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Description / Abstract:
At the turn of the twentieth century, concrete was generally
placed as very dry mixtures, and was deposited in thin lifts and
rammed into place by heavy tampers, which involved extensive manual
labor. Typical structures, such as foundations, retaining walls,
and dams, contained little or no reinforcement. The concept of
rammed concrete in thin lifts can be traced back to the early Roman
times, when the Pantheon was built. Many of these structures are
still in service, proving that this type of construction produced
strong, durable concrete.
In the early twentieth century, the common use of reinforcing
steel in concrete changed the consolidation requirements for
concrete. Concrete sections were greatly reduced in thickness.
Constructors found that the dry mixtures could not be tamped in the
narrow forms filled with reinforcing steel and, consequently, water
was added to facilitate placement into forms without regard to
effects on the mixture itself. The change from massive tamped
concrete structures in the early 1900s to relatively thin,
reinforced concrete structures was a major advance in engineering
practice, but did not necessarily result in immediate improvements
in concrete quality. The dry, tamped concrete structures were
somewhat less permeable than the wet concrete placed into the first
reinforced structures. Methods other than tamping were tried to
consolidate stiffer concrete. Compressed air was introduced into
the fresh concrete through long jets. The practice of chuting
concrete into place resulted in excessively wet mixtures as the
water content was increased (without increasing the cement) to
allow the mixture to flow in chutes (Walter 1929). It became
apparent that these wet mixtures did not produce good concrete
(Engineering News Record 1923). The result was lower strength,
durability failures, and increased drying shrinkage and cracking.
The poor durability of these first reinforced concrete structures
was of great concern to early practitioners. These mixtures would
be described as "wetter," though the slump test was yet to be
standardized.