Modern construction is one of the prominent signs of urbanization. Also, it requires a high rate of professionalism and expertise. The process of commercial concreting is equally crucial for all builders and contractors who can afford to handle massive building projects such as bridges, roads, and flyovers. As the project manager or the contractor, the team may not mind paying a considerable amount of money and creating a high quality of concreting over the function of civil works. Click here to learn more detail about the concrete material.
Furthermore, while concreting complex structures, site engineers or supervisors can also monitor the construction projects while following standard protocols. The following steps can also serve as a checklist for site supervisors who oversee concreting projects.
Checklist of Commercial Concreting Projects
Shuttering Stability
An essential aspect of a concreting project is the shuttering and centering aspect to the standard or acceptable level. It also requires professional alignment of the whole support structure, which can be solid and stable. Try to also test the strength and stability of the structural support.
Without adequate support, the whole structure can collapse even during the concreting of the project – that is how important the test of support is. Therefore, a good building project supervisor needs to oversee the stability of all the centering and shuttering support in the structure as a whole.
Releasing Agents
Before the concreting process, you also need to check out the efficiency of the planks and plates that provide support for the concreting process. For instance, when asking agents to provide plates and planks, remember to check them for proper oiling and verification as an engineer or site supervisor.
Without proper preparation of these components, it may eventually harm your concrete structure. When preparing the plates before placing them in their correct positions, ensure the containers are appropriately oiled. Otherwise, it possesses an excellent level of difficulty to remove when you need to strike them off the concrete. In addition, a poorly lubricated set of plates can also lead to an overall poor surface finish of the concrete structure.
Sealing
In concrete structures for commercial buildings and projects, there may be gaps in the shuttering plates. But the cracks must be sealed off using rubber or mortar to avoid any kind of leakage. Otherwise, the leakages in the structure will not only harm seep through the system. Still, they will also weaken it until it finally crashes. Therefore a good site supervisor or building Engineer should verify the closeness of the shuttering plates and fill up any space with durable sealing.
Placing Reinforcement frames
In a large commercial building project that involves concreting, all the reinforcement details should be clearly spelled out. In one way, begin with verifying the drawings to ensure it aligns to the provided materials on site. Check out all the dimensions such as the cut length, lap joints, bar diameter, beam-column joints, and column extension length at a footing. These components should be intact for alignment with standards.
Similarly, engineers need to ensure this adherence to standards and accuracy to avert the possible collapse due to incorrect details and poor overall functioning. Therefore, such a structural element that requires reinforcement also demands close monitoring of the components in use.
Reinforcement cover concretes
After setting the reinforcements in place, the next step is to verify the reinforcement cover in the overall concrete project. Besides, the internal reinforcement bars should not be open to the atmosphere. At the same time, the most minor recommended surface should also be evident in the drawings. In addition, you should have an accurate spacing between the blocks or bars, while the whole inner steel rods or other reinforcements should not be exposed at all.
Otherwise, the exposure to air can cause corrosion of the metallic parts such as steel rods, which weakens the reinforcements and causes rust and disintegration. Over time, these disorders can lead to the spalling of the concrete structure and loss of strength, leading to eventual collapse. Below are some of the standard size of the cover that depends on the type of structure in build.
S/No | Structure | Minimum size of cover (mm) |
1 | Slab | 20 to 30 |
2 | Beam | 25 to 35 |
3 | Column | 25 to 40 |
4 | Footing | 50 to 75 |
5 | Shear wall | 25 to 30 |
Material supply
One of the significant problems that can cause a severe setback in a commercial concreting project is an insufficient material supply. When the supplier does not provide enough quantity of cement, for instance, it is then difficult to manage what is on the ground. Unfortunately, insufficient materials force builders to reduce the quality of the produced concrete.
It is impossible to get a desired quality of concrete with reduced cement, sand, granite, gravel, and other aggregates. So, ensure that the supplied materials are sufficiently available for the concrete work to not cause a disruption or create unintended construction joints.
Mixing location
As a professional builder, you should also create proper access to excellent labor and sufficient materials. The reason is that, as your mix your concrete, you should also provide the right way to move them to the right place where it is in use. I maintain a reasonable distance while working. You can minimize the amount of energy that the laborer spends moving around and increase productivity under ideal conditions.
The workability of the concrete is also an essential factor in determining the durability of the final output. So, it is imperative to maintain the mixing of the concrete components. In addition, get proper admixtures to ensure the productivity of the workers is put in proper perspective.
Conclusion
On a final note, it is worthy of note that many other aspects of construction are essential to check before a project can be finally approved. For instance, time will not allow us to talk about joints in concrete, proper curing, embeds in concrete, protection of concrete, and the necessary precautions for a commercial concreting establishment. At the same time, when you oversee commercial concreting projects, ensure you cross every ‘t’s and dot every ‘i’.