Construction

Lean construction - Wikipedia

Construction- the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations, and comes from Latin
constructio (from com- "together" and struere "to pile up"). To construct is the verb: the act of building,
and the noun is construction: how something is built, the nature of its structure.

Civil Engineering- the application of physical and scientific principles for solving the problems of society,
and its history is intricately linked to advances in the understanding of physics and mathematics
throughout history. Because civil engineering is a broad profession, including several specialized sub-
disciplines, its history is linked to knowledge of structures, materials science, geography, geology, soils,
hydrology, environmental science, mechanics, project management, and other fields.

Throughout ancient and medieval history most architectural design and construction was carried out by
artisans, such as stonemasons and carpenters, rising to the role of master builder. Knowledge was
retained in guilds and seldom supplanted by advances. Structures, roads, and infrastructure that existed
were repetitive, and increases in scale were incremental.

One of the earliest examples of a scientific approach to physical and mathematical problems applicable
to civil engineering is the work of Archimedes in the 3rd century BC, including Archimedes' principle,
which underpins our understanding of buoyancy, and practical solutions such as Archimedes' screw.
Brahmagupta, an Indian mathematician, used arithmetic in the 7th century AD, based on Hindu-Arabic
numerals, for excavation (volume) computations.

Building construction

Building construction is the process of adding structures to areas of land, also known as real property
sites. Typically, a project is instigated by or with the owner of the property (who may be an individual or
an organization); occasionally, land may be compulsorily purchased from the owner for public use.

Residential construction

Residential construction may be undertaken by individual land-owners (self-build), by specialist house-

builders, by property developers, by general contractors, or by providers of public or social housing (e.g.:
local authorities, housing associations). Where local zoning or planning policies allow, mixed-use
developments may comprise both residential and non-residential construction (e.g.: retail, leisure,
offices, public buildings, etc.).

Residential construction practices, technologies, and resources must conform to local building authority
regulations and codes of practice. Materials readily available in the area generally dictate the
construction materials used (e.g.: brick versus stone versus timber). Costs of construction on a per
square meter (or per square foot) basis for houses can vary dramatically based on site conditions, access
routes, local regulations, economies of scale (custom-designed homes are often more expensive to
build) and the availability of skilled tradespeople.
Non-residential construction

Depending upon the type of building, non-residential building construction can be procured by a wide
range of private and public organizations, including local authorities, educational and religious bodies,
transport undertakings, retailers, hoteliers, property developers, financial institutions and other private
companies. Most construction in these sectors is undertaken by general contractors.

Infrastructure construction

Civil engineering covers the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built
environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, tunnels, airports, water and
sewerage systems, pipelines, and railways. Some general contractors have expertise in civil engineering;
civil engineering contractors are firms dedicated to work in this sector, and may specialise types of
infrastructure.

Industrial construction

Industrial construction includes offshore construction (mainly of energy installations: oil and gas
platforms, wind power), mining and quarrying, refineries, breweries, distilleries and other processing
plants, power stations, steel mills, warehouses and factories.
 Construction processes

Some construction projects are small renovations or repair jobs, like repainting or fixing leaks, where the
owner may act as designer, paymaster and laborer for the entire project. However, more complex or
ambitious projects usually require additional multi-disciplinary expertise and manpower, so the owner
may commission one or more specialist businesses to undertake detailed planning, design, construction
and handover of the work. Often the owner will appoint one business to oversee the project (this may
be a designer, a contractor, a construction manager, or other advisors); such specialists are normally
appointed for their expertise in project delivery, and will help the owner define the project brief, agree
on a budget and schedule, liaise with relevant public authorities, and procure the services of other
specialists (the supply chain, comprising subcontractors). Contracts are agreed for the delivery of
services by all businesses, alongside other detailed plans aimed at ensuring legal, timely, on-budget and
safe delivery of the specified works.

Design, finance, and legal aspects overlap and interrelate. The design must be not only structurally
sound and appropriate for the use and location, but must also be financially possible to build, and legal
to use. The financial structure must be adequate to build the design provided, and must pay amounts
that are legally owed. Legal structures integrate design with other activities, and enforce financial and
other construction processes.

