1) Why RCC is considered as pioneer construction materials?

Cement concrete is a composite building material. It is a mixture of cement, sand aggregates,

water and/or admixtures. This when placed in a skeleton form and allowed to cure becomes hard
like a stone. Now a day’s concrete is a major building material and is used in all branches of
modern construction. Concrete is good in resisting compression but is very weak in resisting
tension. As a result of this, reinforced concrete was developed. The reinforcement is provided in
the concrete wherever tensile stress is expected.
The best reinforcement is steel, since tensile strength of steel is quite high and bond between steel
and concrete is good. As the elastic modulus of steel is high, for the same extension the force
resisted by steel is high compared to concrete. RCC has reduced the traditional use of materials
with a more modern approach. It has quite a number of advantages including economy, easiness
in handling, life and others. Some of the merits of RCC has been listed below:
 It can be easily molded into different shapes and sized to give a durable structure.
 There is very less labor expenditure.
 Materials used in RCC works are readily available and are abundant
 It is possible to control its propertied, within a wide range using appropriate ingredients and
techniques.
 It is a good fire-resistant material
 Cracks developed in RCC are comparatively small compared to Plain cement concrete.
 When it is fresh, it can be molded to any desired shapes and size.
As a result of the merits listed above, n construction of structures, RCC has found its use in many
places and therefore is a pioneer construction material. It is a widely used building material and
functions very well for the structures it is used for. Some of its important uses are listed below:
 RCC as a structural element in Building: Footings, Columns, beams, Slabs, Lintels, Stairs
 RCC used for storage structures: Water Tanks, Silos, Bins, Dams and Bunkers.
 RCC used in important structures: Bridges, Retaining Walls. Docks. Harbors and under water
structures
 RCC used in Pre-casting: Railway sleepers, electric poles.
 RCC used for other use: Road and Airport Pavement.
2) Write history of concrete with reference to use in civil infrastructure.

6500BC – UAE: The earliest recordings of concrete structures date back to 6500BC by the
Nabataea traders in regions of Syria and Jordan. They created concrete floors, housing structures,
and underground cisterns.

3000 BC – Egypt and China: Egyptians used mud mixed with straw to bind dried bricks. They
also used gypsum mortars and mortars of lime in the pyramids. The Great Pyramids at Giza used
about 500,000 tons of mortar. A form of cement was also used to build the Great Wall of China
around this time.

600 BC – Rome: Although the Ancient Romans weren’t the first to create concrete, they were
first to utilize this material widespread. By 200 BC, the Romans successfully implemented the
use of concrete in the majority of their construction. They used a mixture of volcanic ash, lime,
and seawater to form the mix. They then packed the mix into wooden forms, and once hardened,
stacked the blocks like brick. After more than 2,000 years, Roman concrete structures stand tall
due to their ingredients colliding with Earth’s natural chemistry.

18th Century- Lime and hydraulic cement is produced for the first time in Canada. Reinforced
concrete was invented by Joseph Monier. The first home constructed using reinforced concrete
was built in England by William Wilkinson. The first reinforced concrete home in the U.S. was
built in 1875 by William Ward. The first reinforced concrete bridge is built in 1889. George
Bartholomew poured the first concrete street in 1891 in the U.S., and it still exists today.

19th Century-Basic cement tests were standardized in 1990. August Perret designed and built an
apartment building in Paris using steel-reinforced concrete for the columns, beams, and floor slabs
in 1902. Concrete became more socially acceptable as the building featured an elegant façade.
The first concrete high-rise building, the Ingalls building, was constructed in Cincinnati, Ohio.
The first ready-mix load was delivered in Baltimore, Maryland.

1936 – First large concrete dams, the Hoover Dam and the Grand Coulee Dam were built and still
exist today.

1967 – The Assembly Hall, the first concrete domed sport structure, was constructed at the
University of Illinois.

1970 – Fiber reinforced concrete was introduced. Fibrous material increases the concrete’s
structural integrity. Fibers can be made from polypropylene, nylon, steel, or blends of different
materials. Methods have also been developed to make use of recycled tires to create fiber
reinforced concrete.
1999 – Polished concrete is introduced to the United States by HTC. Although the Bellagio in
Las Vegas is the first installation in the United States to see the polished concrete, its popularity
quickly soared due to its pleasing aesthetics. Today it is used in everything from stores to homes
including floors and pieces of furniture.
2000 – The first standards and certification program for sustainable construction called LEED is
launched by the United States Green Building Council. This sparked a new push toward green
building and brought on new criteria for evaluating building materials and their performance.

2003 – The Solaire, the first green residential high-rise building in the United States is built just
blocks away from ground zero and sets new standards with New York building agencies.

2004 – Creators add special fibers created by Hungarian architect Aron Losonczi that transmit
light in concrete to create translucent concrete.

2010 –This same year the Burj Khalifa in Dubai sets the new record for tallest structure built with
reinforced concrete. It stands at an impressive 2,717 ft. tall.

