Heavyweight Concrete has Many Uses Including as a Sound Barrier

While there are many applications in which lightweight concrete is the most appropriate choice so are there as many that require heavyweight concrete.  Lightweight structural concrete is made using lightweight coarse aggregate and/or lightweight fine aggregate.  It typically has a density of approximately 105 pounds per cubic foot as compared to that of normal concrete mixes that have a density of 150 pounds per cubic foot.  A common use for lightweight concrete is to reduce the overall load or weight of an entire concrete structure such as on bridge decks, beams, slabs and walls of concrete structures.    

Heavy natural aggregates or manufactured aggregates such as iron or lead shot are used to manufacture heavy concrete and offers a density in the range of 270 pounds per cubic foot.  There are a number of applications where heavyweight concrete is used including underground garages, as counterweights, radiation shielding in medical or nuclear facilities, and offshore for ballasting in pipelines. 

Recently another reason for using heavyweight concrete is being implemented by the Crossrail track slab construction project in London, UK.  The contractors are using a dense, heavyweight concrete as a sound barrier and to mitigate vibrations across a certain part of the track slab that runs underneath a business section near the Bond Street station.  This particular section of track includes several recording studios that rest above it that do not wish to have any sound interfere with their work. 

The concrete mixture took 12 months to develop and included laboratory and plant trials.  The end product contains “MagnaDense, which is an aggregate that is around twice as dense as normal aggregate.”  Develop by LKAB Minerals, the natural aggregate is “manufactured from the iron oxide Magnetiteis and is formed of black ferrimagnetic natural iron oxide (Magnetite).”

The Conco Companies’ mission is to be the best supplier of concrete services in the Western United States and to bring expertise, experience and quality to each project.  We continue to upgrade and expand facilities to better serve the growing market for public works projects, commercial, parking structures, educational, and other construction development.

Sources:

giatecscientific.com/knowledge-center/concrete-news/heavyweight-concrete-to-minimize-sounds-and-vibrations/

everything-about-concrete.com/lightweight-concrete.html