Placing and Finishing

Concrete
 Basic Requirements for
Placing Concrete (1)
● Preserve concrete quality
● Water-cement ratio
● Slump
● Air-content
● Homogeneity
● Avoid separation of
aggregate and mortar

Placing and
Finishing Concrete
 Basic Requirements for
Placing Concrete (2)

● Avoid excessive horizontal

movement
● Consolidate adequately
● Maintain sufficient placement
capacity
● Choose the right equipment for
the concrete
Placing and
Finishing Concrete
 Preparation Before Placing
Includes:
● Trimming the subgrade

Placing and
Finishing Concrete
 Preparation Before Placing
Includes:
● Moistening the subgrade

Placing and
Finishing Concrete
 Preparation Before Placing
Includes:
● Compacting the subgrade

Placing and
Finishing Concrete
 Depositing Concrete
● DO NOT —
(a) disturb saturated subgrades so
bearing capacity is maintained
(b) deposit on frozen subgrade

● Deposit continuously and as near as

possible to its final position

● Rate of placement should be such

that previously placed concrete has
not set when the next layer is placed
upon it
Placing and
Finishing Concrete
 Depositing Concrete
Slab Construction
● Start placing along perimeter at one
end with each batch discharged against
previously placed concrete

● Do not —
(a) dump in separate piles & then
level and work together
(b) deposit in large piles & then
move horizontally into position
These practices result in segregation
(mortar flows ahead of coarser material)
Placing and
Finishing Concrete
 Depositing Concrete
Effective use of
wheelbarrows

Discharging into previously

Placing and placed concrete
Finishing Concrete
 Incorrect Placement with
Conveyor Belt
Baffle

Mortar Rock Mortar

Shallow
hopper

Rock Mortar
Placing and
Finishing Concrete
 Placement with Conveyor
Belt

Provide at least 0.6 m Belt Scraper

(24 in.) headroom for
downpipe, elephant
trunk or equivalent
No
Separation

Placing and
Finishing Concrete
 Depositing Concrete
Pavement Slab

● Concrete deposited in
front of slip form paver
by dump trucks
● Concrete spread evenly
across the subgrade by
the paver before
consolidation and
finishing

Placing and
Finishing Concrete
 Depositing Concrete
Curb/Curb and Gutter
● Concrete deposited
into hopper of slip
form curb and gutter
machine which then
extrudes the concrete
into the desired
shape
Placing and
Finishing Concrete
 Depositing Concrete
Walls
● Deposit in horizontal layers of
uniform thickness
● Reinforced — 150 mm to 500 mm
● Mass — 375 mm to 500 mm

● Consolidate each layer before

next is placed

● Timely placement & consolidation

prevents flow lines and cold joints
Placing and
Finishing Concrete
 Horizontal Construction Joint

Placing and
Finishing Concrete
 Horizontal Construction Joints

Placing and
Finishing Concrete
 Underwater Placement
Methods
● Tremie
● Pump
● Bottom dump buckets
● Grouted preplaced
aggregate (specialized)
● Toggle bags
● Bagwork
● Diving bell

Placing and
Finishing Concrete
 Placing Concrete
Under Water
Basic Recommendations
● Water velocity ≤ 3 m (10 ft) / min.
● Water temperature ≥ 5°C
(if below — test for strength gain)
● w/c ≤ 0.45
● Cementing materials content ≥
390 kg/m3 (600 lb/yd3)
● Slump range 150 to 225 mm (6 to
10 in.)

Placing and
Finishing Concrete
 Placing Concrete
Underwater
● Used: Tremie

● Advantages: Can be used to

funnel concrete down through
the water into the structure.

