tornado-level winds passed through northwest Ohio in the summer of 1998, causing heavy damage to buildings and property throughout the region. Especially hard-hit was the Mess Hall at Camp Perry Military Reservation near Port Clinton. Camp Perry was established in 1906 to support the training...
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Lightweight concrete has its own set of potential placing problems, as every contractor knows. These problems were compounded 7 years ago when Albanelli poured suspended concrete slabs on steel decking for a high-profile shopping mall in suburban Detroit.
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The opportunities for education and training in our industry today are endless. And the need for continuing education is critical as our industry continues to grow and as construction becomes more complex.
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Tilt-up has long been regarded as one of the least expensive ways to construct buildings. At first, its primary market was warehouse construction—large, flat panels of concrete cast on the floor slab, lifted into position, and finished on the outside with a waterproofing application of paint or...
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Many performance problems with field crews can be prevented. Will increasing the number of meetings your crews attend help reduce such problems? Maybe not, but, before you walk away, consider some of your own performance problems.
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The State Street Capitol Ramp and the Government East Ramp, two Madison, Wis., parking garages, had suffered significant corrosion-induced delamination. Over several years we repaired much of the damage and installed concrete overlays in an effort to reduce the rate of continuing deterioration. The...
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The largest single source of cost overruns and construction- related claims by contractors historically has been unanticipated subsurface conditions encountered during construction. As new development spreads farther from established building areas and as rebuilding on previously developed sites...
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Affordable homes built by Habitat for Humanity now exist in over 80 countries. In the United States there are 1600 regional Habitat offices (referred to as "affiliates"), with the top 200 affiliates building five or more homes each year. Their goal is to build the maximum number of homes possible...
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Concrete contractors must assure themselves that they are making smart financial decisions when it comes to rental or ownership of mobile construction equipment. Today's economy—with lower interest rates, critical cash flow considerations, and rental companies offering competitive prices and...
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Operating a 1.7-million-square-foot automobile manufacturing plant with 1500 employees requires a big parking area for both employees' and visitors' cars. At the new Honda Manufacturing of America plant, now under construction in Lincoln, Ala., the vehicle parking area will be 61 acres, including...
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In the midst of a city still mourning the losses suffered with the collapse of the World Trade Center, the opening of the American Folk Art Museum is a cause for rejoicing. The first major building completed since September 11, the structure is receiving enthusiastic architectural reviews. Critics...
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The ideal way to work safely on any jobsite is to identify and locate the existing underground utility lines before beginning any site excavation. In the real world, though, existing site conditions aren't always clear, and as-built drawings may not be accurate or updated to reflect site utility...
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The increased traffic load on interstates and major highway systems has led to ever-shorter time requirements for the completion of deck repairs. Repair contractors often must pay penalties when roadways are not open to traffic on time. When concrete bridge decks are repaired, the required rapid...
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In a recent article on staff turnover in the construction industry, an interesting statistic on why staff level people leave their current firms to work for other construction firms moved us. It estimated that through August 1, 2001, contractors had experienced about 14.1% turnover among staff...
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In today's Mexico the need for low-income housing is staggering. If awareness is the first step in the change process, then change is imminent because the demographic information about where the population is headed and what's needed has everyone's attention—starting with the highest office in the...
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There are some folks here in McIntosh County who plan to take refuge in my house when the next big hurricane bears down on our Georgia coast. The reason my neighbors see my home as a safe haven in a storm is because it is constructed with an almost indestructible material: concrete. Compared with...
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Concrete is an important part of nearly every home built in the United States. But above-grade concrete walls traditionally have been looked upon as eccentric or extravagant—domes, underground homes, or coldly modernistic glass and concrete behemoths. The true nature of concrete homes, of course...
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Having returned recently from the World of Concrete, we once again are amazed at the number of contractors who simply do not understand their production costs. Job costing is both critical and invaluable to any construction owner, superintendent, or supervisor. Proper job costing will have a...
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Although concrete is the material most often used for home construction throughout the world, home buyers in the United States favor wood because it has been so readily available. But that's beginning to change. Concrete is gaining market share in the residential marketplace. Though the occasional...
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Believe it or not, spring training for professional baseball is not far away. It seems like just yesterday that the Arizona Diamondbacks unseated the New York Yankees as World Champions. Wouldn't it be nice if we in the concrete industry could have our own "spring training"?
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A concrete that places itself? Self-compacting concrete (SCC), or self-consolidating concrete, as some prefer to call it, comes close to doing just that. Well-proportioned SCC can flow under its own weight through and around congested reinforcement, filling forms completely and producing a...
