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CE3420
CONCRETE TECHNOLOGY
ASSIGNMENT-2

Puli Rohit Rahul

CE15B046
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Contents Page No

Introduction 3

Possible construction methods 3

Restrictions 3

Concrete 4

High performance concrete 4

Self compacting concrete 5

High strength self compacting concrete 6

Components Recommended 6

Mix design Guidelines 6

Formwork 8

Placing and transportation of concrete 9

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MILLAU VIADUCT

The design of the millau viaduct was first done by Michel Virlogeux later the design was considered
unfeasible and later the same design was modified by Sir Norman Foster which was chosen as the best
design.

Possible Construction Methods:

Construction of bridges can be done in different ways.One way of constructing bridges is precast
segmentation in which elements of the structure are precast in a casting yard and then transported to the site
and can be assembled at the site.It helps in faster construction reduces time consumption and since the
casting is done in controlled conditions it is easy to control the mix of concrete placing of concrete and as
well as curing of concrete as a result the consistency in the concrete mixes maintained.Quality controlling
and monitoring is much more easy.Labour required can be reduced.Weather conditions does not the casting
because you can cast in any weather and get the same results.Controlled curing can be done at the casting
yard which results in extremely durable concrete.Precast concrete construction is very economical.

The other method is to construct the bridge in the way which it has been constructed.It uses Auto
Climbing rail formwork system and 4 m height of concrete pouring is done for every three days.Here
engineers proposed the lifting of formwork for every 4 m height for the pouring of concrete.Using this
method of construction helps in reducing time.By the time the team completed the construction of piers the
team was one month ahead of the schedule.I would prefer the method in which the bridge is constructed
because the formwork which they chose to use for the construction has adaptability for modifications in
mould because of the complex and tapering geometry of piers.Though the modifications or changes which
they had done for every 4 m lift can also be done at the casting yard instead of doing at such heights but the
placing and assembling of segments is very difficult because at such heights the winds very high and small
difference in the placement of segments could result in very large margin for errors.To check altimetric
errors the engineers here used GPS system so that the piers are exactly in position of the structure and
ensured a precision of 5mm in X and Y directions.. Since very large amounts of concrete is used during the
construction a factor is setup near the construction site itself.

While considering the construction of deck of the bridge, it can also be done in different methods
like erection of segments of the deck by using gantry girder in which the precast sections of the deck are
lifted using gantry girder using cables and are fitted.The gantry girder is supported over the piers of the
bridge.The other method is to lift the precast sections of the deck using crane to fit the sections at the
required place.In Millau Viaduct deck part of the bridge is made up of steel because it is not very safe and
economical to lift concrete sections over such heights and the method which the engineers chose to construct
the bridge is by launching the deck from the either sides and to connect them.But major difficulty in this
method is, a small difference in the alignment of bridge can cause pushing of piers from side ways and the
launching of the deck can also cause sliding friction on piers.But constructing deck using gantry girders or
cranes can be very dangerous because of high wind speeds and adverse climatic conditions which could lead
to catastrophic events.For launching of the deck safely without sagging seven temporary piers which are
made out of steel are erected to support the deck.Computerised hydraulic launchers were used to move the
prefabricated deck over the piers.

Restrictions:

Millau Viaduct is located in a deep valley and the wind speeds are very high at the site, as a result
working at very high locations is very difficult and pouring of concrete at such very high locations requires
great efforts.Adverse climatic conditions ranges from very high temperatures during summers to fierce wind
forces and lightning conditions at monsoon seasons and working at these climatic conditions for the labour is
very risky and difficult.Land slides are very common at the site because of very weak meteorological
conditions and the team has faced many of them.The slope of the bed is very steep where the piers 1 and 2
are constructed.The form work
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which they choose to pour concrete is purely based on repetitive process but the profile of the long piers is
very complicated and tapers from bottom to top as a result they have to change the
shape of the mould for every pour of concrete.Very serious and careful attention must be taken while
building piers because 10cm offset for a concrete pour in the pier can result in 6 metres difference at the top.

