Concrete In Transportation: Desired Performance And Specifications

Bryant Mather, director of the Structures Laboratory at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Waterways Experiment Station in Vicksburg, Mississippi, in this 1993 TRB Distinguished Lecture, discusses the procedure for obtaining concrete that has the desired performance. The discussion covers the development of hardened concrete properties and classes of deterioration. The lecture concludes with the following guidelines for obtaining the performance that is desired of concrete in transportation: (1) Decide what sorts and levels of imperfections are tolerable and intolerable; (2) Understand what causes imperfections that are intolerable; (3) Evaluate the environment in which the concrete is to serve to recognize the presence of influences that must be resisted if the concrete is to perform as desired; (4) Prepare concrete specifications that require appropriate levels of relevant properties of concrete so that the concrete can resist the deteriorative influences it will encounter in service; and (5) Ascertain that both the contractor's quality control and the owner's quality assurance systems work to ensure that the concrete produced is as specified.