News Room

Pavement systems for this discussion are defined as conventional highways and local municipal roadways, controlled access and surface roads, ingress/egress pavements at commercial and industrial facilities, truck terminals, and parking lots or storage lots for ocean-going containers or other bulk handling facilities. Service life, durability, and life-cycle costs are considered the principle criteria for evaluating […]

Shotcrete, simply put, is spray-applied concrete. Concrete is pumped through a hose and projected at high velocity onto the desired surface. There are two methods of shotcrete application, dry (also called gunite) and wet. With the dry method, the dry ingredients and water are not mixed until they reach the nozzle of the hose, where […]

Our first article (Ready Mixer News Memo Feb./Mar. 2015 issue) in this important series explained the Fiber-reinforced Concrete (FRC) sampling procedure, including some of the most critical points of test specimen fabrication. This issue’s article continues the series with details of the proper testing process, along with a review of approved fibers from the ABC Polymer stable […]

Which method is best when writing specifications for fiber-reinforced concrete? This article provides the historical, testing and physical property related data — plus more — that leads to the reasoning behind ABC Polymer’s preferred method of writing fiber reinforced concrete specifications. Fiber Reinforced Concrete History — Micro Beginnings Synthetic Fibers as reinforcement for concrete were […]

In this and the next issue of Ready Mixer News Memo, we will provide a Fiber Reinforced Concrete Test Primer for ready mix professionals, engineers, contractors, and commercial laboratory personnel. Part 1 in this issue includes: A sampling of Fiber Reinforced Concrete (FRC)/Fiber Reinforced Shotcrete (FRS) Fabrication of FRC/FRS test specimens. Part 2 in the next […]

Bulk Bags or FIBC fabrics are all about controlling static electricity, which is an imbalance of electric charges within or on the surface of a material. When bulk bags are rapidly filled and discharged, the flowing movement of finely powdered substances can cause a buildup of static electricity. Removing or preventing an electrical charge is […]

Macrosynthetic Fibers Increase Project Profitability Over Conventional Temperature-Shrinkage Control When using conventional WWF (welded wire fabric) or #3 & #4 rebar for temperature-shrinkage control Structural Engineers sometimes use a one-size-fits-all approach on projects to minimize the potential for the field crew to place the wrong reinforcement system in a cross-section. However, the Structural Engineer may […]

When using conventional temperature-shrinkage steel reinforcement the Structural Engineer tends to use a one-size-fits-all approach on projects to offset the potential for the field crew to place the wrong reinforcement system in a cross-section. Too often the Structural Engineer determines what temperature-shrinkage reinforcement is needed for the most demanding concrete application and then specifies that […]

This specification is specific to the use of Macrosynthetic-Fiber Reinforced Concrete as secondary/temperature-shrinkage reinforcement and post-first crack reinforcement. The purpose of this document is to assist design professionals in the preparation of project or office master specifications. It follows guidelines established by the Construction Specifications Institute and, therefore, may be used with minor editing in […]

Recently, the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association’s (NRMCA) Concrete INFOCUS publication discussed some opportunities and challenges in its NRMCA Services and Tools article about increased cooperation between concrete producers and contractors. According to NRMCA, each year parking lots and local roads present a paving market of more than 400 million cubic yards of concrete – a market of which […]