Concrete:

Reinforced concrete is used in the construction of the piers.B60 concrete is used because of its
durability.250,000 tonnes of concrete is used.Durability is the major issue for using B60 type of concrete
instead of conventional concrete.It is a high performance concrete.The concrete has very high mechanical
resistance but the concrete is not chosen for its mechanical resistance but for its durability.Durability is
becoming the driving factor in modern structures.

High performance concrete:

The properties of high performance concrete are exceedingly high when compared to conventional
concrete.Because of its high modulus of elasticity, high durability and high strength, high performance
concrete is widely used in the construction of bridges.Generally to achieve high strength, high cement
content with low W/C ratios are maintained which in turn effects the workability of concrete.Therefore
plasticisers have to be used for increasing the workability of concrete.There is no unique or specific mix
design for high performance concrete, this concrete is obtained through cautious selection and proportioning
of elements.Mix design of high performance concrete depends on its application.

The characteristics of high performance concrete which are important for wide range its applications
are ease of placement of concrete, early age strength, compaction of concrete without segregation, long term
mechanical properties, low permeability of concrete which increases the durability of concrete, density of
concrete increases because of dense microstructure, low heat of hydration because temperature differences
can affect the strength gained by concrete and can also cause cracks, toughness of concrete increases, better
volume stability and longer service life.

High performance concrete not only means high strength concrete, it also includes durability.In
addition to compressive strength and durability other properties like flowability of concrete and its abrasion
resistance, permeability and flexural strength can also be improved using different procedures like
maintaining low W/C ratios, incorporating silica fume etc..

Low water to binder ratio is maintained in high strength concrete which results in very dense
microstructure in which the voids are filled by fine particles and as a result the strength of the concrete
increase and as well as the permeability of concrete decreases.As the permeability of concrete decreases the
movement of aggressive ions which damage steel is hindered which makes concrete more durable than
conventional concrete under same environmental conditions.Typically the water to cement ratio, less than
0.35 and water to binder ratio, less than 0.40 is used in high performance concretes.Durability of concrete is
adversely affected if we use high water cement ratios.High water to ratio decreases the compressive strength,
deceases frost resistance, increases autogenous shrinkage , increases the water absorption coefficient,
increases the chloride ion diffusion.

Because high strength concrete has high elastic modulus i.e, stiffness, the construction of long
concrete piers had become possible.Millau viaduct has tallest pier of height 245 metres which is subjected to
high wind speeds and it should have high stiffness and low deformations for a safe journey on the
bridge.This is achieved by high performance concrete which aided in using slender pier elements which in
turn gave elegant and aesthetic look to the bridge.

Fine materials like fly ash, silica fume or slag are often considered mandatory to incorporate them in
the high strength concrete mix which results in strength gain.Use of supplementary cementitious materials
helps in increasing the strength, durability and volume
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stability of concrete.Use of chemical admixtures like water reducers and plasticisers helps to increase the
efficiency of usage of supplementary cementitious materials and to obtain minimum water to cement ratio
which results in getting dense microstructure thereby increasing strength and durability and as well decreases
the permeability if concrete.

Piers in millau viaduct are very slender and very long and have to take very high wind speeds and
gravity loads so using high density aggregates increases the density of concrete, increases the self weight of
concrete. High strength concrete uses smaller size aggregates. Advantages of using smaller size aggregates
are smaller size aggregates have less number of impurities or defects when compared to larger size
aggregates therefore the smaller aggregates are stronger than larger aggregates, in slender elements lower
size indicates that the passing ability of concrete increases i.e, passes through congested reinforcement, flow
is better when we use smaller size aggregates.

In both fresh state and hardened state of concrete the properties of concrete are affected by
aggregates.Choosing of aggregate size, surface texture, shape and cleanness have to done carefully because
for each level of concrete strength and type of aggregate there is an optimum size aggregate which yields in
maximum compressive strength per unit of cement.Properties of a mix are affected by shape, gradation, size,
moisture content and porosity of the aggregates.

