RCC was first developed as a paving material in 1976. Some Canadian builders had the idea of doubling the amount of cement in a soil cement mix to stabilize the surface at a log sorting yard. They got much more than they had expected—it was strong and durable, and it went down quickly and easily.
Owners, specifiers, architects, and engineers need to understand that the surface of even the best slab on ground will not be perfect.
After 56 years, the coal-fired power plant was worn out and obsolete. Corn Products International, Westchester, Ill., built the boilers and generators in late 1948 to provide steam and electricity for its manufacturing plant in Bedford Park, Ill. To replace this resource, Corn Products is now...
Air entrainment in concrete was discovered accidentally about 70 years ago. Since then, entrained air has provided many blessings to concrete such as increased workability at lower water-cement ratios and reduced bleeding. And there is its primary function: maximizing the resistance of hardened...
For years, paving equipment manufacturers have been telling us that stringless paving technology is close at hand. But freeing paving machines from the string lines that guide them has been much more difficult than expected. All of the paving equipment manufacturers are working hard to develop this...
The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program is putting a new spin on marketing in the building design and construction industries. Through its associated Green Building Rating System, claims of environmental responsibility made by designers, builders, and owners can now be...
One of our greatest challenges as an industry is the development of our people. The issue is directly tied to employee morale, retention, and even our end-product. As such, the development of training programs that allow individuals to discover their skills and interests is crucial to creating a...
Van and Lawrence Smith founded Smith Bros. Concrete Contractors, Walden, N.Y., in 1975. They bought a truck for $300 and had to borrow $3 for gas to drive it home. For the first several years they installed block and brick masonry but gradually shifted their emphasis to poured foundations for...
Changes in concrete and construction sometimes come at a glacial pace. But such changes also tend to be significant. One such change occurred at the semi-annual ASTM meeting in June. After 8 years of development and more than 20 years of existing as a part of another standard specification, a new...
In 1999, Congress authorized the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE) to design and construct modifications to the 1950s' era Folsom Dam near Sacramento, Calif., to increase the hydraulic performance of the existing outlets. A study of alternatives led the COE to decide to enlarge eight gates and add...
Every site-cast tilt-up concrete construction project requires hard work and planning before the building can be erected. Watching the enormous concrete panels being lifted and set into place is an awe-inspiring event that occurs only with careful planning, hours of training and experience, and a...
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Lightweight-aggregate, air-entrained concrete is increasingly used to cast interior, above-grade floors. There are two principal reasons for its use: cost savings and fire resistance. According to John Ries, executive director of the Expanded Shale, Clay and Slate Institute (ESCSI), Salt Lake City...
Concrete is both marvelously simple and marvelously complex. Mix appropriate amounts of portland cement, aggregates, and water, and you have one of the world's most versatile and durable construction materials. On the other hand, if you vary the proportions or the character of any of the components...
Concrete seems to be made for the desert Southwest. Add a little color to it, and it looks as if it were cut from the baked hardpan ground. Las Vegas architects and builders love concrete—its strength, its look, and its durability. To celebrate the World of Concrete's return to Vegas, here is a...
Ron Mundro has come across his share of challenges in the more than 20 years he has spent with Roughneck Concrete Drilling & Sawing Company, Morton Grove, Ill. The company's crews have for nearly a half century carefully cut and threaded core holes through concrete laced with rebar, pipe, and...
2005 ACPA Excellence in Concrete Pavement Awards Winner: Overlays
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2005 ACPA Excellence in Concrete Pavement Awards Winner: Municipal Streets & Intersections <30,000 SY
2005 ACPA Excellence in Concrete Pavement Awards Winner: Urban Arterials & Collectors
2005 ACPA Excellence in Concrete Pavement Awards Winner: State Roads
2005 ACPA Excellence in Concrete Pavement Awards Winner: Reliever & General Aviation Airports
2005 ACPA Excellence in Concrete Pavement Awards Winner: Commecial Service & Military Airports
2005 ACPA Excellence in Concrete Pavement Awards Winner: Divided Highways—Urban
2005 ACPA Excellence in Concrete Pavement Awards Winner: Divided Highways—Rural
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2005 ACPA Excellence in Concrete Pavement Awards Winner: Municipal Streets & Intersections >30,000 SY
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2005 ACPA Excellence in Concrete Pavement Awards Winner: Traffic Management
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2005 ACPA Excellence in Concrete Pavement Awards Winner: Concrete Pavement Restoration
Dowel bars are fairly inexpensive items, though the role they play in multi-million-dollar concrete pavement projects is critical. Improperly placed, they can compromise the integrity of the pavement.
