Tremie concrete
Methods for placing high quality concrete under water
BY W. MALISCH
uccessful placement of concrete under water
S requires careful planning and attention to de-
tail. The concrete must flow readily into place
and consolidate under its own weight because
vibration might cause surrounding water to mix with
the in-place concrete and wash out the cement. All
methods of placing concrete under water are designed
to prevent cement washout and the consequent forma-
tion of weakly cemented sand and gravel pockets.
In the tremie process, concrete is placed through a
vertical steel pipe with an open, funnel-shaped upper
end. The lower end of the tremie is kept immersed in
plastic concrete so that freshly placed concrete doesn’t
come into contact with the water. Direct visual inspec-
tion of the deposited concrete is usually impossible dur-
ing the placing operation, so progress of the pour must
be monitored by carefully observing the volume of con-
crete placed and the rate of rise.
Concrete mix proportioning
Concrete to be placed by the tremie process must flow
readily and yet be cohesive enough not to segregate. Rel-
atively rich mixtures are used (at least 600 pounds of ce-
mentitious material per cubic yard). Pozzolans improve
flow characteristics and are generally used in amounts
up to about 15 percent of the cementitious material
weight. The recommended maximum ratio of water to
Tremies can be used to place concrete
under water for caisson seals, bridge
piers, drydock walls and similar
structures.
cement plus pozzolan is 0.45.
Aggregate maximum size for reinforced placements
should be 3⁄4 inch, while use of 11⁄2-inch aggregate is rec-
ommended for nonreinforced placements. Rounded ag-
gregates are preferred. Fine aggregate content of 45 to 55
percent by volume of total aggregate and entrained air
content of up to about 5 percent are generally desirable.
A slump of 6 to 9 inches is commonly used, but a
slightly higher range may be needed when reinforcing
cages restrict the flow or when horizontal flow over long
distances is required. Wa t e r- reducing or water- re d u c-
ing/retarding admixtures are particularly beneficial in
reducing water content to provide a cohesive yet high-
slump concrete. The use of superplasticizers is not rec-
ommended for massive placements unless slump loss
testing has shown no detrimental effects. It is extremely
important to maintain as high a slump as possible for as
long as possible so blockages don’t develop in the trem-
ie and so concrete continues to flow freely after exiting
the pipe.
Tremie equipment
Tremie pipe diameter usually ranges from 8 to 12
inches. Smaller diameters may cause pipe blockages. For
deep placements, sections of the pipe with flanged, gas-
keted joints are used so upper sections can be removed
as concreting progresses.

Figure 1. To start a pour, the bottom of the tremie pipe is
sealed with an attached gasketed plate or with a wooden
plug.
End plates or plugs such as the ones shown in Figure
1 are used when a dry pipe technique is employed for
starting the tremie pour. As the pipe is lowered to rest
on the bottom, water pressure seals the gasket and the
pipe is kept dry.
In very deep placements, buoyancy may be a prob-
lem when an end plate is used to seal the pipe before
it’s placed in the water. Use of pipe with thicker walls or
weighted pipe can overcome buoyancy problems. Al-
t e rn a t i ve l y, an open-ended pipe can be set and a go-
devil or traveling plug inserted to keep water from pen-
etrating the first concrete placed in the pipe. The plug
must be tight enough to exclude water from the con-
crete but loose enough to move under the weight of the
c o n c re t e. An inflated rubber ball has been used as a
plug, but at depths greater than about 25 feet the ball
may collapse and become ineffective as a seal. Because
it will regain its shape when it pops back to the surface,
the lost seal may not be noticed and poor quality con-
crete may result.
Starting a tremie
placement
Tremies started using the
end plate, dry pipe technique
are filled with concrete in the
dry. To minimize segregation
caused by dropping concrete
in deep placements, a 2- or 3-
foot depth of a cement-sand
mortar mix can be placed in
the tremie first. Then even if
the regular tremie mix segre-
gates during free fall it will
remix in the mortar at the bot-
tom. After the tremie pipe is Figure 2. Tremie pipes are spaced so that concrete doesn’t have to flow too far.
full it is raised no more than 6 Typical spacing is 2 to 3 times the depth of concrete being placed.
inches off the bottom to break
the end seal. Concrete flows out and mounds up around
the mouth of the pipe, establishing a seal. Initial lifting of
the tremie should be done slowly to minimize distur-
bance of material surrounding the mouth of the tremie.
When using a go-devil and the wet pipe technique to
start a pour, the tremie is lifted a maximum of 6 inches to
allow water to escape. Concrete is then added slowly to
force the go-devil downward. Once the go-devil reaches
the mouth of the tremie, the tremie is lifted to allow the
go-devil to escape. The tremie shouldn’t be lifted again
until a mound is formed and a seal established.
