Breaking Records Left and Right at Bauma 2019
Once every three years, bauma, the world’s leading trade fair for construction machinery, building materials, mining machines, construction vehicles, concrete testing, and more, takes place. This year the show was held in Munich, Germany and was the biggest bauma ever in the exhibition’s 65-year history. Not only did…
Accelerated Bridge Construction with Lower Costs, Safer Job Sites
In the United States, one in four of the country’s 600,000 bridges require rehabilitation, repair, or replacement. As a result, faster, safer, and more economic bridge construction is a frequent topic of discussion. Technological developments, such as the use of wireless temperature and strength sensors and the practice…
In Response to The Guardian’s Concrete Week
Over 6 days, during what they called Concrete Week, The Guardian published on its website more than 10 different articles ranging from “Concrete: the most destructive material on earth” to “Delicate sense of terror: what does concrete do to our mental health?” Concrete is blamed for flooding, urbanization,…
Confidently Place Your Flooring With This Accurate Relative Humidity Sensor
One of the most essential processes, which is rarely talked about in the application of flooring, is the importance of monitoring relative humidity (RH), moisture levels, and the moisture evaporation rate of your concrete floor. Proper measuring of these properties will help you avoid recurring and costly failures….
Understanding Relative Humidity in Concrete
During the construction of a concrete building, an essential step in the application of flooring is the importance of monitoring the relative humidity (RH), moisture levels, and the moisture evaporation rate of your slab. If your concrete contains excess moisture and high RH levels this can lead to…
Make Your Construction Jobsite Safer and Faster with Smart Sensors
Sensors embedded in concrete let you know when it’s cured and ready. Concrete is the material most widely used by humans — after water. As its ingredients are readily available almost anywhere in the world, it is the main component used by architects and engineers in the building…
Assessing the Future: Job Site Robotics Are Quickly Gaining Ground
The introduction of advanced technologies and robotics have continued to increase in popularity in construction. With large-scale robotic solutions, these devices are transported to a job site to execute specific tasks. For example, Tybot automates the task of tying rebar intersections on bridges and other large structures. While…
How Testing Concrete Strength Onsite Can Accelerate Your Project Timeline
When it comes to testing concrete during placement, the most commonly used method for evaluating strength is the break test. Break tests require concrete sample cylinders to be subjected to high amounts of pressure in order to assess the material’s compressive strength. Although this test method is widely…
The Importance of Monitoring Temperature During Post-Tensioning Time
What is Post-Tensioning Time? Concrete has compressive strength, meaning that it can withstand its own weight within a structure. However, it lacks tensile strength. Therefore, as soon as everyday loads are added to a concrete structure, such as vehicles on a bridge, the concrete struggles under the additional…
Avoid Thermal Shock and Cracking by Monitoring Temperature in Precast Concrete
Precast concrete is concrete which has been poured in a reusable mold or form and is then cured outside of a job site, such as a precast plant, and later transported and lifted or ‘tilted’ into place. Plants which manufacture precast concrete do so under controlled conditions in…
Importance of Initial Curing Conditions of Test Cylinders
Why Curing Conditions for Test Cylinders is Important Acceptance testing for specified concrete strength is, and always has been, a necessary step in the construction industry. Nowadays, this process includes making cylinders or beams on site and bringing them to the lab for strength testing, followed by a…
Creep of Concrete Under the Nanoscope
Understanding the Underlying Mechanisms of Creep in Concrete Concrete is one of the main materials utilized in civil engineering construction in the modern age with an annual production of roughly 20 billion tons. For instance, the aging infrastructure in the US requires massive investment and the American Society…
5 Reasons Construction Professionals Buy IoT Devices
The Internet of Things, commonly abbreviated as IoT, refers to the connection of devices to the Internet. These IoT devices range from cellphones, computers, and wearable technology to cars, homes, and appliances. Although it might not be the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of connected…
IoT is Revolutionizing the Concrete Industry
When it comes to Smart Construction and Intelligent Building Operation, the Internet of Things (IoT) is a powerhouse that has revolutionized many aspects of the industry—including concrete installations and applications. Essentially, the IoT is a network of items that are embedded with sensors, electronics, actuators, and software that…
Giatec Award for Best Paper Recipients
Winner of the Giatec Award for Best Paper Nanoscale origins of creep in calcium silicate hydrates Ali Morshedifard, Saeed Masoumi, Mohammad Javad Abdolhosseini Qomi Synopsis The authors propose a novel three-staged incremental stress-marching technique to study nanoscale longtime phenomena, specifically creep, in atomistic simulations. The stress-induced time-dependent behavior…
How 3D Printing Has Transformed the Construction Industry
Recently, we discussed how the use of 3D printers at construction jobsites may soon become common practice. Advances in 3D-printing technologies have resulted in the ability to craft anything from chocolate and food to statues and even entire buildings. Considering the competitive nature of the construction industry, 3D…
Concrete 3D Printing May Soon Become Standard Practice in Construction
Innovation in the construction industry has taken a whole new turn with the latest advances in 3D-printing technology. If you’re not already familiar with this technology, 3D printing involves a machine that uses concrete as its “ink” to construct buildings from the base up. Layer by layer, the…
Giatec Adds Four New Ready-Mix Concrete Producers to the SmartRock® Plus Family
It’s been a busy summer already for Giatec, and we’re not slowing down as we welcome four new members to the SmartRock® Plus producer family. These ready-mix producers have embraced technology by integrating wireless concrete sensors into their business models to optimize the performance of their mixes and…
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