Prairie Materials is focused on providing the performance requirements specified in the construction documents while working closely with the concrete contractor to meet their needs for speed of construction, placeability, and finishability of the plastic concrete. We have designed and produced several performance concrete mixes to meet these needs:
Self Consolidating Concrete (SCC) is a flowing mix that streams around steel reinforcement, settling into place with no segregation of aggregates and without external consolidation. SCC is ideal for jobs with heavily congested rebar or vertical walls requiring an architecturally smooth surface. Prairie has developed a variety of SCC mixes for various performance characteristics, such as low heat of hydration in the 10-foot mat pour at Trump Tower, as well as 16,000 PSI SCC at Trump’s outrigger levels. Prairie has also supplied SCC for vertical pours, ranging from a 30-foot aquarium tank wall at Discovery World in Milwaukee to a 60-foot retaining wall in Peoria. SCC is an integral component of many fast-track construction projects. Prairie has also developed a series of flowing mixes with some of the same characteristics.
Fiber reinforced concrete is excellent for crack control and long-term durability. With the right fibers, designers can eliminate welded wire mesh, and even number three and number four steel reinforcement. Using fiber reinforced concrete is highly recommended for use in floor projects where it is crucial to control curling and cracking. The success of thin whitetopping pavements is enhanced with the use of the appropriate fibers. Prairie Material’s FiberMax concrete products offer a complete line of fibers to support your designs.
High Performance Concrete (HPC), which refers to concrete with a strength of 6000 PSI and above, has a variety of uses, including fast-track construction to achieve early strength gain, as well as providing durability and strength for bridges, roadways, and foundations. Prairie Material is a leader in HPC and has designed mixes for a range of projects, including Trump Tower, the Wilson Avenue Bridge in Batavia, Illinois, and the 100-year roadway for Chicago’s Wacker Drive.
Lightweight concrete is primarily used in office construction and steel pan floor construction. It enables thinner columns and relatively shallower floors, allowing for more floors within a series of stories. Because lightweight concrete is highly absorptive, the mix must be carefully designed. Prairie Material has developed a high-performance lightweight mix for the 353 N. Clark Street building in Chicago, which McHugh successfully pumped to 50 stories.
Early-strength mixes are designed to achieve specified strength requirements rapidly, sometimes within hours. These mixes are used in fast-track construction when the building schedule is time-critical. Early strength enables faster strip times and, in many cases—such as Aqua Tower and Trump Tower—supports a 2 to 3-day construction cycle. These mixes generally result in finished concrete that far exceeds the specified strength.
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