● Watch for: Discharge end

always has to be buried in fresh
concrete to ensure seal
between water and concrete
mass.
Placing and
Finishing Concrete
 Consolidating
Concrete

● Internal Vibration

● External Vibration

Placing and
Finishing Concrete
 Internal Vibration

Vibrator

R
1½ R

Placing and Radius of Action

Finishing Concrete
 Internal Vibrators
Recommended Approximate Rate of
Diameter frequency, radius of placement,
of head, vibrations per action, mm m3/h
mm (in.) minute (in.) (yd3/h) Application
Plastic and flowing
20-40 80-150 0.8-4 concrete in thin
9000-15,000 members. Also used
(3/4-1½) (3-6) (1-5) for lab test
specimens.
Plastic concrete in
30-60 130-250 2.3-8 thin walls, columns,
8500-12,500 beams, precast piles,
(1¼-2½) (5-10) (3-10) thin slabs, and along
construction joints.
Stiff plastic concrete
50-90 180-360 4.6-15 (less than 80-mm
8000-12,000 [3-in.] slump) in
(2-3½) (7-14) (6-20)
Placing and general construction .
Finishing Concrete Adapted from ACI 309
 Systematic Vibration of
Each New Lift
CORRECT
Vertical penetration a few inches into
previous lift (which should not yet be
rigid) of systematic regular intervals
will give adequate consolidation

INCORRECT
Haphazard random penetration of the
vibrator at all angles and spacings
without sufficient depth will not assure
intimate combination of the two layers
Placing and
Finishing Concrete
 Placing Concrete in a
Sloping Lift
CORRECT
Start placing at bottom of slope so
that compaction is increased by
weight of newly added concrete.
Vibration consolidates the concrete.

INCORRECT
When placing is begun at top of slope
the upper concrete tends to pull apart
especially when vibrated below as
this starts flow and removes from
Placing and concrete above.
Finishing Concrete
 External Vibration
● Form vibrators
● Vibrating tables
● Surface vibrators
● Vibratory screeds
● Plate vibrators
● Vibratory roller screeds
● Vibratory hand floats or
trowels

Placing and
Finishing Concrete
 Consolidating Concrete
Inadequate consolidation
can result in:
● Honeycomb
● Excessive amount of entrapped
air voids (bugholes)
● Sand streaks
● Cold joints
● Placement lines
● Subsidence cracking

Placing and
Finishing Concrete
 Nuclear Gauges to Determine
Subbase Compaction

Placing and
Finishing Concrete
 Screeding (Strikeoff)
The process of cutting off excess
concrete to bring the top surface of a
slab to proper grade

Placing and
Finishing Concrete
 Vibratory
Screeds

Placing and
Finishing Concrete
 Bullfloating

Placing and
Finishing Concrete
 Darbying

Placing and
Finishing Concrete
 Edging
Edging densifies and compacts concrete
next to forms where floating is less effective

● Required along all edge forms,

isolation and construction joints
in floors and exterior slabs
● Cut concrete away from forms
to a depth of 25 mm with a
pointed mason or margin trowel
● Edging may be required after
each subsequent finishing
operation for interior slabs
Placing and
Finishing Concrete
 Highway Straightedges

Placing and
Finishing Concrete
 Floating (Power or Hand)
● To embed aggregate
particles just beneath the
surface
● To remove slight
imperfections, humps, and
voids
● To compact the mortar at
the surface in preparation
for additional finishing
operations.
Placing and
Finishing Concrete
 Troweling
● Creates smooth,
hard,dense surface
● Exterior concrete should
not be troweled because:
● it can lead to a loss of
entrained air caused by
overworking the surface
● troweled surfaces can
be slippery when wet.

