Concrete Additives

We offer a full line of concrete additives that can increase the sustainability of your next project while making concrete stronger, less susceptible to cracks, more cost-efficient, and easier to place and finish.

Our experienced team of concrete specialists skillfully blend sophisticated combinations of chemical admixtures, fibers, supplementary cementitious materials, and color pigments to support our customers’ innovations in construction methods. We can reduce your carbon footprint while improving the quality, strength, durability, and appearance of the finished concrete.

Chemical additives can be added to concrete to provide greater plasticity, workability, and earlier strength levels compared to normal concrete, or to maintain concrete quality in challenging weather conditions. Admixtures decrease the amount of cement needed to achieve a given strength specification, resulting in a reduction of the carbon footprint of the concrete.

There are five distinct types of chemical admixtures that all increase the sustainability of your concrete:

Air-Entraining Agents

Air-entraining agents are added during mixing to produce microscopic air bubbles in concrete. These bubbles increase resistance to freeze-thaw cycles, improve workability, and reduce bleeding and segregation in concrete mixtures. Air entrainment is typically specified for exterior concrete slabs and is not necessary for interior concrete.

Water-Reducing Chemicals

Water-reducing chemicals serve two main purposes:

1. To lower the water content, which increases the strength of the concrete.

2. To achieve a higher slump with the same water content, useful for pumping concrete or working in hot weather. Mid-range water reducers tend to perform more consistently across a wider range of temperatures. Retarders Retarders delay the initial set of concrete and are primarily used in hot weather conditions.

Accelerators

Accelerators shorten the initial set time of concrete and are recommended for use in cold weather or fast-track construction, where early strength gain is critical. Calcium chloride is the most common and least expensive accelerator for non-reinforced concrete. Non-chloride accelerators are specified when corrosion is a concern or when placing concrete in sub-freezing conditions.

Superplasticizers (High-Range Water Reducers)

Superplasticizers are a special class of water-reducing chemicals used to produce high-strength concrete for applications such as pumping or working with congested steel reinforcement. They are also essential for self-consolidating concrete (SCC) mixes.

Reinforcing Fibers

Reinforcing fibers are added to the concrete mix to create a three-dimensional reinforcement system that controls shrinkage and settlement cracking, provide abrasion resistance, and improve the strength and toughness of the hardened concrete. We offer a complete line of fibers, including steel, synthetic poly, and blended steel/poly fibers.

These are used for various applications and, in some cases, can offer an alternative to wire mesh and even light-gauge steel reinforcement.

 

Supplementary Cementing Materials

Supplementary cementing materials, also called mineral admixtures, replace a portion of the cement in a mix and react chemically with calcium hydroxide released from the hydration of cement to form various cement compounds. Typical cementing materials include fly ash, slag, silica fume, and other natural pozzolans. These materials are used to make concrete mixtures more economical, reduce permeability, increase strength, or influence other concrete properties. Most of these materials are by-products from coal-fueled power generation, steel production, and the manufacture of silicon that would otherwise end up in landfills. Use of these materials can help garner LEED credits for green building projects.

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