| TOPICS
Plain talking
Websites on Concrete
Motto
of the Month
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Introduction
I have just read
the September 2004 Newsletter to remind myself what I was thinking
twelve months ago. It was a good job I did or I would have written the
same introduction all over again, so I will just get on with it.
Plain Talking
I really dislike waffle and fancy talk regarding basic materials
employed in highways maintenance, so it made my day to read a recent
article in an engineering journal by a local authority Engineer
calling "a spade a spade", or should I say "molasses,
molasses".
If you do not know what I am talking about and you are involved in
winter maintenance, you should do.
I do not wish to embarrass this Engineer, or the authority he
represents, but thank you for this article and the straight talking
way it is presented.
This does not mean that molasses will not assist in the efficient use
of salt spreading if correct procedures are followed, but surely we
all ought to know what we are putting on our road surfaces, just in
case we have to defend the decision.
This same issue, of not actually knowing what you are buying, is
increasingly applying to a number of products/materials used in the
construction and maintenance of highway networks.
I am not suggesting you do not purchase certain products, what I am
saying is know what the products are before you spend your money, or,
just buy a little bit and get your Soils and Materials Laboratory to
check it over before you make a major commitment.
Websites
on Concrete
I used to think I knew a bit about concrete, and perhaps I do, the
basics, but with all the newly developed cement replacements and the
many ways they are formulated to produce a number of different types
of cement, I am getting out of my depth.
So it is good to find two websites that we all can use to find further
information on concrete, its constituents, and probably most
importantly all the new specifications and "Eurocodes" that
apply to the use of concrete.
These websites have sections specifically on the use of concrete in
civil engineering.
The
Concrete Centre - www.concretecentre.com
and
Eurocode2 -
www.eurocode2.info
If you are involved in the structural engineering of highway networks
it seems to me these websites will be very useful, it is the codes and
specifications that they list that will take some understanding.
Motto of the Month
"The truth
is out there"
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