10 Best Uses of Concrete in Construction

 10 Best Uses of Concrete in Construction

Concrete has high durability and strength, it has various uses in civil engineering. Here I shared, 10 best uses of concrete.

This post contains-

• Introduction of concrete
• Types of concrete
• Advantages of concrete
• Disadvantages of concrete
• 10 Best uses of concrete
• Conclusion.

From civil engineering or construction perspective, concrete is one of the most essential elements which add value to the structure.

Concrete is a composite material made up with cement, fine aggregates, coarse aggregates, water and sometimes with admixtures.

Concrete itself is a good structural element which is good in taking compressive loads.

Because of its extraordinary features, the uses of concrete is very popular and effective.

There are many types of concrete available in civil engineering. Depending on the requirement and suitability of the structure any specified types of concrete can be chosen.

Most popular types of concrete in civil engineering:

1. Reinforced cement concrete
2. prestressed concrete
3. green concrete
4. transparent concrete
5. fiber-reinforced concrete
6. Self-compacted concrete
7. Air entrained concrete...

Strength, sustainability and durability are the three most eye-catching factors of concrete which makes concrete a better building material than others.

As I said concrete has many features in terms of strength, suitability, long-lasting etc, the application of concrete is huge.

From Pavement work to bridges, Foundation to skyscrapers concrete is the first priority for civil engineers.

But sometimes concrete doesn't match the requirement and demand of the structure, but that's very rare.

I will talk about that later in this post.

 Advantages of concrete

Here I shared some of the most useful Characteristics and quality of concrete

1.Strength

Due to its high resistance to compressive forces, concrete is almost ideal for every case.

A normal concrete cube can have a compressive strength of 30 Mpa and even sometimes the compressive strength of concrete can reach up to 800 Mpa.

In some structures like bridges, the foundation of a highrise building, Dam etc where the high amount of strength is required to resist the load coming from the structure, concrete is generally suited.

2.Durability

Due to the concrete's ability to resist weathering effect, abrasion, and chemical attack without any decay for a long period of time makes it more ideal than other building material.

In simple words, concrete is more long-lasting. Therefore, a structure made with concrete does not need regular maintenance.

Hence using concrete as a building material is cost effective.

Other important characteristics of concrete are:

1. It can withstand high temperature.
2. Easily available materials.
3. Structure of any desired shape can be obtained.

➤ Disadvantages of concrete

I previously discussed the cons of concrete.

Let me give a brief knowledge-

We all know concrete is tough in compression but is brittle under tensile forces.

⟶ When any structure is required to resist compressive load as well as tensile load, Concrete alone won't do the job at all.

Addition of steel as reinforcement in concrete is the best way to get rid of it.

⟶ Ductility of concrete is another major problem. 'Ductility of concrete' defined as the ability to withstand deformation without any failure.

Since concrete is not a good example of ductile material, it is not advised to use concrete alone in the earthquake-prone zone.

⟶ Concrete needs extra care to give the best performance. Confused?

Let me clear this.

It's not that easy to prepare a perfect concrete member. This involves a lot of step in order to achieve the required strength, durability, and performance.

From the casting of concrete to curing of concrete should be done adequately, otherwise, it will affect on its strength.

⟶ In most cases, cement is used as a binding material in concrete.

 The manufacturing process of cement produces a good amount of carbon-di-oxide which a primary element in the greenhouse effect.

Hence uses of concrete is indirectly affecting global health.

Uses of Concrete

Uses of concrete in the construction industry are quite big. 

Qualities of good concrete like strength, durability, low-maintenance, energy efficient, sustainability are the reason why concrete is most commonly used in civil engineering.

After knowing the advantages and disadvantages of concrete, let's know the uses of concrete in construction.

1. Residential buildings

Almost every low-rise and even high-rise buildings are made up with the concrete member.

From foundation work to roof slab, concrete is widely used. Obviously, concrete is reinforced with steel to produce high load carrying capacity.

Though there are some cons of using concrete, still engineers don't have any solid alternatives that can replace concrete.

In order to achieve strength, concrete is used for making column, beam, slabs etc.

Also cement, aggregates are easily available in the market.

2. Streets/pavement

In the USA, over 60% of total transportation depends upon concrete streets which clearly makes it the first choice for engineers.

This happens because concrete pavements are more durable and stronger than asphalt roadways.

In fact, in today's world, engineers are trying to use concrete without harming the environment- Green concrete, Plastic roads are the best example of evolution.

*LEARN MORE ABOUT PLASTIC ROAD CONSTRUCTION

3. Concrete driveways

Over the time one common question is arrived- which is better for driveways, concrete or asphalt?

Both concrete and asphalt have its own pros and cons.

But concrete has a little more advantage as this is more durable than asphalt driveways and regular maintenance is not needed.

Concrete driveways look more appealing and increase the resale value of the home.

4. Concrete Dams

The Dams are used to store water or to control the flood when needed. And concrete gravity Dam is a type of Dams.

Concrete is suitable for these type of dam because of its high strength and weight.

The heavier is the dam, easier to resist water force.

Sometimes, stones masonry is used instead of concrete.

5. Concrete Bridges

While constructing a bridge it is necessary to be careful before selecting the right types of concrete.

High-performance-concrete(HPC) or prestressed concrete is the first choice for bridge construction.

As this types of concrete give an adequate amount of strength and durability to the structure which helps the bridge to last for more than a century.

6. Commercial buildings

Taking concrete will give you one major advantage over the wooden frame is, concrete is a safer option for fire.

Concrete can withstand a high rise of temperature and weathering effect.

Choosing concrete as a building material ensure you a long life-span of the building without regular maintenance.

7.Culverts and sewers

It's necessary to choose strong and durable building materials for underground purposes.

Concrete is most commonly used in culverts.

Many elements of culverts such as piers, foundation, abutments made up with RCC.

8. Concrete Floating Docks

From the 10 Best uses of concrete, the concrete dock is the most unique idea.

I know the first question that comes to your mind is that- Why floating Docks are made with concrete instead of wood?

Because cells of woods absorb water easily and get saturated which further leads to sinking.

Others features of concrete Docks are:

• Fire-resistant
• Easy to install
• Requires less maintenance.

9. Concrete Parking

The first and foremost advantage of using concrete parking is, it looks much nicer than asphalt one.

As this requires less maintenance, the overall cost will be reduced.

In addition, concrete parking is much more durable than its competitor.

10. Foundation

This is the last one of the series of "10 Best uses of concrete in civil engineering".

It really doesn't matter whether it is the foundation of high-rise or low-rise building, using concrete will remain constant.

Reinforced cement concrete is mainly used for foundation work, as this has a huge load carrying capacity.

Load coming from the superstructure can be easily resisted by the concrete foundation.

Conclusion

In the present time, concrete is the most widely used building material in civil engineering.

Due to its versatility and strength concrete has no alternatives in the market.

By reading this post, you might understand the importance of concrete for our modern world.

Here I discussed the 10 Best uses of concrete in construction with its advantages and disadvantages.

The advantages that we are getting from concrete in construction is something unavoidable.

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