What’s In The Mix?
Concrete is the most widely used and versatile construction material in the world. But what is concrete? It is a specified mixture of cement, sand, coarse and fine aggregates (gravel), water, and sometimes chemical admixtures. Each mix is designed to achieve a certain compressive strength – megapascals or MPa – based on the type of project and the type of finish required.
Weather’s Affect on Concrete
The air and material temperature can greatly affect the proper curing of poured concrete and having a successful concrete pour in hot or cold weather requires understanding of the various factors that affect concrete properties. To read more about our cold weather or hot weather concrete pouring tips, please download the info sheets below:
Hot Weather Concrete Tips – coming soon
Quality Assurance
Cardinal Concrete has in-house quality assurance staff that can create and review mix designs and provide information about the type of concrete you will need for your job.
Fresh concrete is tested after batching for slump, temperature, air content and wet density. Cylinders of fresh concrete are randomly gathered and taken to a concrete testing laboratory. At certain time intervals, the cylinders will then be placed under pressure to find out at what pressure they break; this tests the concrete strength achieved for the batch of concrete.
The aggregates used in our concrete have also undergone extensive and on-going tests to ensure they meets the specifications required by the CSA for concrete.
