GERALD B. NEVILLE, P.E.

CONCRETE
MANUAL
2012 IBC

AND ACI 318-11

CONCRETE QUALITY AND FIELD PRACTICES
ONLINE BONUS
FEATURES INCLUDED
Concrete Manual
ISBN: 978-1-60983-267-4
COPYRIGHT 2012, International Code Council
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This Concrete Manual is a copyrighted work owned by the International
Code Council, Inc. Without advance written permission from the copyright owner, no part of this book
may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including, without limitation,
electronic, optical or mechanical means (by way of example and not limitation, photocopying, or recording
by or in an information storage and retrieval system). For information on permission to copy material
exceeding fair use, please contact: ICC Publications, 4051 West Flossmoor Road, Country Club Hills, Illi-
nois 60478, phone 888-ICC-SAFE (423-7233).
The information contained in this document is believed to be accurate; however, it is being provided for
informational purposes only and is intended for use only as a guide. Publication of this document by the
ICC should not be construed as the ICC engaging in or rendering engineering, legal or other professional
services. Use of the information contained in this workbook should not be considered by the user as a sub-
stitute for the advice of a registered professional engineer, attorney or other professional. If such advice is
required, it should be sought through the services of a registered professional engineer, licensed attorney or
other professional.
Trademarks: International Code Council and the International Code Council logo are trademarks of
International Code Council, Inc.
Errata on various ICC publications may be available at www.iccsafe.org/errata.
First Printing: September 2012
Printed in the United States of America
This text on concrete inspection will provide the inspector with an under-
standing of the scientific principles that underlie sound practices and will assist
the inspector in making rational rather than arbitrary decisions. The Concrete
Manual provides the guidance and information that inspectors and related
professionals need to become more proficient and professional in relating to
concrete field practices and inspection. The information provided will
increase the technical capabilities of jurisdictional inspectors in the perfor-
mance of their inspection duties.
The International Building Code

(IBC

), published by the International Code

Council

(ICC

) presents a number of situations in which specially qualified

inspectors are required to perform continuous inspection of construction.
The special inspectors are individuals with highly developed and specialized
skills who observe those critical building or structural features that they are
qualified to inspect. The Concrete Manual serves as a valuable reference to
assist the special inspector in performing the duties and responsibilities of
special inspection for reinforced and prestressed concrete construction.
To perform inspection of any phase or part of construction, the inspector
must be versed in the phase or part that he or she is inspecting. The inspec-
tors knowledge of laws, codes and specifications will be of little value if he or
she does not have an understanding of the construction to be inspected. This
book provides the inspector with a source of that knowledge as applied to
concrete construction.
The initial chapters of the book introduce the reader to concrete and explain
what concrete is and why it behaves as it does. A brief history of portland
cement and concrete is included. In the following chapters, materials are pre-
sented to the reader as a preparation for the final chapters, which cover con-
struction. Conventional construction procedures as well as special techniques
are covered in sufficient detail to enable the reader to understand and recog-
nize them. Throughout all chapters, the reader will find information about
unsatisfactory materials and methods, together with discussion of acceptable
materials and methods. Actual control and inspection procedures are
described and should be of immediate interest to the inspector.
The Concrete Manual provides basic information that can be related to the
described inspection procedures. The descriptions are, by necessity, some-
what general, as the responsible building official will designate the details of
inspection. Codes, specifications and other requirements differ from job to
job. For example, what are the conditions under which the inspector is
authorized to order the work stopped or refuse to accept certain material or
construction? These administrative decisions must be made by the building
official. The statistical quality control methods, although of limited value to
Preface
Preface
iv 2012 Concrete Manual
most inspectors, are included for completeness as concrete mixture proportion-
ing and strength test evaluation and acceptance are based on statistical methods
of analysis and the mathematics of probability. The inspector should at least be
aware of the basic concepts of statistical quality control and its applications to
concrete construction. A Resource References list of the concrete industry and
technical organizations is included at the back of this book. The reader is encour-
aged to contact a listed organization for additional information and/or a publica-
tion on a specific concrete subject.
Of special note, the International Code Council, in cooperation with the Ameri-
can Concrete Institute, offers an examination for reinforced concrete special
inspectors with national certification opportunities. The International Code Coun-
cil offers the examination dealing with the codes and standards involved with rein-
forced concrete inspection; ACI offers certification of field technicians. When
combined, they provide a national certification for Reinforced Concrete Special
Inspector. For more information on the Reinforced Concrete Special Inspector
Certification the reader should contact ACI or the International Code Council.
In addition to the reinforced concrete special inspector certification, ICC, in
cooperation with the Precast Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI) and the Post-
tensioning Institute (PTI), offers a Prestressed Concrete Special Inspector Certi-
fication. The reinforced concrete certification is a prerequisite for obtaining a
prestressed concrete certification.
Acknowledgments
The initial author of the Concrete Manual was Joseph J. Waddell, noted
concrete consultant. Special thanks are due to Mr. Waddell for his out-
standing contribution to this unique publication addressing the special
needs of the concrete field and laboratory inspector/technician.
For nearly three decades, the publication has been continuously updated
to address new developments in concrete technology and construction
practice. In addition, the text is revised on a regular basis to reflect ongo-
ing changes in the building code and corresponding referenced standards.
This printing of the 8th edition has been updated to reflect changes in the
2012 IBC and referenced standard ACI 318-11.
Primary responsibility for the text of this publication, since 1988, is with
Gerald B. Neville, P.E., formerly of the ICBO/ICC technical staff. Special
thanks go to Steven H. Kosmatka of the Portland Cement Association
(PCA) for his continued help and reviews of the total text of the publica-
tion for conformance to current concrete technology and construction
practice; to Connie Field of PCA for her help in securing the many new
color photographs beginning with the 7th edition; to Terry Collins of PCA
for his review of Chapter 11 addressing formwork; to Anthony Felder of
the Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute (CRSI) for his critical review of
Chapter 18 on steel reinforcement; to Roy Reiterman of the Wire Rein-
forcement Institute (WRI) for his special review of the welded wire rein-
forcement text in Chapter 18; to James Baty of the Tilt-Up Concrete
Association (TCA) for updated information on tilt-up construction; and to
Jason Krohn and George Nasser of the Precast/Prestressed Concrete
Institute (PCI) for their critical review of Chapter 20 addressing precast
and prestressed concrete.
Acknowledgments
vi 2012 Concrete Manual
About the International Code Council

