Concrete Terminology – Learn the Terms

At The Conco Companies, we are involved in many of the most notable projects throughout the Western United States, and as such, we have experience with all kinds of concrete construction.  Furthermore we are committed to using our extensive knowledge to move the concrete industry forward as we demonstrated early this year by setting a world record for the largest continuous mat pour that was executed flawlessly on the Wilshire Grand in L.A.

We are taking the opportunity to go over some concrete terminology and in our previous blog did not even make it past the first letter of the alphabet. Here is an additional look at some essential concrete terminology that is taken from the American Concrete Institute’s ACI Concrete Terminology. 

Backfill concrete — nonstructural concrete used to over-fill excavated pockets in rock or to prepare a surface to receive structural concrete

Basic creep — creep that occurs without migration of moisture to or from the concrete.

Batch — (1) quantity of material mixed at one time or in one continuous process; (2) to weigh or volumetrically measure and introduce into the mixer the ingredients for a quantity of material

Binary mixture — concrete containing two cementitious materials

Blended cement — a hydraulic cement consisting of portland cement uniformly mixed with

slag cement or pozzolan, or both

Calcium chloride — CaCl2, a crystalline solid, is primarily used in concrete as an accelerating admixture.

Calcium stearate — Ca(C18H35O2)2, commonly marketed in powder form, insoluble in water, used as a water repellent admixture in concrete

Cast-in-place concrete — concrete that is deposited and allowed to harden in the place where it is required to be in the completed structure, as opposed to precast concrete

Cement paste — binder of concrete and mortar consisting essentially of cement, water, hydration products, and any admixtures together with very finely divided materials included in the aggregates

Coarse aggregate — aggregate predominantly retained on the 4.75 mm (No. 4) sieve or that portion retained on the 4.75 mm (No. 4) sieve.

Concrete compressive strength — the measured maximum resistance of a concrete specimen to axial compressive loading and expressed as force per unit cross sectional area

Curing — action taken to maintain moisture and temperature conditions in a freshly placed cementitious mixture to allow hydraulic cement hydration and (if applicable) pozzolanic reactions to occur so that the potential properties of the mixture may develop

Drying shrinkage — shrinkage resulting from loss of moisture

Durability — the ability of a material to resist weathering action, chemical attack, abrasion, and other conditions of service

 

Sources:  concrete.org/tools/concreteterminology.aspx

 

Conco is a leading supplier of concrete services for the Western United States. We got our start in the Bay Area in 1959 by offering clients the best value on a wide range of concrete services and products.  Since that time, we have taken a leading role as one of the top concrete contractors in the region. We have four regional offices serving California, Washington, Oregon, Nevada and Colorado.