Table of Contents
Chapter 1—Inspection and the inspector
1.1—Inspection processes
1.1.1—Why inspection is needed
1.1.2—Purposes of inspection
1.1.3—Owner and contractor inspections
1.2—Inspector
1.2.1—Duties
1.2.2—Education and certification
1.2.3—Authority
1.2.4—Relations with contractors, supervisors, and workers
1.2.5—Safety
1.3—Importance of clear specifications
Chapter 2—Statistical concepts for quality assurance
2.1—Quality-control and quality-acceptance inspections
2.2—Traditional quality assurance
2.3—Statistical concepts and procedures
2.4—Basic statistical concepts
2.4.1—Definitions
2.4.2—Normal distribution curves
2.4.3—Applying normal distribution curves to concrete compressive strength
2.5—Statistical tools
2.5.1—Frequency distributions
2.5.2—Control charts
Appendix 1—Sampling by random numbers
A1.1—Example 1: Sampling by time sequence
A1.2—Example 2: Sampling by material weight
A1.3—Example 3: Sampling by depth of concrete pavement
Appendix 2—Normal distribution curves
Appendix 3—Computing standard deviation and
required average concrete strength
A3.1—Calculating standard deviation s
A3.2—Calculating required average strength fcr′
Appendix 4—Control charts on concrete materials
A4.1—Example 1: Calculations to determine moving averages for sand-equivalent test
A4.2—Example 2: Calculations to determine moving averages for 1-1/2 x 3/4 in. concrete aggregate (maximum variation of percentage of material passing 1 in. sieve)
Chapter 3—Inspection and testing of materials
3.1—Cement
3.1.1—Standard types
3.1.2—Blended cements and other hydraulic cements
3.1.3—Optional requirements
3.1.4—Sampling and testing procedures
3.2—Aggregates
3.2.1—Specifications
3.2.2—Sampling procedures
3.3—Water
3.4—Admixtures
3.5—Steel reinforcement
3.6—Curing compounds
3.7—Joint materials
Appendix 5—Aggregate sampling and testing
A5.1—Sieve or screen analysis of fine and coarse aggregate: ASTM C136
A5.2—Sampling aggregates: ASTM D75
A5.3—Materials finer than No. 200 (75 μm) sieve: ASTM C117
A5.4—Clay lumps and friable particles in aggregates: ASTM C142
A5.5—Organic impurities in fine aggregate: ASTM C40
A5.6—Specific gravity and absorption of coarse aggregate: ASTM C127
A5.7—Specific gravity and absorption of fine aggregate: ASTM C128
A5.8—Total moisture content of aggregate by drying: ASTM C566
Chapter 4—Handling and storage of materials
4.1—Cement
4.1.1—Storage and hauling of bulk cement
4.1.2—Storage of bagged cement
4.2—Aggregates
4.2.1—Storage in stockpiles
4.2.2—Storage in bins
4.2.3—Finish screening
4.2.4—Transporting
4.3—Supplementary cementitious materials
4.4—Admixtures
Chapter 5—Fundamentals of concrete
5.1—Nature of concrete
5.1.1—Components
5.1.2—Water-cementitious material ratio
5.2—Fresh concrete
5.2.1—Workability
5.2.2—Consolidation
5.2.3—Hydration, setting, and hardening
5.2.4—Heat of hydration
5.3—Hardened concrete
5.3.1—Curing
5.3.2—Strength
5.3.3—Durability
5.3.4—Chemical attack
5.3.5—Freezing-and-thawing effects
5.3.6—Alkali-aggregate reactivity
5.3.7—Volume changes
Chapter 6—Proportioning and control of concrete mixtures
6.1—Factors to consider
6.2—Methods of specifying concrete proportions
6.2.1—Strength specifications
6.2.2—Prescriptive specifications
6.3—Proportioning for specified strength or w/cm
6.3.1—Cement types
6.4—Concrete with supplementary cementitious materials
6.4.1—Mixture proportioning and control
6.4.2—Water-cementitious material ratio
6.4.3—Aggregate selection
6.4.4—Air entrainment
6.4.5—Quantity of paste
6.4.6—Proportion of fine-to-coarse aggregate
6.5—Proportioning for resistance to severe exposure conditions