High performance concrete when compared to conventional concrete is more brittle in nature which
is major disadvantage for high performance concrete.Ductility of high performance concrete can be
increased by applying confining pressure or by altering the composition of concrete by addition of
fibres.Addition of fibres to conventional concrete is called Fibre Reinforced Concrete.High performance
fibre reinforced concrete exhibits strain hardening type of response which increases the strength and
toughness of concrete.High performance fibre reinforced concrete is also called ultra ductile concrete.

Incorporation of silica fume can enhance the strength and durability of concrete. Concrete with
lowest permeability and highest degree of durability can be achieved by using silica fumes of 10-15 % of
cement content.Compare to conventional concrete the concretes containing silica fumes have more cohesion
and are less prone to segregation.Generally when silica fumes are used in concrete mix the water demand
increases.Therefore super plasticisers are used to meet water demand.Water reducing admixtures are used for
these purposes.Prolonged moist curing has to be done for concrete which contains silica fume.

Different types of chemical admixtures are widely used in high performance concrete.Main reasons
for using the chemical admixtures are to decrease the cost of concrete construction, to attain particular
properties to the concrete and to ensure that quality of concrete is maintained during stages like
transportation, placing.Water reducing admixtures are used to decrease the water demand and to increase the
workability of concrete.As result the water to cement ratio can be maintained low which in turn increases the
strength of the concrete.They also increase the slump, decreases the temperature rise.In Millau Viaduct the
retarding admixtures have to be added to concrete mix because the concrete which is made at the mixing
plant near the site is to be transported to construction site and is to be placed at very high locations, therefore
the setting of concrete should be delayed and this is achieved by using retarding admixtures.

Self compacting concrete:

It is also called self consolidating concrete.It has the capacity to flow within the mold or formwork.It
fills the mould completely and passes through the reinforcement and it has the capacity to consolidate under
its own weight.Here in Millau Viaduct the geometry is so complicated that using self compacting concrete
helps in complete filling of the mould and for getting perfect, sharp and straight edges.

The characteristics of the self compacting concrete are flowability or filling ability, passing ability
and stability or its resistance against segregation.Using self compacting concrete
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decreases the need for compaction and thereby decreases the labour required.The fluidity and internal
cohesion of the fresh state concrete are the mechanisms which are responsible for the properties of the self
compacting concrete.Because of its properties self compacting concrete has wide range applications in
building columns and foundations and walls etc…The potential applications of self compacting concrete in
bridge structures are precast girders, retaining structures, pile foundations and other structural elements with
heavy reinforcement.

Using self compacting concrete eliminates the need for vibration which increases the life of
formwork, reduces noise and there will no need for equipment and labours for vibration of concrete.Self
compacting concrete has better assurance over quality because it increases the acceptance rate and decreases
the cost for manual work done for finishing.Though the cost of self compacting concrete is more when
compared to conventional concrete, using self compacting concrete increases the quality of finished concrete

The friction between the aggregates should be reduced for the self compacting concrete to flow
under own weight and this can be achieved by increasing the distance between the aggregates and this can be
done by increasing the amount of paste or increasing the fine content i.e, using silica fume and fly ash.One of
the widely used mineral admixture is fly ash.Using of fly ash is associated with many advantages like
improved workability, it reduces the water demand, increases the cohesiveness, it decreases bleeding, it
decreases segregation.

Addition of super plasticisers increases the yield stress and as well as viscosity of plastic state of
concrete which increases the segregation in self compacting concrete.Therefore to enhance the viscosity of
concrete mix, viscosity modifying agents are added.Adding of viscosity modifying agents controls
segregation.Viscosity modifying admixtures are also said to retard setting for concrete.Viscosity modifying
admixtures are used to decrease flowability where as super plasticisers are used to increase flowability.

High performance self compacting concrete:

A composition of concrete mix which is better suitable for required conditions is taken and in Millau
Viaduct the concrete should be able to with stand heavy loads and as well as the concrete should have the
characteristics of self compacting concrete, since it is a combination of both high performance concrete and
self compacting concrete i.e, properties of both types of concrete are necessary for characteristics properties
of concrete required for the construction of Millau Viaduct therefore a combination of proportion of elements
which results in required properties of high performance self compacting concrete can be used.

