Concrete is one of the world's most versatile and durable construction materials. Every major construction project from tunnels and bridges to offices and schools uses concrete in one form or another in a variety of structures.
Concrete is made from a combination of cement, aggregates and water and achieves its most notable property of strength through a chemical reaction between the cement and the water. In addition to the above ingredients, concrete can contain admixtures and/or other supplementary materials.
General concrete
Strength class: C4-C16.
Area of use: family house, un-reinforced slabs, footpaths, garden sheds and other concrete products for general purposes that are not exposed to varying environmental conditions.
Structural concrete
Strenght class: C16-C 35.
Area of use: reinforced concrete, multi story and foundation construction, bridges, tunnels etc.
Special features: depending on composition this concrete is able to resist varying environmental conditions (agressive medium, freezing, salt etc.).
High strength concrete
Strenght class: >C40.
Area of use: special needs (e.g. sky scrapers, bank vaults, high early strength etc.).
Special features: high performance, high strength, long lifespan.
Deep foundation and underwater concrete
Strenght class: C12-C30.
Area of use: deep foundation and under water construction (e.g. CFA pile concrete).
Special features: usually over 400kg/m3 cement content.
Pavements
Strenght class: C4-C35.
Area of use: road basement concrete with different binding material, e.g. CKT, pavements exposed to freezing, salting and abrasion.
Special features: contains crushed aggregate (e.g basalt) – different quality and grain size depending on the extent of the abrasion impact.
Industrial floor and other fibre reinforced concrete
Strenght class: C16-C30.
Area of use: large industrial warehouses which are exposed to high point loads and frequent heavy traffic such as fork lifts etc. Fibre reinforced concrete can be used in certain situations as a replacement for traditional bar and mesh reinforcement.
Special features: hard and durable surface. In order to stop cracking and shrinkage it can contain different fibres (e.g. steel fibre, synthetic fibre, polypropilen fibre, glass fibre etc.).
Light weight concrete
Strenght class: C12-C35;. >C35.
Area of use: applications where significantly lower density is needed (due to those structures which cannot take the weight of normal concrete).
Special features: usually used as sound and heat insulating material at the same time.
Other special concretes
accelerated set concrete
decorative concrete
flowable concrete
frost resistant concrete
pumpable concrete
self compactiong concrete
sulfate resistant concrete
etc.