The summer of 2004 saw what seemed like an abnormal number of sudden hailstorms and downpours in the Denver area while concrete was being placed. We investigated concrete from two different projects that were halted shortly before a rainstorm. The cores were sent to a lab by concerned contractors...
The 2006 version of World of Concrete will roar into Las Vegas on January 16 for a five-day stay.
It's hard to imagine the concrete industry without thinking about testing. Amid all this testing activity, a great deal of time and attention is justifiably focused on proper testing procedure. However, variations in operator technique, cleanliness of apparatus, temperature, and sampling method, to...
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Careful planning and attention to detail are common threads in this year's American Concrete Pavement Association winning projects.
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To “take the higher ground” is to select a legal, moral, and ethical course of action. Most people know what is legally right or wrong. Where things get a little gray is when ethics comes in to play.
A complete glossary to the Decorative Concrete argot.
Some contractors don't see the need for a close relationship with ready mix producers. They shop for the lowest prices, place the order, install the work, and move on to the next job. But close collaboration can make for vastly improved work.
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From the initial order to the placement, the finish, and the cure, this checklist will help you get colored flatwork right.
Concrete artists represent a variety of talents. Some creatively express themselves with a flare for a new tool or stencil system invention, some innovate with new concrete mix designs, and still others approach their work as multimedia artists. They bring an array of coloring agents, objects to...
Between 1890 and 1920 many companies, especially precast companies who produced members for building facades, used colors and stains to make their work more interesting. Some mixed pigment into fresh concrete for a casting; others submerged their castings in solutions similar to chemical stains...
Our goal is to provide a resource for expanding and improving the craft and the business of decorative concrete.
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The Advanced Countertop Design Training and Certification Program is an intensive 5-day program in which award-winning designer and author Fu-Tung Cheng shares his design concepts and trade secrets for creating concrete countertops.
I was hired by Hanley Wood as a senior editor, because I had been a concrete contractor for many years, had experienced many of the problems and challenges affecting concrete, and had learned hands-on the skills of placing and finishing concrete.
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How to get that wet look for your decorative concrete, create a beautiful tilt-up, find maintenance-free deck coating and more decorative concrete tips.
Recently, the city of Muskegon, Mich., decided to reclaim land that was once used to manufacture Sherman tanks during World War II. Its goal was to build a tourist area called Edison Landing, bordering on Muskegon Lake, which flows into Lake Michigan. This involved building Terrace Street, with a...
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From driveways and sidewalks to entryways and pool decks, Texture-Crete and Spray-Deck overlay systems are the ultimate cover-up for plain, old, or unsightly concrete.
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With Durall Industrial Flooring's epoxy and color quartz application kits, concrete and wood floors can be flow-coated with 100% epoxy and colored quartz to make hard, skid-resistant surfaces.
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Deco-Top Overlay is a hybrid tri-polymer topping mix used to resurface concrete for repair or decorative applications.
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The Granite-Coat system provides attractive finishes that simulate the elegant look of natural granite and terrazzo on patios, garage floors, and other surfaces.
As a decorative concrete contractor, you can obtain mix designs that can help you deal with weather extremes—hot or cold, wind and humidity—that can lead to surface crusting or affect set times. You should design these mixes with the help of your ready-mix producer and keep them up-to-date to...
Hallack created a labyrinth design that mimicked one from the Chartres Cathedral in Paris during the 12th century.
