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Question: Before Placing The Concrete For The Last Pier of A Drilled-Pier Foundation Job, The

The foreman added water to a concrete truck for the last pier of a foundation, lowering the strength of that pier's concrete according to 7-day cylinder tests. Using guidelines that 7-day strengths are typically 60-75% of 28-day strengths, and this pier's 7-day strength of 1980 psi is 66% of the specified 3000 psi strength, the engineer believes the concrete will likely reach the specified strength after 28 days. Coring the pier can confirm its strength if 28-day cylinders do not yet meet specifications to avoid unnecessary removal costs.

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Farhan Sajid
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24 views1 page

Question: Before Placing The Concrete For The Last Pier of A Drilled-Pier Foundation Job, The

The foreman added water to a concrete truck for the last pier of a foundation, lowering the strength of that pier's concrete according to 7-day cylinder tests. Using guidelines that 7-day strengths are typically 60-75% of 28-day strengths, and this pier's 7-day strength of 1980 psi is 66% of the specified 3000 psi strength, the engineer believes the concrete will likely reach the specified strength after 28 days. Coring the pier can confirm its strength if 28-day cylinders do not yet meet specifications to avoid unnecessary removal costs.

Uploaded by

Farhan Sajid
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Question: Before placing the concrete for the last pier of a drilled-pier foundation job, the

foreman decided to add water to the ready mix truck. The inspector didn't like the looks of
the watered-down concrete and took test cylinders that represented that one pier. The
specifications call for a 28-day strength of 3000 psi. After the lab broke the seven-day
cylinders, the cylinder from the pier with added water broke at 1980 psi. The other seven-
day cylinders were as high as 2620 psi. The engineer is concerned that the concrete will not
meet the specified strength. I realize that adding the water was the wrong thing to do, but I
don't want to remove the pier if it is of adequate strength. Will it reach the specified 3000
psi?
Answer: As this case shows, it is often useful to extrapolate 28-day strengths from seven-
day strengths. Of course, the amount of strength gain varies between the seven-day and the
28-day tests. Cement type and curing conditions are two factors that affect the amount of
strength gain to be expected. Concrete, by Mindness and Young, gives a general rule: The
ratio of 28-day to seven-day strength lies between 1.3 and 1.7 and generally is less than 1.5,
or the seven-day strength is normally between 60% to 75% of the 28-day strength and
usually above 65%. The cylinder that broke at 1980 psi is 66% of the specified 3000 psi.
According to Mindness and Young's rule, it should meet the specified strength at 28 days.
Most likely, the mix wasn't designed for 3000 psi but for a higher compressive strength to
account for variability. By adding the additional mix water you raised the water-cement
ratio which, in turn, reduced the strength. The piers placed before the water was added will
probably have strengths higher than the specified 3000 psi. The pier in question, however,
will most likely meet the specified strength. If after 28 days the cylinders still do not meet
specified strength, take cores to verify the strength before implementing a costly pier
removal.

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