Controlling Sulfate Attack in Mississippi Department of Transportation Structures

At some construction sites in Mississippi, deterioration of concrete in contact with the surrounding soil could be related to the high sulfate content of the adjacent soils. Studies dating to 1966 have documented sulfate attack associated with specific types of sulfide or sulfate-rich soils. Future highway-related construction must include specified procedures and materials that will ensure the service life of concrete construction is not reduced by such aggressive soils. In this project, three portland cements and five pozzolans, which can be used as cement replacements, were investigated to determine which of these cements and/or cement blends could be categorized as sulfate-resistant. Two screening procedures, the University of California Pavement Research Center’s Caltrans rapid sulfate test and the American Society for Testing and Materials’ Standard C1012 (standard test method for length change), were used to evaluate the cements/blended cements. Results from the Caltrans test identified only one of the blended cements investigated that failed to qualify as sulfate resistant. The results from the bar expansion test (ASTM C1012) indicated that only one cement evaluated would not meet the criterion for an American Concrete Institute (ACI) Class 1 sulfate-resistant cement. Further screening was done by examining the expansion trends and the conditions of the test bars after 1 year. Eight cements or blended cements could be judged on the basis of no or slow tendency to show change dimensions and no discernible damage to the mortar test bars after 1 year of exposure. All of the cements performed well in this test program when blended with silica fume.

• Record URL:
  http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf&AD=ADA529748
• Record URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/20266
• Corporate Authors:

  U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center

  Geotechnical and Structures Laboratory, 3909 Halls Ferry Road
  Vicksburg, MS  United States  39180-6199

  Mississippi Department of Transportation

  401 North West Street, P.O. Box 1850
  Jackson, MS  United States  39215-1850
• Authors:
  • Weiss Jr, Charles A
  • Sykes, Melvin C
  • Poole, Toy S
  • Tom, Joe G
  • Green, Brian H
  • Neeley, Billy D
  • Malone, Philip G
• Publication Date: 2010-8

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Edition: Final Report
• Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 58p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Portland cement; Pozzolan; Soils; Sulfate resisting cement
• Candidate Terms: Blended cement
• Geographic Terms: Mississippi
• Subject Areas: Geotechnology; Highways; Materials; I42: Soil Mechanics;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01207161
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: ERDC/GSL TR-10-31, MS-DOT-RD-10-194
• Files: NTL, TRIS, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Oct 13 2010 2:53PM