After starting, tremies shouldn’t be lifted again until
they are embedded 3 to 5 feet. All vertical movements of
the tremie pipe must be done slowly and carefully to pre-
vent a loss of seal. If loss of seal does occur, the tremie
must be brought back to the surface, the end plate must
be replaced, and flow restarted. A go-devil must not be
used when restarting a tremie after loss of seal. Water
pushed out by the go-devil will wash cement out of the
previously placed concrete.
Placing concrete with a tremie
Concrete placement should be as continuous as pos-
sible through each tremie. Long delays in placement
may allow concrete to stiffen and resist flow once place-
ment resumes. While interruptions of up to approxi-
mately 30 minutes may allow restarting without any spe-
cial pro c e d u re s, longer delays must be treated by
removing, resealing and restarting the tremie.
Tremie pipes must be spaced so that the concrete
doesn’t have to flow too far. Otherwise, segregation will
occur and too much area on the sloping face of the flow-
ing concrete will be exposed to water. This latter prob-
lem results in weak layers of high water-cement-ratio
paste within the structure. A pipe spacing of 2 or 3 times
the depth of concrete being poured is ideal (Figure 2).
Usually the spacing will be between 15 and 35 feet but
tremie concrete has been flowed up to 70 feet in very
thick pours.
The tremie pipe must remain fixed horizontally while
concrete is flowing. Ho ri zontal movement of the pipe
will damage the surface of the concrete in place, create
additional laitance and possibly lead to loss of seal. Hor-
izontal distribution of the concrete is accomplished by
flow of the concrete after it exits the pipe or by halting
placement, moving the pipe, reestablishing the seal and
resuming placement.
In large placements, two methods have been used to
distribute concrete horizontally. In the layer method, the
entire area of placement is concreted simultaneously us-
ing a number of tremies. Level of the concrete is kept
roughly horizontal as it rises. With the advancing slope
method, one portion of the concrete is brought to fin-
ished grade and then the tremies are moved to bring ad-
jacent low areas to grade. Work normally pro g re s s e s
from one end of a large placement.
Controlling discharge elevation
of the tremie pipe
Once concreting is underway, the mouth of the pipe
should be kept buried and about 3 to 5 feet below the
concrete surface. If the elevation of the tremie hopper is
controlled by a crane, a good crane operator can feel a
loss of tension on his cables and immediately lower the
tremie pipe when there is a danger of losing the seal. All
vertical movements of the tremie pipe must be done
slowly and carefully to prevent loss of seal.
One way of detecting a loss in seal is to monitor the
volume of concrete in place throughout the placement.
Underruns indicate a loss of seal because washed and
segregated aggregates will occupy a greater volume. Al-
so, if the seal is lost the flow rate of concrete in the pipe
will increase noticeably.
Lines can be marked on the tremie pipe at conve-
nient intervals to help the crane operator determine
when the pipe needs to be raised. Periodically a weight
on a dropline can be lowered until it rests on the sur-
face of the freshly placed concrete. By observing the
position of the marks on the pipes and measuring the
distance to the top of the concrete, the operator can
judge when the pipe mouth is buried to a depth that re-
quires it to be raised.
If a tremie pipe is left too low for too long, fresh con-
crete may be injected below an already set mass of con-
crete. This might raise the mass and cause cracking.
Dealing with blockages
Tremie blockages that occur during placement should
be cleared with extreme care to prevent loss of seal. The
tremie should be quickly raised 6 to 24 inches and then
lowered in an attempt to dislodge the blockage. The
depth of pipe must be watched closely during all such
attempts. If the blockage can’t be jarred loose, the trem-
ie should be removed, cleared, resealed and restarted.
The best way to prevent blockages from occurring is to
ensure an uninterrupted supply of high-slump, flow-
able concrete and a continuous placing sequence.
References
1. “Guide For Measuring, Mixing, Transporting, and Placing
Concrete,” ACI 304R-85, ACI Journal, May-June 1985, pp.
248-250.
2. “Marine Structures,” Handbook of Concrete Engineering,
Second Edition, Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, New
York, 1984, pp. 713-716.
3. “Underwater Concrete,” HERON, Volume 19, No. 3, 1973,
52 pp.
4. “Standard Practice for Concrete,” Engineer Manual No.
1110-2-2000, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, September
1985, pp. 7-14 through 7-15.
5. “Pumping Over or Under Water,” Pumping Concrete:
Techniques and Applications, Concrete Construction Publi-
cations, Inc., Addison, Illinois, 1985, pp. 10.1-10.4.
PUBLICATION #C860123
Copyright © 1986, The Aberdeen Group
All rights reserved