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ACI Technical Publications-A Gold Mine of Information

8/1/2007

How should the size, frequency, and amplitude of a concrete vibrator change with the properties of the concrete? Are there design techniques for anchoring reinforcing bars in shorter lengths than specified by ACI 318? How do concrete mixtures containing lightweight aggregate differ from those containing normalweight aggregate? The answers to these and many more questions are contained in a broad range of ACI technical publications.

As with most civil engineering students, my first encounter with ACI and its technical documents came during the spring semester of my junior year when I was introduced to the ACI Building Code and the ACI Recommended Practice for Selecting Proportions for Concrete, ACI 318 and ACI 613 (nowadays ACI 211.1), respectively. My real introduction, however, occurred a few years later. As I began my research for the MS degree, I found myself in Carpenter Hall, Cornell's engineering library, reading article after article on cracking, microcracking, concrete strength, and mix proportioning in the Proceedings of the ACI Journal (in those days, ACI had a single monthly publication). More often than not, my attention would stray to a paper that was not directly related to my research-my concrete education had begun.

Toward the end of the summer of 1967, during one of my frequent visits, the head librarian told me that they had two sets of ACI Journals and were planning on discarding one. She asked if I would be interested in having the journals, back to 1962. I jumped at the chance and this began my library of ACI publications, which today includes many ACI publications and issues of ACI periodicals back to 1952.

I was on active duty in the Army Corps of Engineers while pursuing the MS. In the fall of 1968, I began my real Army career, which, following service in both combat and construction battalions and a year in Vietnam, led me to the position of Chief Concrete Instructor at the U.S. Army Engineer School at Fort Belvoir, VA. My colleagues and I taught captains, lieutenants, sergeants, and enlisted men the basics of concrete materials, construction, and structural design. Coupled with the challenging and truly positive experiences I had teaching individuals with a wide variety of practical experience was the need to field a broad range of questions on the subject matter. While I was able to draw on my own construction experience, I found ACI technical committee documents to be a great ally in broadening my knowledge so that I could answer those questions. ACI 304, "Recommended Practice for Measuring, Mixing, Transporting, and Placing Concrete" (I'm using the titles of the time), was especially helpful. I was fortunate in that I had the opportunity to read that document from cover to cover, not once, but several times.

During this period, I also became familiar with ACI 301, "Specifications for Structural Concrete for Buildings"; ACI 302, "Recommended Practice for Concrete Floor and Slab Construction"; ACI 305, "Recommended Practice for Hot Weather Concreting"; and ACI 306, "Recommended Practice for Cold Weather Concreting." During my tenure at the Army Engineer School, I had many occasions to refer back to those documents and, as a result, that period became one of the most important in my education as a concrete professional. My teachers were, literally, the leaders in concrete construction, and I was blessed with the wisdom of hundreds of years of practical experience.

Today, these and many more committee documents are available online at ACI's website and compiled in the ACI Manual of Concrete Practice, one of ACI's most popular publications. They remain a principal source of my ongoing education in all aspects of concrete materials, construction, and design. Coupled with the ACI Structural Journal and the ACI Materials Journal, they represent a vast resource.

Now that ACI Journal articles are available on ACI's website (back to 1905) and nearly all ACI committee documents are downloadable, ACI technical publications could not be more widely available, and for the concrete community, they represent a true gold mine of information.

By the way, the three questions that began this memo are answered, respectively, in ACI 309R, ACI 408R, and ACI 211.2.

David Darwin
American Concrete Institute
daved@ku.edu

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