Developing Criteria for Performance-Based Concrete Specifications

For more than 50 years now, concrete technology has advanced, but CDOT specifications for durability have remained mostly unchanged. The minimum cement content for a given strength is derived from mix design guidelines that were developed before water reducing admixtures were widely used and accepted. The minimum cement content generally controls the mix design process, with many mix designs exceeding the minimum strength requirements by 500 to 1,000 psi. Ready mix suppliers that supply to non-CDOT projects have developed mix designs that use less cement and more fly ash than CDOT mix designs and exceeded their strengths. They are able to accomplish this improvement through gradation optimization and admixture combinations. The proposed study tested current CDOT standard mix designs to determine minimum required performance criteria that will be used to develop performance-based concrete mix design criteria. The product of this research will provide the CDOT Materials and Geotechnical Branch with criteria that can be used in the development of performance-based concrete mix design specifications. The use of performance-based specifications would allow ready mixed concrete suppliers to optimize the materials used in creating mix designs. This materials optimization can lower cement content and increase fly ash content that would lead to reduction of costs and concrete carbon footprints in CDOT construction projects.

• Record URL:
  • http://www.coloradodot.info/programs/research/pdfs/2013/performance.pdf/at_download/file
• 
• Corporate Authors:

  University of Colorado, Denver

  1200 Larimer Street
  Denver, CO  United States  80217-3364

  Colorado Department of Transportation

  Research Branch
  Denver, CO  United States  80204

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Ballard, Zachoriah J
  • Durham, Stephan
  • Liu, Rui
• Publication Date: 2013-7

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Edition: Final Report
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 75p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Admixtures; Cement content; Concrete; Fly ash; Mix design; Specifications
• Subject Areas: Highways; Materials; I32: Concrete;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01486859
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: CDOT-2013-9
• Contract Numbers: 22.50
• Files: TRIS, ATRI, USDOT, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Jul 18 2013 1:47PM