2016 – The world’s first fully functional 3D printed building, the Office of the Future, is
completed and celebrates its grand opening in Dubai.

Present- Jeddah Tower previously known as Kingdom Tower will be the first structure planned
to be the world’s first 1km (3281ft) high building which is expected to be completed in 2020. It
has been using RCC in shear walls and other structural elements.
3) Explain fiber reinforced concrete and self-compacting concrete.

Fiber Reinforced Concrete:

It is a composite material which consists of cement, aggregates and discrete discontinuous short
fibers. The fibers present help in reducing cracks, improve toughness and strength of brittle
building materials. Ancient civilization of West Asia, Africa and South America used straw fibers
to reinforce adobe bricks.
Unreinforced concrete is brittle and does not have significant post-cracking capacity or ductility
as a result, fibers are introduced to overcome this problem. Provision of reliable post-fracture
capacity and toughness are the most notable material enhancements achieved by fiber
reinforcement.

Other benefits which vary depending on a number of factors include:

i. Increases the tensile strength of the concrete
ii. Reduces the air voids and water voids.
iii. Increases the durability of the concrete
iv. Reducing bleeding in fresh concrete
v. Giving more flexural strength as compare to strength given by rebar.
vi. Restricting the growth of cracks under loads.
vii. Some fibers produce greater impact, abrasion in concrete.

Type of fibers used in fiber- reinforced concrete;

1. SFRC (Steel Fiber Reinforced Concrete) - Steel fibers are most commonly used fibers. Steel
fiber reinforced concrete is basically a cheaper and easier to use a form of rebar reinforced
concrete. Rebar reinforced concrete uses steel bars that are laid within the liquid cement, which
requires a great deal of prep work but make for a much stronger concrete.

2. GFRC (Glass Fiber Reinforced Concrete)

- Glass fiber is a recent introduction in making
fiberglass insulation, to reinforce the concrete. The glass fiber helps insulate the concrete in
addition to making it stronger. Glass fiber also helps prevent the concrete from cracking over time
due to mechanical or thermal stress. In addition, the glass fiber does not interfere with radio
signals like the steel fiber reinforcement does. Glass fiber concretes are mainly used in exterior
building façade panels and as architectural precast concrete. GFRC uses fine sand, cement,
polymer, water, other admixtures and alkali-resistant glass fibers. Glass fiber reinforced
Cementous composites have been developed mainly for the production of thin sheet components,
with a paste or mortar matrix, and fiber content.

3. SNFRC (Synthetic Fiber Reinforced Concrete) - Synthetic fibers are the result of extensive
research by scientists to improve on naturally occurring animal and plant fibers. Synthetic fibers
are being used to improve the performance of concrete. These fibers are more durable. These can
be used to improve the strength of hardened concrete and are used for crack control in semi-
hardened concrete. Synthetic fibers help to improve pumpability and keep concrete from spalling
during impacts. Synthetic fibers help to prevent cracking as these do not expand in heat and
contract in cold.
4. NFRC (Natural Fiber Reinforced Concrete) - The oldest forms of fiber reinforced composites
were made with naturally occurring fiber such as straw and horse hair. Modern technology has
made it possible to extract fibers economically from various plants, such as jute and bamboo to
use in cement composites. The unique aspects of this fiber in the low amount of the energy
required to extract these fibers. The primary problem with used of this fiber in concrete is their
tendency to disintegrate in an alkaline environment. The effects of being made to improve the
durability of this fiber in concrete by using admixture to make the concrete less alkaline and the
subjecting the fibers to special treatment.

Factors which influence the effectiveness of fiber-reinforcement:

 Fiber type i.e. fiber- aspect ratio, length, profile (straight or crimped), end anchorage
(hooking, teeing or end enlargement), strength, modulus.
 Fiber content, distribution and orientation.
 Matrix strength and fiber-matrix interface bond.
 These factors are influenced by the mix constituents and the mixing and consolidating
procedures.
Self-Compacting Concrete:
Self-compacting concrete is a non-segregating concrete that is placed by means of its own weight.
The importance of self-compacting concrete is that maintains all concrete’s durability and
characteristics, meeting expected performance requirements. Self-compacting concrete produces
resistance to segregation by using mineral fillers or fines and using special admixtures.
Self-compacting concrete with a water cement or cement binder ratio will usually have a slightly
higher strength compared with traditional vibrated concrete, due to the lack of vibration giving
an improved interface between the aggregate and hardened paste. The concrete mix of SCC must
be placed at a relatively higher velocity than that of regular concrete. Self-compacting concrete
has been placed at heights taller than 5 meters without aggregate segregation. It can also be used
in areas with normal and congested reinforcement, with aggregates as large as 2 inches.

