Headquartered in Farmington Hills, MI, the American Concrete Institute (ACI, www.concrete.org) provides numerous, valuable resources on cold weather concrete practices, including but not limited to the 306R-16: Guide to Cold Weather Concreting and the 306.1-90: Standard Specification for Cold Weather Concreting (Reapproved 2002).
ACI University also offers the On-Demand Course: Cold Weather Concreting: What to Prepare to Keep Concrete Construction Continuing and the On-Demand Course: Guide to Cold Weather Concreting: Chapter 8 Protection Against Freezing for Structural Concrete. The resources highlight the five objectives of cold weather concrete practices:
- Prevent damage to concrete due to freezing at early ages;
- Ensure that the concrete develops the required strength for safe removal of forms;
- Maintain curing conditions that foster normal strength development;
- Limit rapid temperature changes, and;
- Provide protection consistent with the intended serviceability of the structure.
First, 306R-16: Guide to Cold Weather Concreting discusses: concrete temperature during mixing and placing, temperature loss during delivery, preparation for cold weather concreting, protection requirements for concrete that does not require construction supports, estimating strength development, methods of protection, curing requirements, and admixtures for accelerating setting and strength gain including antifreeze admixtures.
Second, the 306.1-90: Standard Specification for Cold Weather Concreting (Reapproved 2002) gives requirements for cold weather concreting. The standard specification includes cold weather requirements for preparations prior to placement of concrete, and protection of concrete.
Third, the On-Demand Course: Cold Weather Concreting: What to Prepare to Keep Concrete Construction Continuing provides guidance to assist in judging the appropriate actions and precautions for cold weather construction using 306R-16: Guide to Cold Weather Concreting.
And fourth, the On-Demand Course: Guide to Cold Weather Concreting: Chapter 8 Protection Against Freezing for Structural Concrete, based on Chapter 8 of 306R-16: Guide to Cold Weather Concreting, addresses protection for structural concrete requiring construction supports.
Keywords: accelerating admixtures; cold weather; compressive strength; construction; curing; formwork; freezing; heating; insulation; maturity; protection; temperature.
(Source: American Concrete Institute, www.concrete.org)
More in the next blog about cold weather concreting…