Advances in Concrete

[SPLUM]

An architect I know has suggested to me that a hard substance mined out of California can, when added to concrete can reduce curing time. According to him instead of waiting 28 days to begin the next phase of building one only has to wait 5 HOURS. Can anyone out there lend credibility to this claim?

 

[Ron]

There are numerous ways to make concrete gain strength quickly, though I haven't heard of the substance you mentioned. There is no need to wait 28 days to move onto the next building phase in most construction. We can commonly move on (remove forms,etc.) within 24 to 48 hours using commonly available admixtures and mix designs.

I would certainly doubt the credibility of a claim for general use concrete to gain adequate strength in 5 hours. There are several specialty repair products on the market that can do this in small applications and quantities;however, their costs are prohibitive for general, large scale use.

 

[SPLUM]

Thank you, very much for your assistance.

 

[ayfarm]

A good well designed mix to reach the required strength for the next construction loading phase will do the trick especially if you accelerate the curing.

 

[jheidt2543]

In today's construction world, I don't know of anyone who waits for 28 days of concrete curing before starting the next phase. If they do, they are out of business. I think you found out why architects should stick to the "art" part and let engineers do the structural stuff!