6.5.1—Paste quality
6.5.2—Required air entrainment
6.5.3—Aggregate proportions
6.5.4—Proportioning by absolute volume
6.5.5—Computing absolute volume and percentage of solids
6.5.6—Example of proportioning by absolute volume
6.6—Control of concrete proportions
6.6.1—Laboratory batch quantities
6.6.2—Field batch quantities
6.6.3—Field control of selected proportions
6.7—Computations for yield
6.7.1—Density method
Chapter 7—Batching and mixing
7.1—Batching operations
7.1.1—Measurement tolerances
7.1.2—Weighing equipment
7.1.3—Batching equipment
7.1.4—Measuring water
7.1.5—Measuring admixtures
7.2—Mixing operations
7.2.1—Central or site mixing
7.2.2—Ready mixed concrete
7.2.3—Volumetric batching and mixing
7.3—Plant inspection
7.3.1—Control of water content
7.3.2—Control of air content
7.3.3—Control of temperature
7.4—Placing inspection
7.4.1—Control of slump loss
7.4.2—Control of consistency
7.4.3—Measuring concrete quantity
Chapter 8—Inspection before concreting
8.1—Preliminary study
8.2—Stages of preparatory work
8.3—Excavations and foundations
8.3.1—Building slabs-on-ground
8.3.2—Building foundations
8.3.3—Underwater placements
8.3.4—Pile foundations
8.4—Forms for buildings
8.4.1—Form tightness and alignment
8.4.2—Shoring
8.4.3—Preventing bulging and settlement
8.4.4—Coating for release
8.4.5—Form reuse and maintenance
8.5—Reinforcement
8.5.1—Cutting and bending
8.5.2—Storage and handling
8.6—Installation
8.6.1—Cover depth
8.6.2—Splicing, welding, and anchoring
8.6.3—Congestion
8.6.4—Support
8.7—Embedded fixtures
8.8—Joints
8.9—Final inspection before placing
8.10—Checklist
Chapter 9—Concreting operations
9.1—Placing conditions
9.2—Handling of concrete
9.2.1—Conveying
9.2.2—Placing
9.3—Consolidation
9.3.1—Vibration
9.4—Finishing
9.4.1—Unformed surfaces
9.4.2—Formed surfaces
9.5—Construction joints
9.5.1—Planned
9.5.2—Unplanned
Chapter 10—Form removal, reshoring, curing, and protection
10.1—Removal of forms and supports
10.1.1—Time of removal
10.1.2—Multistory work
10.2—Protection from damage
10.2.1—Backfilling
10.3—Curing
10.3.1—Moist curing
10.3.2—Membrane curing
10.3.3—Impermeable sheets
10.3.4—Accelerated curing
10.4—Curing and protection during weather extremes
10.4.1—Cold weather
10.4.2—Hot weather
Chapter 11—Postconstruction inspection of concrete
11.1—Acceptance inspection
11.2—Visual inspection (condition survey)
11.3—Other roles and responsibilities
11.3.1—Nondestructive evaluation (NDE)
11.3.2—Destructive testing
11.3.3—Summary
11.4—Observations leading to repair/rehabilitation
11.4.1—Minor defects
11.4.2—Structural defects
Chapter 12—Slabs for buildings
12.1—Positioning of reinforcement
12.2—Mixture requirements
12.3—Slabs-on-ground
12.3.1—Subgrade and subbase
12.3.2—Placing and consolidation of concrete
12.3.3—Finishing
12.3.4—Hardened surfaces
12.3.5—Two-course construction and special toppings
12.3.6—Curing and protection
12.4—Structural slabs
12.5—Joint construction
Chapter 13—Pavement slabs and bridge decks
13.1—Foundation (subgrade and subbase course)
13.1.1—Fine grading
13.1.2—Stabilized base
13.2—Forms
13.2.1—Keyway forms
13.3—Steel reinforcement
13.3.1—Storage
13.3.2—Installation methods
13.4—Concrete
13.4.1—Materials
13.4.2—Mixture proportioning
13.4.3—Batching and mixing
13.5—Paving operations
13.5.1—Concrete placement
13.5.2—Vibration
13.5.3—Slipform paving
13.5.4—Fixed-form paving
13.5.5—Finishing
13.5.6—Texturing
13.5.7—Curing and protection
13.6—Final acceptance
13.7—Joints
13.7.1—Transverse contraction joints
13.7.2—Transverse construction joints
13.7.3—Longitudinal contraction joints
13.7.4—Longitudinal construction joints
