Bendable Concrete

Bendable concrete also known as Engineered Cementitious Composites abbreviated as ECC belongs to the class of ultra-ductile fiber reinforced cementitious composites, characterized by high ductility and tight crack control width. This material is capable of exhibiting considerably good flexibility. An ECC has a strain capacity of near about 3% and thus acts more like a ductile metal. A bendable concrete is reinforced with micromechanically designed polymer fibres and also some amount of steel fibres as per requirement.

Conventional concretes are almost unbendable and have a strain capacity of only 0.1% making them highly brittle and rigid. This lack of bendability is a major cause of failure under strain and has been a pushing factor in the development of an elegant material namely, bendable concrete also known as Engineered Cementitious Composites abbreviated as ECC.

A bendable concrete is reinforced with micromechanically designed polymer fibres. ECC is made from the same basic ingredients as conventional concrete but with the addition of High-Range Water Reducing (HRWR) agent to impart good workability. Coarse aggregates are not used in ECCs. The content of finer materials in ECC is relatively high. Cementitious materials, such as fly ash, silica fume, blast furnace slag, silica fume, etc. may be used in addition to cement to increase the plasticity index of the mix. Additionally, ECC uses low amounts, typically 2% by volume, of short, discontinuous fibres. ECC incorporates super fine silica sand and tiny Polyvinyl Alcohol-fibres covered with a very thin (nanometer thick), slick coating (thermoplastic/teflon/antifriction type coating). This surface coating allows the fibre to begin slipping when they are over loaded so that they do not fracture, this prevents large cracks. Thus an ECC deforms much more than a normal concrete but without fracturing.

ECC has proved to be 50 times more flexible than traditional concrete, and 40 times lighter, which could even influence design choices in skyscrapers.

The excellent energy absorbing properties of ECC make it especially suitable for critical elements in seismic zones.

Self Compacting Concrete

Self Compacting Concrete (SCC) is defined as a category of High Performance Concrete that has excellent deformability in the fresh state and high resistance to segregation, and can be placed and compacted under its self weight without applying vibration. SCC was first developed in Japan in mid 1980.
It has found applications in reinforced concrete sections containing congested reinforcements. Poor quality of compaction of concrete, in congested locations, has often been a shortcoming of traditional concreting. In such condiyions, SCC, which flows under its self weight and does not require any external vibration for compacting, has revolutionized the concept concrete placement. This has helped in new creative forms of design of concrete structures also.

Trenchless Technology

Trenchless technology is a relatively new term that describes the installation of conduits beneath the ground without open-cutting. The is being used since the mid of the 1980s. However, some of the methods referred to as trenchless methods are not new for a civil engineer. For example, auger and slurry boring have been used since the early 1940s and pipe jacking has been used as early as the 1900s. These methods are referred to as boring techniques or horizontal earth boring techniques. Many new trenchless techniques have been introduced till date. Most of these methods will require excavation for shafts, shaft locations usually can be selected to avoid or minimize disruption to nearby facilities. The maximum use of this technology is coming in crossing across the roads.
It is anticipated that the use of trenchless technology will continue to increase because of its inherent advantages of minimizing disruption to society and reducing environmental impact. Another driving force behind this increase is the benefit of avoiding or minimizing the handling, treatment, disposal of contaminated soil in voluminous amount. In many situations, these techniques have become cost-effective alternatives to traditional open-cutting methods.

Avoid potholes due to water-logging on road at medians

If you see water logging on road near the kerb of the median due to blocked cross channels what you can do? 1. Clean the channel 2. Make the channel wider so that it doesn't clog easily and 3. Best remove the median altogether and level the area, cover it with gravels and instead of theek RCC kerb provide only W Beam crash barrier.

This will help you get rid of yearly damage and save annual maintenance costs. The saved cost can help further the project to help build something new.