Haen's specialty is working with polymer cement coatings and epoxy finishes.
This artist's specialty is carving intricate patterns and details in overlay cement.
Cary and Julie Grant own a company that specializes in patterned cut concrete graphics that are colored with chemical stains.
Vicari used circles and intersecting arcs to create a simple design, which he highlighted with color.
igsby's ambitious demo used a wide variety of materials and equipment. The project included adhesive stencils, images copied onto adhesive-backed paper plastic templates with ornate designs cut in, liquid resist applied through templates, chemical stains, powdered pigments, garden fertilizer...
Working with Heriberto Esquivel, his foreman and principal trainer, Rhodes demonstrated his precast “hand pressed” concrete countertop technique—a process he is known for.
Ochs teaches art at Southern Arkansas University and over the past couple years has come to view concrete as an artistic medium.
Product spotlights on Tahoe Lighting, Trojan Color Sealer, Ardex SD-M and MasterPiece Granitech.
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I am patching and repairing some street curbs. The quick-mix products tend to be dark gray, which does not match the lighter sandy color of my curbs and sidewalks. The new concrete highways tend to be almost white. What do they add to get an almost white color?
Efflorescence occurs with all concrete and is the most frequent problem that concrete contractors face with colored concrete. Owners don't care about “plain” concrete, but colored concrete is another matter.
The use of brackish water in the original concrete mix has led to extensive and complex concrete repairs to Sweden's combined Svinö and Öland Bridge. Crumbling piers have been covered with reinforced concrete shells and the affected foundations strengthened. Repairs are now focusing on the deck...
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Danny Epp and his two sons, Ryan and Brandon, recently formed and poured the footings for their new home in Tsawwassen, B.C., Canada, using the Fastfoot forming membrane. The building site was excavated on two separate levels to minimize excavation costs on a steep slope. The plan was to build the...
Wal-Mart has specified Solomon Colors as a supplier for a custom liquid color for its integrally colored concrete flooring in new store installations around the country.
Kenosha, Wisconsin-based Riley Construction had several years ago purchased mast-climbing work platforms from Bracing Systems, Inc., for its masonry division.
When a new $800 diamond concrete cutting saw disappeared from a Kaikor Construction jobsite, then mysteriously reappeared 3 weeks later, not a single worker could (or would) own up to the loss. Garrett Sullivan, president of Kaikor Construction, was accustomed to losing tools as part of the cost of...
Western Australian concrete contractor, G & N Conform, is completing the concrete work on two major high-rise projects in Perth.
Moisture is no stranger to the South. And as in many cities with humid climates, building owners in Baton Rouge, with its large-scale plans to improve the downtown business district, are taking a hard look at the need for quality waterproofing.
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The Maxi-Lite 15330 and 20330 portable light towers are designed with 15- and 20-kilowatt AVR-regulated generators that deliver enough energy for work trailers, pumps, additional lighting or other jobsite equipment.
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Along Highway 101, one of the most scenic routes in Northern California, the obsolete, high-maintenance bridge over Rock Creek was due for an upgrade.
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Every year Hanley Wood's Most Innovative Products contest gets better. Now in its third year, the contest again includes the Experts' Choice and Attendees' Choice awards, highlighting the products that save you time and money. Everyone at the World of Con
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Just north of Chicago, the continent of Africa suddenly took form in a small Evanston playlot for tots. Renaissance Decorative Concrete of Libertyville, Ill., was called on to frame, place, stamp, sandblast, and color the 40×37-foot concrete map.
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Dry shake floor hardeners provide a denser, more abrasion-resistant surface to a concrete slab. By adding metallic oxide pigments, the contractor gets a harder and colored surface in one application. But while the concept seems simple enough, the science of producing color hardeners requires more...
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I would like to specify an architectural concrete topping of about 2 inches on a 30-year-old concrete bleacher/gallery structure. I have been told I should use a bonding agent, a water reducer to prevent cracking and a higher than normal compressive strength. What would be an appropriate strength...