13.7.5—Expansion joints
13.7.6—Joint sealing
13.8—Bridge decks
13.8.1—Concrete placement
13.8.2—Finishing
Chapter 14—Architectural concrete
14.1—Determining requirements for acceptability
14.1.1—Preconstruction samples
14.2—Importance of uniformity
14.3—Forms
14.3.1—Form sheathing or lining
14.3.2—Textures and patterns
14.3.3—Form joints
14.3.4—Form sealers and release agents
14.3.5—Form ties
14.3.6—Form removal
14.4—Reinforcement
14.5—Concrete materials and mixture proportions
14.5.1—Cement
14.5.2—Aggregates
14.5.3—Admixtures
14.6—Batching, mixing, and transporting
14.7—Placing and consolidation
14.8—Surface treatments
14.8.1—Sandblasting
14.8.2—Bush hammering
14.8.3—Grinding
14.8.4—Manual treatment
14.8.5—Exposed-aggregate finishes
14.9—Curing and protection
14.10—Repairs
14.11—Precast members
14.11.1—Storage and transportation
14.11.2—Erection
14.12—Final acceptance
14.12.1—Bug holes
14.12.2—Color variations
Chapter 15—Special concreting methods
15.1—Slipforming vertical structures
15.1.1—Formwork
15.1.2—Reinforcing steel
15.1.3—Control of concrete placement
15.1.4—Finishing and curing
15.1.5—Mixture requirements
15.2—Slipforming cast-in-place pipe
15.2.1—Forms
15.2.2—Control of concrete placement
15.3—Tilt-up construction
15.3.1—Casting platform
15.3.2—Forms
15.3.3—Bond prevention
15.3.4—Concrete placement
15.3.5—Panel erection
15.4—Lift-slab construction
15.4.1—Forms
15.4.2—Bond prevention
15.4.3—Slab erection
15.5—Preplaced-aggregate concrete
15.5.1—Aggregate placement
15.5.2—Grout materials and mixing
15.5.3—Grouting operations
15.6—Underwater concrete construction
15.6.1—Equipment and methods
15.6.2—Mixture requirements for tremie concrete
15.7—Vacuum dewatering of concrete
15.7.1—Equipment and methods
15.7.2—Reduction in slab thickness
15.8—Pumped concrete
15.8.1—Types of equipment
15.8.2—Mixture requirements
15.8.3—Control of placement
15.8.4—Taking concrete samples
15.9—Shotcrete
15.9.1—Shotcreting processes
15.9.2—Mixture proportions
15.9.3—Safety
15.9.4—Forms and ground wires
15.9.5—Surface finishing
15.9.6—Curing and protection
15.9.7—Control testing
Chapter 16—Special types of concrete
16.1—Structural lightweight-aggregate concrete
16.1.1—Aggregates
16.1.2—Mixture proportioning and control
16.1.3—Testing
16.1.4—Batching and mixing
16.1.5—Placing, consolidation, and finishing
16.1.6—Curing and protection
16.2—Lightweight fill concrete
16.2.1—Aggregates
16.2.2—Mixture proportioning and testing
16.3—Low-density concrete
16.3.1—Aggregates
16.3.2—Foams for cellular concrete
16.3.3—Mixture proportioning and control
16.3.4—Testing
16.3.5—Batching and mixing
16.3.6—Placing and consolidation
16.3.7—Curing and protection
16.4—Heavyweight concrete
16.4.1—Aggregates
16.4.2—Mixture proportions and control
16.4.3—Batching and mixing
16.4.4—Placing, consolidation, and finishing
16.4.5—Curing and protection
16.5—Mass concrete for dams
16.5.1—Mixture proportioning
16.5.2—Testing
16.5.3—Temperature control
16.5.4—Special equipment and procedures
16.6—Structural mass concrete
16.7—Shrinkage-compensating concrete
16.7.1—Materials
16.7.2—Mixture proportioning and control
16.7.3—Production, placing, and finishing
16.7.4—Curing and protection
16.8—High-performance concrete
Chapter 17—Precast and prestressed concrete
17.1—Precast concrete
17.1.1—Scope of inspection
17.1.2—Inspecting for quality control and quality assurance
17.1.3—Record keeping and test reports
17.1.4—Formwork
17.1.5—Embedded items
17.1.6—Bar and wire reinforcement
17.1.7—Curing
17.1.8—Handling, storage, and transportation
17.1.9—Erection
17.1.10—Repairs