The International Code Council (ICC

), a membership association dedicated to building

safety, fire prevention and energy efficiency, develops the codes and standards used to
construct residential and commercial buildings, including homes and schools. The mission
of ICC is to provide the highest quality codes, standards, products and services for all con-
cerned with the safety and performance of the built environment. Most United States cit-
ies, counties and states choose the International Codes, building safety codes developed
by the International Code Council.
The International Codes also serve as the basis for construction of federal properties
around the world, and as a reference for many nations outside the United States. The
International Code Council is also dedicated to innovation and sustainability. ICC Evalua-
tion Service, a subsidiary of ICC, issues Evaluation Reports and Listings for innovative
building products as well as environmental documents such as ICC-ES VAR Environmental
Reports and ICC-ES Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs).
ICC Headquarters:
500 New Jersey Avenue, NW, 6th Floor
Washington, DC 20001
District Offices:
Birmingham, AL; Chicago, IL; Los Angeles, CA
Telephone: 1-888-422-7233
www.iccsafe.org
CHAPTER
Table of Contents
1. FUNDAMENTALS OF CONCRETE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
2. THE FRESH CONCRETE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3. THE STRENGTH OF CONCRETE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
4. THE DURABILITY OF CONCRETE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
5. VOLUME CHANGES AND OTHER PROPERTIES. . . . . . . . . . . 69
6. CRACKS AND BLEMISHES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
7. PORTLAND CEMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
8. AGGREGATES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
9. WATER AND ADMIXTURES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
10. ACCESSORY MATERIALS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
11. FORMWORK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
12. PROPORTIONING THE CONCRETE MIXTURE. . . . . . . . . . . . 215
13. TESTING AND CONTROLLING THE CONCRETE. . . . . . . . . . 239
14. BATCHING AND MIXING THE CONCRETE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
15. HANDLING AND PLACING THE CONCRETE . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
16. SLABS ON GROUND. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321
17. FINISHING AND CURING THE CONCRETE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341
18. THE STEEL REINFORCEMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367
19. HOT AND COLD WEATHER CONCRETING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407
20. PRECAST AND PRESTRESSED CONCRETE. . . . . . . . . . . . . 423
21. LIGHTWEIGHT AND HEAVYWEIGHT CONCRETE. . . . . . . . . 455
22. SPECIAL CONCRETING TECHNIQUES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 467
23. WATERPROOFING AND DAMPPROOFING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 503
24. INTRODUCTION TO INSPECTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 511
25. INSPECTION OF CONCRETE CONSTRUCTION. . . . . . . . . . . 525
26. QUALITY CONTROL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 539
REFERENCES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 553
RESOURCE REFERENCES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 557
INDEX. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 559

viii 2012 Concrete Manual
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Learning objectives;
List of key points for study;
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