Placing and
Finishing Concrete
 Brooming

Placing and
Finishing Concrete
 Tining

Placing and
Finishing Concrete
 Curing and Protection

Placing and ● Cure for 7 days

Finishing Concrete
 Placing on Hardened Concrete
Preparing Hardened Concrete

Placing and
Finishing Concrete
 Bonding New to Previously
Hardened Concrete

● Cement-sand
grout
● Latex
● Epoxy

Placing and
Finishing Concrete
 Isolation Joints

Placing and
Finishing Concrete
 Contraction Joints

Placing and
Finishing Concrete
 Spacing of Contraction
Joints in Meters
Slab Maximum-size Maximum-size
thickness, aggregate less aggregate
mm than 19 mm 19 mm and larger
100 2.4 3.0
125 3.0 3.75
150 3.75 4.5
175 4.25 5.25
200 5.0 6.0
225 5.5 6.75
250 6.0 7.5
Placing and
Finishing Concrete Metric
 Spacing of Contraction
Joints in Feet
Maximum-size Maximum-size
Slab aggregate aggregate
thickness, in. less than ¾ in. ¾ in. and larger
4 8 10
5 10 13
6 12 15
7 14 18
8 16 20
9 18 23
10 20 25

Placing and
Finishing Concrete Inch-Pound
 Making Contraction Joints

Grooving tool
on bull-float

Placing and
Finishing Concrete
Dry-cut sawing concrete
 Construction
Joints

Placing and
Finishing Concrete
 Joint Layout for Slabs
Basic Factors to Remember
● Panels created by contraction joints
should be approximately square
● Panel aspect ratio max. 1½ to 1
● Contraction (control) joints should
only terminate at a free edge or at
an isolation joint
● When joint spacing exceeds 4.5 m
(15 ft), load transfer by aggregate
interlock decreases significantly
Placing and
Finishing Concrete
 Typical Joint Layout

Placing and
Finishing Concrete
 Finishing Operations
Single Course Floors
● Consolidation
● Strike-off
● Edging
● Darbying or Bull Floating
Lapse of Time
● Edging
● Grooving (if desired)
● Floating (power or hand)
● Troweling (power or hand)
Lapse of Time
● Second Troweling (power or hand)
● Final Troweling (hand)
Placing and ● Curing
Finishing Concrete
 Finishing Operations - Exterior Slabs
Sidewalks, Driveways etc.
● Consolidation
● Strike-off
● Depress aggregate with metal/wood strip
at joint location if hand tooled
● Darbying or Bull floating
Lapse of time
● Edging
● Jointing (optional if hand tooled)
● Floating
Lapse of time
● Texturing (brooming/swirl float finish)
Placing and ● Curing
Finishing Concrete
 Patching

Placing and
Finishing Concrete
 Curing Patches

Placing and
Finishing Concrete
 Cleaning Concrete
Surfaces
● Cleaning methods:
● Water
● Chemical
● Mechanical

Placing and
Finishing Concrete
 Finishing Formed
Surfaces
● Rough-form finishes
● Smooth off-the-form finish

● Smooth, rubbed finish

● Sand-floated finish

● Grout cleandown

(sack-rubbed finish)
Placing and
Finishing Concrete
 Special Surface Finishes
● Pattern and Textures
● Exposed Aggregate Concrete

● Colored Finishes

● Stains, Paints and Clear

Coatings

Placing and
Finishing Concrete
Placing and
Finishing Concrete
 Working Safely with Concrete
Protect:

● Your Eyes

● Your Back

● Your Skin

Placing and
Finishing Concrete
 Precautions
WARNING: Contact with wet (unhardened) concrete, mortar,
cement, or cement mixtures can cause SKIN IRRITATION, SEVERE
CHEMICAL BURNS (THIRD-DEGREE), or SERIOUS EYE
DAMAGE. Frequent exposure may be associated with irritant and/or
allergic contact dermatitis. Wear water-proof gloves, a long-sleeved
shirt, full-length trousers, and proper eye protection when working
with these materials. If you have to stand in wet concrete, use
waterproof boots that are high enough to keep concrete from flowing
into them. Wash wet concrete, mortar, cement, or cement mixtures
from your skin immediately. Flush eyes with clean water immediately
after contact. In-direct contact through clothing can be as serious as
direct contact, so promptly rinse out wet concrete, mortar, cement,
or cement mixtures from clothing. Seek immediate medical attention
if you have persistent or severe discomfort.

Placing and http://www.cement.org/pdf_files/ms271.pdf

Finishing Concrete