Table of Contents February 2007

EDITORIAL COMMENT

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  We are concrete

  There's something about concrete that reminds us of ourselves.

   

FEATURES

Other Articles

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  Using Calcium Chloride for Industrial Floor Construction

  Calcium chloride has a strange reputation—it's probably the most used admixture for concrete and also the most controversial. On the positive side, CaCl is an excellent, inexpensive accelerator; its bad rap stems from its contribution to corrosion of steel reinforcement and metallic floor hardeners.

   
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  Silica Fume for Concrete Bridge Decks

  Placing and consolidating concrete containing silica fume is essentially the same as for concrete without silica fume. Because silica fume eliminates bleed water in concrete, finishing silica-fume concrete for bridge decks and other flatwork usually is done without the bleed water waiting periods...

   
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  The Hidden Cost of Aggregate Interlock

  Using dowels will reduce long-term cost for slabs on ground

   
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  F is for Flatness (or Face)

  Everything you ever wanted to know about floor flatness but were afraid to ask.

   

NEWS & EVENTS

• Beauty meets function

  Lavalle Stadium at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, N.Y., won the award as the Best Stadium in the 2006 Design Awards competition sponsored by the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute.

   
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  RCC 2007

  The fifth International Seminar and Study Tour on Roller-Compacted Concrete Dams is scheduled for March 18-13, 2007, Atlanta, Ga.

   
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  Join our editors at bauma 2007

  This April, the bauma 2007 trade fair in Munich, Germany, promises to be an impressive display of international construction equipment and machinery.

   
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  Concrete older than you think

  In new research on the Great Pyramids of Giza, a scientist says he has found more to their construction than cut natural limestone.

   

TOLERANCES

• Slab thickness

  Slab thickness tolerances has long been a point of contention between contractors and specifiers.

   

TILT-UP

• 2007 Tilt-up Achievement Winners

  The Tilt-Up Concrete Association (TCA) has announced the recipients of the 2007 Tilt-Up Achievement Awards. This year, the panel of judges recognized a total of 33 award recipients out of the 94 entries submitted and selected four projects from across all categories to receive the exclusive title...

   
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  Carson Tahoe Hospital

  363,000-square-foot service facility in Carson City, Nev. Submitted by Degenkolb Engineers of San Diego.

   
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  University of South Florida Crosley Campus Center

  100,000-square-foot educational facility in Sarasota, Fla. Submitted by Tilt-Con Corp. of Altamonte Springs, Fla.

   
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  Briarcliff Village

  86,200-square-foot retail facility in Kansas City, Mo. Submitted by CON/STEEL Tilt-Up Systems of Dayton, Ohio.

   
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  Seven Farms Square

  94,000-square-foot housing project in Charleston, S.C. Submitted by Charter Concrete Services Inc. of Charlotte, N.C. Located in an area with seismic and high wind requirements, tilt-up was selected for its ability to address those concerns while still meeting cost and schedule requirements.

   

SAFETY MATTERS

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  Safety videos for rented equipment

  Productivity and safety are always on the minds of equipment owners, especially when new operators are on the job. Now you can train new operators and update experienced operators in the safe and efficient operation of Bobcat equipment using a series of 10-minute videos.

   

DECORATIVE CONCRETE

Other Articles

• Decorative Problem Clinic

  A year ago we installed curving, colored, patterned front steps and a landing for a new home. One of the 14-inch treads turned out to have more pitch than the others—1 inch at one location. It was an accident on our part but we have always told customers that we won't exceed 10% pitches. At the...

   
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  Replacing Stamped Concrete at the Core Library

  Decorative concrete is only as good as its foundations.

   
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  Keeping track of all the variables

  A truism is that it's often not what you do know but what you don't know that brings you to trouble's doorstep.

   

JOBSITE PRODUCTS

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  Power Trowels

  Concrete finishers usually know what they want in a power trowel, says Greg Fricks, of The Fricks Co., Fort Worth, Texas.

   

PRODUCTS SOLVING PROBLEMS

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  Glass Fibers Help White Topping Exceed Expectation

  The parking lot at the Rio Verde Community and Welcome Center in southern Arizona was cracked and showing signs of age, and the center wanted an economical solution.

   
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  Lightweight power

  Five years ago, Dennis Lura took it upon himself to build a roller screed suitable for large jobs, yet one that a small crew could handle. Other contractors who borrowed the screed were impressed and thus, the Lightning Strike roller screed by Lura Enterprises was born.

   

PROBLEM CLINIC

• Flooring over concrete

  Although I've been lucky so far and have not had to deal with a failure of flooring materials applied over one of my slabs, it scares me to death thinking about it. What can I do to keep this problem from occurring?

   

• Concrete expansion joints

  I was told that what we used to call expansion joints I should now call contraction joints. Does that mean that concrete doesn't expand?

   

• Release agent

  How often do we need to apply release agent to plywood form panels?

   

WOMEN IN CONCRETE

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  Rising Up

  Women are breaking down boundaries and exceeding expectations in the tilt-up industry.