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The Inspector's Guide to Quality Concrete Materials and Construction
The Concrete Manual, now updated to the 2006 International Building Code and ACI 318-05, provides the guidance and information that inspectors and related professionals need to become more proficient in relating to concrete field practices and inspection.
The Concrete Manual will:
- Introduce you to concrete and explain what it is and why it behaves as it does.
- Explain conventional construction procedures.
- Discuss control and inspection procedures.
- Explore statistical quality control methods and their application to concrete construction.
- Detail proper field testing procedures.
- Detail proper placement of reinforcement.
A Resource Reference section includes a list of the concrete industry and technical organizations to contact for additional information.
The Concrete Manual serves as a valuable reference to assist the special inspector in performing the duties and responsibilities of special inspection for reinforced and prestressed concrete construction.
A valuable CD-ROM is included which contains the entire Concrete Manual in PDF format.
A Study Companion is also available.
From the Preface
This text on concrete inspection will provide an understanding of the scientific principles that underlie sound practices and will assist the inspector in making rational rather than arbitrary decisions. The Concrete Manual provides the guidance and information that inspectors and related professionals need to become more proficient and professional in relating to concrete field practices and inspection. The information provided will increase the technical capabilities of jurisdictional inspectors in the performance of their inspection duties.
The International Building Code, published by the International Code Council (ICC) presents a number of situations in which specially qualified inspectors are required to perform continuous inspection of construction. The special inspectors are individuals with highly developed and specialized skills, who observe those critical building or structural features that they are qualified to inspect. The Concrete Manual serves as a valuable resource reference to assist the special inspector in performing the duties and responsibilities of special inspection for reinforced and prestressed concrete construction.
In order to perform inspection of any phase of construction, the inspector must be versed in the phase or part that he or she is inspecting. The inspector's knowledge of laws, codes and specifications will be of little value if he or she does not have an understanding of the construction to be inspected. This book provides the inspector with a source of that knowledge as applied to concrete construction.
The initial chapters of the book introduce the reader to concrete and explain what concrete is and why it behaves as it does. A brief history of portland cement and concrete is included. In the following chapters, materials are presented to the reader as a preparation for the final chapters, which cover construction. Conventional construction procedures as well as special techniques are covered in sufficient detail to enable the reader to understand and recognize them. Throughout all chapters, the reader will find information about unsatisfactory materials and methods together with discussion of acceptable materials and methods. Actual control and inspection procedures are described and should be of immediate interest to the inspector.
The Concrete Manual provides basic information that can be related to the described inspection procedures. The descriptions are, by necessity, somewhat general, as the responsible building official will designate the details of inspection. Codes, specifications and other requirements differ from job to job. For example, what are the conditions under which the inspector is authorized to order the work stopped or refuse to accept certain material or construction? These administrative decisions must be made by the building official. The statistical quality control methods, although of limited value to most inspectors, are included for completeness as concrete mixture proportioning and strength test evaluation and acceptance are based on statistical methods of analysis and the mathematics of probability. The inspector should at least be aware of the basic concepts of statistical quality control and its applications to concrete construction. A Resource References list of the concrete industry and technical organizations is included at the back of this book. The reader is strongly encouraged to contact a listed organization for additional information and/or a publication on a specific concrete subject.
Contents
Chapter 1: Fundamentals of Concrete. Chapter 2: The Fresh Concrete. Chapter 3: The Strength of Concrete. Chapter 4: The Durability of Concrete. Chapter 5: Volume Changes and Other Properties. Chapter 6: Cracks and Blemishes. Chapter 7: Portland Cement. Chapter 8: Aggregates. Chapter 9: Water and Admixtures. Chapter 10: Accessory Materials. Chapter 11: Formwork. Chapter 12: Proportioning the Concrete Mixture. Chapter 13: Testing and Controlling the Concrete. Chapter 14: Batching and Mixing the Concrete. Chapter 15: Handling and Placing the Concrete. Chapter 16: Slabs on Ground. Chapter 17: Finishing and Curing the Concrete. Chapter 18: The Steel Reinforcement. Chapter 19: Hot and Cold Weather Concreting. Chapter 20: Precast and Prestressed Concrete. Chapter 21: Lightweight and Heavyweight Concrete. Chapter 22: Special Concreting Techniques. Chapter 23: Waterproofing and Dampproofing. Chapter 24: Introduction to Inspection. Chapter 25: Inspection of Concrete Construction. Chapter 26: Quality Control. References. Resource References. Index. |
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