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Early one fall morning, a concrete formwork crew was building a machine base in a new industrial plant, using gang forms to encase the mass concrete and tons of reinforcing steel. High placing accuracy was needed because huge base anchor bolts to secure the machine had to line up precisely. A crane...
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Innovations in the concrete construction industry are making the difference between the ordinary and the exceptional in floor quality and durability. Distribution Plus Inc. (DPI), specializing in large food distribution centers, has high expectations for quality in its constructed facilities...
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The technology used to monitor the health of structures isn't new. It was used even before the mid-'70s when monitoring devices were built for specific job locations and installed to track certain events. Technicians then visited the structure periodically to record data, evaluate it, and produce...
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"How can I do this job better and faster?" is a question I've heard many times in over 40 years of concrete construction experience. In concrete construction, as in many other areas of business and life, getting things done faster is often more cost-effective. Concrete construction professionals...
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Why would you want to be certified as a concrete flatwork finisher? What can ACI certification offer you? Do you feel that you know all there is to know about concrete from your own field experience as a contractor, finisher, producer, or project engineer?
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Installation of interior slabs on grade for large distribution centers can be both simple and complex: simple in that slabs are large, open areas, flat and generally free of obstructions; complex in the difficulty of maintaining an aggressive schedule, controlling the placing environment, and...
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By now, the demise of many dot-com's—including a variety of construction-related Web sites—is well known and has been highly publicized. As founder and president of The Concrete Network (www.concretenetwork.com), I have spoken with hundreds of concrete contractors over the past couple of years...
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Dan Ellery director of research at Consumers Concrete Co., Kalamazoo, Mich., says that the most common cold weather question he hears from contractors is, "What can I do so that I can place concrete in the winter the same as I do in July?" His answer is, you can't! Ellery tells concrete contractors...
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For decades, industry professionals have debated the performance characteristics and benefits between steel frame structures and concrete frame structures in mid- and high-rise buildings. Until the tragic events of September 11, 2001, specifically those involving the terrorist attack on the World...
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Even as the pace of the construction economy slows, the pace of innovation in materials and equipment seems to accelerate. Remarkable new materials solve problems and create new applications. Tools and equipment allow faster, safer construction and let us look deeply into hardened concrete. The...
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Do I need to have control joints in the slabs and, if so, how far apart in a 15-foot-wide driveway? I really don’t want any but don’t want cracking, either.
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I have heard of epoxy flooring contractors "washing" concrete of all contaminants with (correct me if I am wrong) xylem. From what I have been told, it washes the impurities some depth into the concrete where they will not be a factor in failure of adhesion. Do you have any suggestions of where to...
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Do you have any thoughts on repairing the pits and cracks that would stand up to the rigors of tracked equipment being driven over the surface on a daily basis? We are looking at several types of epoxy sealers.
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I seem to remember reading that testing for slump was very outdated and that there is really no difference between a 5-inch slump and 61/2-inch slump. Is this true?
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Over the years I have observed a trend of lower compressive strength results when fibers are used in concrete mixes.
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I live in Wanaka, which is in the south island of New Zealand, and recently laid 150 square meters of exposed aggregate paths and driveway. After laying and during the washing, we had problems getting rid of the water (all but one side of the house is bounded by walls). In addition, the slope was...
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We use a 10-mm brown river aggregate in decorative exposed aggregate finishes.
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For a school, I recently poured radius stairs with six risers and five treads with an arc length of about 25 feet at the bottom. Mostly due to an icing problem, the architect and the city condemned the stairs, claiming that there were unacceptable tread widths. The treads were specified at 12...
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We have installed a metal deck for a roof system on which the engineer has specified a lightweight concrete composite system. We have installed a vented metal decking, but the engineer has requested that solid metal decking be used. With lightweight concrete should the deck be vented or unvented...
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We are having a problem with bug holes on a 45-degree sloped formed surface. We have tried everything we can think of to try to cut down on the immense amount of finishing work that we are doing.
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In June 2001, a Problem Clinic question was posed about the advisability of depositing concrete near the top of a 2:1 slope for a manure pit lining and letting it flow to the bottom.
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Last year I had a job converting a garage into a living space.
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I read that aluminum reacts with concrete. I am interested to ?nd out if an aluminum bull float will affect the concrete of bridge decks.
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We have some concrete that has developed rust stains over a period of about a year. It appears to be caused by the aggregate.
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I'm 4000 square feet into an 11,000-square-foot stamped concrete driveway.
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What is the metric equivalent of the #4, #8, and #16 stone and the #467 blend in a recent Concrete Perspectives in Concrete Construction, August 2001?
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I am having trouble sealing my exposed-aggregate driveway.
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What is the best way to remove the white calcification from my colored concrete patio? We have very hard water here, and the sprinklers spray onto the patio.