Components Recommended:

Super plasticisers have to be used so as to maintain low water to cement ratio and to increase
workability.CHRYSO Fluid Optima 175 is the super plasticiser which is used in Millau Viaduct.Low water
to cement ratio indicates high compressive strength.Mix should have fine content because it results in dense
microstructure and this can be done by adding mineral admixtures like fly ash and silica fume can be
added.Fly ash is cheap when compared to silica due therefore replacing some cement content with fly ash
decreases the cost and increases the durability of concrete.Viscosity modifying agents have to be added to
the mix so as to control segregation.Using smaller size aggregates is necessary to increase the strength.

Mix Design Guidelines:

Proportioning of concrete mix requires a balance between economy and required properties like
workability, strength and consistency.High performance self compacting concrete has two phases the paste
phase and the aggregate phase.The preparation of mix is done in two division one consists of paste
composition and other is aggregate skeleton.

Paste Composition:
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Paste system consists of cement, water, super plasticiser and filler.Composition of paste content has to be
optimised to get high fluidity and moderate cohesion.

Paste Content

In high performance self compacting concrete the paste content will be in the range of 30 to 42
percent by volume.Higher paste content compared to conventional concrete is used in HPSC concrete to
enhance durability and strength.High paste content decrease the friction between the aggregates and
increases the flowability of concrete.

W/C ratio:

Low water to cement ration of less than 0.4 is used in high performance self compacting concrete to
increase compressive strength.Lowering the water to cement ratio has benefits like decrease in the
autogenous shrinkage.

Dosage of filler:

Mini slump test is used to find out optimum dosage of mineral filler.Time required for the paste to
spread to a diameter of 115mm is measured and the final diameter of the spread is measured.The dosage of
mineral filler at which time required for the paste to spread to a diameter of 115mm is between 2-4 seconds
and the diameter of the final spread is in the range of 170-190mm is taken as optimum dosage of mineral
filler.

Dosage of Super plasticiser:

Optimum dosage of super plasticiser is found out using marsh cone test.Marsh cone test is simple
method to study the rheological properties of paste.A graph is plot between the logarithmic value of flow
time to sp/c ratio and the saturation dosage of plasticiser is found out..The optimum or saturation dosage of
super plasticiser is defined as the point beyond which the there is no significant decrease in the flow time.

Aggregate Skeleton:

Sand to gravel ratio is used to define aggregate skeleton.That sand /gravel is chosen which
corresponds to aggregate skeleton with minimum void content.Modified ASTM C29/C29M method is used
to find the sand to gravel ratio.

Aggregates:

Smaller size are used in high performance self compacting concrete mix.Average aggregate size of
less than 15mm is used in the concrete mix.Using smaller size aggregates increases the strength of concrete,
passing ability of concrete.

Trial Mixtures:

Once after the aggregate skeleton is found out.After finding the mineral filler doasge and super
plasticiser dosage, by varying the paste volumes different concrete mixes have to be made and tests have to
be done on concrete to find the minimum paste volume which gives required strength and flowability to
concrete and High strength self compacting concrete mix is made accordingly.To find out the flowing ability
of fresh concrete the slump flow spread should be between 60-75mm and time required for a spread of
50mm should be 50 seconds V funnel flow time should be 10 +/_ 3 seconds.To find out the passing ability of
fresh concrete, in L Box test the blocking ratio should be 0.80.To find out the stability of fresh concrete in U
tube test the
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segregation ratio should be 0.90.For hardened concrete the cylinder compressive strength should be greater
than 50MPa.The paste content at which the concrete satisfies all the above criteria is the optimised paste
content.

Formwork:

Formwork is a mould which is used to shape and support concrete until it gains enough strength to
carry its own weight.Formwork also includes all supporting structures.

There are seven piers and each pier is of different height.The tallest pier is P2 which is 245 metres
high.Each pier is designed as a running tapered octagon which means the profile of the piers changes with
height.Engineers decided to pour concrete about 4 metres high initially and then using climbing form system
the concrete was poured.

