ACI Update

[dik]

This is the first I've heard of this...

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. – The American Concrete Institute (ACI), an organization whose mission is to develop and disseminate consensus-based knowledge on concrete and its uses, is finalizing a completely reorganized ACI 318-14: Building Code Requirements for Structural Concrete. ACI 318 is one of the most essential and valuable standards with respect to the design of concrete structures, and is published every three years. The announcement was made at the World of Concrete convention in Las Vegas.

Scheduled for publication in late 2014, the reorganized 318-14 is organized from an engineer’s perspective. By focusing on member design, ACI 318 requirements will flow more intuitively and have fewer cross-references. Significant highlights include:


•Greater ease of use
•Improved logic and flow of information
•Member-based organization to quickly locate relevant code information
•Construction requirements centralized in one chapter

 

[JedClampett]

Good, maybe by the time I get 318-14, I'll have a chance to open 318-11.

 

[dik]

Ya... I'm waiting for JAE to comment about the size of the erratum <G>.

Dik

 

[JAE]

Heh...I just went through AISC's 14th Edition (of course I was stupid again and bought the First Printing). But AISC got it done better this time compared with the 13th edition.
There were still whole sets of tables that had to be printed out, scaled down, cut out and taped in to the book - but I only spent about an hour vs. 3 hours last time.

I heard about ACI's plans almost 1 1/2 years ago at a structural conference.

The argument was that to design a beam in ACI 318 you had to use chapters 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12...essentially flying all over the place looking for all the relevant sections.

They also saw that some chapters were based on force effects (chapters on bending, shear, etc.) and others were based upon types of construction (two-way slab design, prestressed design, etc).

Supposedly the 2014 version will be organized by element designed.. (i.e. a chapter on beams, a chapter on columns, etc.) with all the relevant requirements placed within that particular chapter.

 

[hokie66]

Sounds to me like that is going to be a lot thicker...but then I am a cynic.

 

[JAE]

Perhaps a realist?

 

[JedClampett]

I still have a copy of ACI 318-71. It's at work, but I think it was only 80 pages. Now the commentary was a separate document, but still. It's the thickness of a magazine.
Now the disadvantage is that it doesn't stand on a shelf.

 

[TXStructural]

ACI 318-next will be divided into member chapters. To design a reinforced concrete beam, one could start at the beginning of a chapter, go through the chapter, and know that the design was complete by the end of the chapter. I expect there to be a fair amount of overlap and repetition, BUT in the future, the provisions can be made correct for each application. This means that minimum reinforcement ratios or shear provisions for members can be more specific for the application. This may mean more complications, or more simplification.

This has been underway for quite a while, and is essentially complete. Final internal reviews are being completed by ACI and the committees, and it will go out for public comment before the end of the year.