17.2—Precast prestressed concrete
17.2.1—Concrete materials
17.2.2—Tendons for pretensioning
17.2.3—Tendon handling and storage
17.2.4—Attachments for tendons
17.2.5—Deflection devices
17.2.6—Tensioning of tendons
17.2.7—Wire failure in tendons
17.2.8—Detensioning
17.3—Cast-in-place prestressed concrete
17.3.1—Concrete materials
17.3.2—Post-tensioning tendons
17.3.3—Anchorages and tensioning
17.3.4—Grouting procedures
17.3.5—Postconstruction inspection
Chapter 18—Grout, mortar, and stucco
18.1—Pressure grouting
18.2—Grouting under base plates and machine bases
18.2.1—Damp-pack mortar
18.2.2—Gas-forming grouts
18.2.3—Catalyzed metallic grouts
18.2.4—Cementitious systems
18.2.5—Nonshrink grouts
18.3—Mortar and stucco
Chapter 19—Testing of concrete
19.1—Sampling
19.2—Tests of freshly mixed concrete
19.2.1—Consistency
19.2.2—Air content
19.2.3—Density of freshly mixed concrete: ASTM C138/
C138M
19.2.4—Temperature
19.3—Strength tests
19.3.1—Compressive strength: ASTM C31/C31M, C192/C192M, and C39/C39M
19.3.2—Capping cylindrical concrete specimens for compressive strength tests: ASTM C617
19.3.3—Use of unbonded caps for compressive strength tests: ASTM C1231/C1231M
19.3.4—Testing concrete cylinders: ASTM C39/C39M
19.3.5—Flexural strength of concrete: ASTM C31/C31M, C192/C192M, C78, and C293
19.3.6—Molding flexural specimens
19.3.7—Curing flexural specimens
19.3.8—Testing beams for flexural strength
19.3.9—Splitting tensile strength of cylindrical concrete specimens: ASTM C496/C496M
19.3.10—Compressive strength of lightweight insulating concrete: ASTM C495
19.4—Accelerated curing of test specimens
19.5—Uniformity tests of mixers
19.5.1—Truck mixers
19.5.2—Stationary mixers
19.5.3—Washout test for coarse-aggregate content
19.5.4—Air-free density of concrete test
19.5.5—Air-free density of mortar test
19.6—Density of structural lightweight concrete
19.7—Tests of completed structures
19.7.1—Cores from hardened concrete
19.7.2—Load tests
19.7.3—Nondestructive tests
19.8—Shipping and handling samples
Chapter 20—Records and reports
20.1—General information
20.2—Specific information
20.3—Maintaining records
20.4—Quality-control charts
20.4.1—Concrete delivery ticket
Chapter 21—Inspection checklist
21.1—Materials (Chapters 3 and 4)
21.2—Proportioning of concrete mixtures (Chapter 6)
21.3—Batching and mixing (Chapter 7)
21.4—Before concreting (Chapter 8)
21.5—Concreting operations (Chapter 9)
21.6—After concreting (Chapter 10)
21.7—Special work
21.7.1—Cold weather concreting
21.7.2—Hot weather concreting
21.7.3—Air-entrained concrete
21.7.4—Two-course floors (Chapter 12)
21.7.5—Architectural concrete (Chapter 14)
21.7.6—Tilt-up construction (Chapter 15)
21.7.7—Preplaced-aggregate concrete (Chapter 15)
21.7.8—Underwater construction (Chapter 15)
21.7.9—Vacuum dewatering (Chapter 15)
21.7.10—Pumped concrete (Chapter 15)
21.7.11—Shotcrete (Chapter 15)
21.7.12—Structural lightweight-aggregate concrete (Chapter 16)
21.7.13—Low-density concrete (Chapter 16)
21.7.14—High-density concrete (Chapter 16)
21.7.15—Mass concrete (Chapter 16)
21.7.16—Shrinkage-compensating concrete (Chapter 16)
21.7.17—Prestressed concrete (Chapter 17)
21.7.18—Grouting under base plates (Chapter 18)
21.7.19—Pressure grouting (Chapter 18)
21.7.20—Mortar and stucco (Chapter 18)
21.7.21—Tests of concrete (Chapter 19)
21.7.22—Records and reports (Chapter 20)
Chapter 22—References
22.1—Referenced standards and reports
22.2—Cited references
Appendix A—Guide for Concrete Inspection (ACI 311.4R-05)
Appendix B—Guide for Concrete Plant Inspection
and Testing of Ready-Mixed Concrete (ACI 311.5-04)