The above figure shows the four piles and the pile plate and the initial four metre high concrete at the
starting stage of the construction.

The requirements for formwork:

• Formwork should have enough strength to with stand the forced exerted by the concrete.Around 100
kN/sqm of pressure is exerted on the face of the formwork and the formwork have to withstand the exerted
pressure.
• The rigidity of formwork should be high enough to avoid the deformations of the structure
• Propping and bracing of formwork both horizontally and vertically should be done efficiently to retain its
shape.
• The joints of the formwork should be tight and formwork should be concrete tight so that no leakage
occurs.
• Elements of formwork should be fixed so that removal of various elements in desired sequence does not
effect or damage the concrete.
• Material used for the concrete should be cheap, locally available and suitable for reuse.
• Material should be light weight for operation.

Engineers used an automatic rail climbing system (ACS) for the construction of piers.This type of
climbing form system is used in different structures like Petronas towers, Andromeda tower, Sharq building
in Kuwait and many more.This type of system is used in the construction of piers in millau viaduct because it
is self climbing without the help of crane.All the shutter work can be done on the board itself as the system
carries the shutters on a retracting carriage and all shutter modifications can be done.It also acts as a wind
shield for all types of internal works and also for rebar fixing.Operation of this system can be done even at
very high wind speeds even at 180 kmph.ACS is self contained system.With each climb only repetition of
the procedure is done there by simplifies the construction of high rise buildings at decreases the time for
construction.
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Engineers adapted lifting of formwork for four metres high because pouring of concrete can be
controlled and plumbing of shutters can be done accurately.The maintenance of shutter can be done on the
deck straight forwardly.Optimised positioning of ties can be done using four metre height lifts and it also
allows three day pour cycle.Each pour consists of around 60 pours and each pour is different because of
varying pier profile.The tallest pier P2 starts with 27m*18m

and ends at 14.4m*16.13m and the continuation part i.e, twin section tapers from 4,4m*16.13m to
11m*15.5m.As there is a change in the profile of the pier the formwork system should accommodate the
changes in the layout of the pier with height.

The main challenge is to use the formwork system which is used to build by repetitive climbing of
formwork and to use it for building a structure for changing layout i.e, with no repetition.As a result
engineers used the concept of adaptability of the same formwork for all types of modifications in the
layout.So what they have done is that they found out, what are the areas which are constant and keeping
these areas in repetition in the climbing of the formwork and boxing out the small parts from the areas which
are decreasing they were able to construct the piers.For the twin sections the external formwork climbs up
using the rail system while the internal formwork is lifted up using cranes.

The total formwork system consisted six complete arrangements of formwork out of which three are
internal and three are external parts of the formwork and a climbing kit for single pier structures and the kit
is used according to the programme needed from pier to pier, six complete formwork sets for twin pier
structures out of which three are internal and three are external parts, one complete set for the transition area
from single to twin piers and this is common for both internal and external parts of the formwork.Around 6.5
sqkm of formwork is used in the construction of the structure.A total of 196 Auto Climbing Rail System
frames are used in the construction of the structure.96 internal SKS frames are used for the construction.12
special frames are used during the construction.

Placing and Transportation of Concrete:

During the construction of millau viaduct, for constructing piers and foundations the concrete is
mixed in near by plant and is transported to construction site so as to minimise the costs due to transportation
and the main purpose for onsite mixing plant is for quality control of high performance self compacting
concrete as consistency of concrete mix is a major issue.When ever the transit mixers are used to transport
concrete from plant to construction site the mixing of concrete is done at very low rotational speeds i.e,
around 1-4 rotations per minute.

The homogeneity of concrete should not change after pumping.The concrete pouring is done for
every 4m.Large containers of concrete is lifted high using cranes and is poured in the moulds.As it takes time
to lift the containers to very high altitudes we have to make sure that the concrete doesn’t set fast..A five
metre free drop altitude for concrete is allowed and not more than 15m is allowed for lateral flow.Escape of
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air should be allowed to while placing of concrete if the air gets entrapped it causes voids and results in
irregularities and weakens the structure.