Uses of Self Compacting Concrete:

Self-compacting concrete has been used in bridges and even on pre-cast sections. This type of
concrete is ideal to be used in the following applications:
 Drilled shafts
 Columns
 Earth retaining systems
 Areas with high concentration of rebar and pipes/conduits

Benefits of Self Compacting Concrete:

Using self-compacting concrete produce several benefits and advantages over regular concrete.
Some of those benefits are:
 Improved constructability.
 Labor reduction.
 Bond to reinforcing steel.
 Improved structural Integrity.
 Accelerates project schedules.
 Reduces skilled labor.
 Flows into complex forms.
 Reduces equipment wear.
 Minimizes voids on highly reinforced areas.
 Produces superior surface finishes.
 Superior strength and durability.
 Allows for easier pumping procedure.
 Fast placement without vibration or mechanical consolidation.
 Lowering noise levels produced by mechanical vibrators.
 Produces a uniform surface.
 Allows for innovative architectural features.
 It is recommended for deep sections or long-span applications.
 Produces a wider variety of placement techniques.

Factors affecting self-compacting concrete:

Using self-compacting concrete must not be used indiscriminately. These factors can affect the
behavior and performance of self-compacting concrete:

 Hot weather.
 Long haul distances can reduce flowability of self-compacting concrete.
 Delays on job site could affect the concrete mix design performance.
 Job site water addition to Self-Compacting Concrete may not always yield the expected
increase in flowability and could cause stability problems.
4) Explain the importance of admixture in modern concrete.

The history of concrete admixtures is as old as the concrete. Concrete admixtures are the part of
concrete technology. In olden days, sometimes, site engineer used to suggest (as per their
experience) adding chemicals before or during mixing of concrete ingredients. Concrete
admixtures are an important component in concrete with cement, water, and aggregates.

These days concrete is being used for various purposes to make it suitable for different conditions.
Ordinary concrete may not give us the required quality performance such as durability, strength,
workability and finishing quality of concrete. In such situations, concrete admixtures are used to
modify or improve the ordinary concrete properties. i.e. mass concreting, concreting at narrow
spaces, at remote places where water is not available easily, where formwork need to be removed
early, concreting work near coastal area, etc.

Concrete admixtures are not the essential component of the mix, but nowadays their use in
concrete is increasing very rapidly and their importance is becoming more valuable. The use of
admixtures is increasing very rapidly, because concrete admixtures provide physical as well as
economic benefits. If concrete admixtures are used properly then these are very beneficial to
concrete. Otherwise there is no repair for poor quality of concrete mix ingredients. Admixtures
benefits the concrete in following possible ways.

 Admixtures reduce the required quantity of cement and make concrete economical.
 They enhance the workability of concrete. Admixtures imparts early strength in concrete.
 Admixtures reduce the early heat of hydration and overcome thermal cracking problem in
concrete. If there is a more heat of hydration then cracks can propagate in fresh concrete.
 Admixtures improve the resistance against freeze-thaw effect on concrete.
 Concrete admixtures maximize the sustainability by bringing waste products in use.
 Concrete admixtures can accelerate the setting time as well as there are admixtures that
decelerate concrete setting time.
 There are some admixtures that act as anti-bacterial agents.
 There are concrete admixtures that decrease initial strength, but increase the hardened
concrete strength more than the normal concrete strength.
5) What are the uses of Prestressed Concrete in Nepal?

Prestressed concrete structures make possible improvement of the crack characteristics at the
serviceability limit state as well as reduction of the cross-sectional area of a member, thus offering
an extended range of options for many types of structure. Prestressed concrete can be used in a
wide range of building and civil structures here in Nepal, where its improved performance can
allow longer spans, reduced structural thicknesses, and material savings compared to simple
reinforced concrete. Typical applications include
 High-rise buildings
 Residential slabs
 Foundation system
 Bridge and dam structures
 Silos, tanks and
 Industrial pavements.
Building structures are typically required to satisfy a broad range of structural, aesthetic and
economic requirements. Significant among these include: a minimum number of (intrusive)
supporting walls or columns; low structural thickness (depth), allowing space for services, or for
additional floors in high-rise construction; fast construction cycles, especially for multi-storey
buildings; and a low cost-per-unit-area, to maximize the building owner's return on investment.
Prestressing of concrete allows a lower cross-sectional area of the section allowing greater span
length.
Bridge are required to constantly resist the vehicle load above it. Although very little in
practice, prestress concrete is likely to be used in various bridges in Nepal. The prestressing of
concrete allows "load-balancing" forces to be introduced into the structure to counter the loadings
which will apply in-service. Load-balancing results in lower in-service deflections, which allows
spans to be increased (and the number of supports reduced) without adding to structural depth
and also it reduces the amount of materials used hence reducing the cost of the structure. This is
very flavorful to bridges.
Dams in Nepal can use prestressed concrete to counter the uplift and increase their overall
stability. Prestressing can also be used to retro-fit a part of dam, such as for structural
strengthening, or when raising crest or spillway heights. Most commonly, dam prestressing takes
the form of post-tensioned anchors drilled into the dam's concrete structure and/or the underlying
rock strata. Such anchors typically comprise tendons of high-tensile bundled steel strands or
individual threaded bars. Tendons are grouted to the concrete or rock at their far (internal) end,
and have a significant "de-bonded" free-length at their external end which allows the tendon to
stretch during tensioning.