These processes also affect procurement strategies. Clients may, for example, appoint a business to
design the project, after which a competitive process is undertaken to appoint a lead contractor to
construct the asset (design–bid–build); they may appoint a business to lead both design and
construction (design-build); or they may directly appoint a designer, contractor and specialist
subcontractors (construction management). Some forms of procurement emphasize collaborative
relationships (partnering, alliancing) between the client, the contractor, and other stakeholders within a
construction project, seeking to ameliorate often highly competitive and adversarial industry practices.

Planning

When applicable, a proposed construction project must comply with local land-use planning policies
including zoning and building code requirements. A project will normally be assessed (by the 'authority
having jurisdiction, AHJ, typically the municipality where the project will be located) for its potential
impacts on neighboring properties, and upon existing infrastructure (transportation, social
infrastructure, and utilities including water supply, sewerage, electricity, telecommunications, etc.). Data
may be gathered through site analysis, site surveys and geotechnical investigations. Construction
normally cannot start until planning permission has been granted, and may require preparatory work to
ensure relevant infrastructure has been upgraded before building work can commence. Preparatory
works will also include surveys of existing utility lines to avoid damage-causing outages and other
hazardous situations.

Some legal requirements come from malum in se considerations, or the desire to prevent indisputably
bad phenomena, e.g. explosions or bridge collapses. Other legal requirements come from malum
prohibitum considerations, or factors that are a matter of custom or expectation, such as isolating
businesses from a business district or residences from a residential district. An attorney may seek
changes or exemptions in the law that governs the land where the building will be built, either by
arguing that a rule is inapplicable (the bridge design will not cause a collapse), or that the custom is no
longer needed (acceptance of live-work spaces has grown in the community).

During the construction of a building, a municipal building inspector usually inspects the ongoing work
periodically to ensure that construction adheres to the approved plans and the local building code. Once
construction is complete, any later changes made to a building or other asset that affect safety,
including its use, expansion, structural integrity, and fire protection, usually require municipality
approval.

Finance

Depending on the type of project, mortgage bankers, accountants, and cost engineers may participate in
creating an overall plan for the financial management of a construction project. The presence of the
mortgage banker is highly likely, even in relatively small projects since the owner's equity in the property
is the most obvious source of funding for a building project. Accountants act to study the expected
monetary flow over the life of the project and to monitor the payouts throughout the process.
Professionals including cost engineers, estimators and quantity surveyors apply expertise to relate the
work and materials involved to a proper valuation.

Financial planning ensures adequate safeguards and contingency plans are in place before the project is
started, and ensures that the plan is properly executed over the life of the project. Construction projects
can suffer from preventable financial problems. Underbids happen when builders ask for too little
money to complete the project. Cash flow problems exist when the present amount of funding cannot
cover the current costs for labour and materials; such problems may arise even when the overall budget
is adequate, presenting a temporary issue. Cost overruns with government projects have occurred when
the contractor identified change orders or project changes that increased costs, which are not subject to
competition from other firms as they have already been eliminated from consideration after the initial
bid. Fraud is also an occasional construction issue.

Large projects can involve highly complex financial plans and often start with a conceptual cost estimate
performed by a building estimator. As portions of a project are completed, they may be sold,
supplanting one lender or owner for another, while the logistical requirements of having the right trades
and materials available for each stage of the building construction project carry forward. Public–private
partnerships (PPPs) or private finance initiatives (PFIs) may also be used to help deliver major projects.
According to McKinsey in 2019, the "vast majority of large construction projects go over budget and take
20% longer than expected".
Legal

A construction project is a complex net of construction contracts and other legal obligations, each of
which all parties must carefully consider. A contract is the exchange of a set of obligations between two
or more parties, and provides structures to manage issues. For example, construction delays can be
costly, so construction contracts set out clear expectations and clear paths to manage delays. Poorly
drafted contracts can lead to confusion and costly disputes.

At the start of a project, legal advisors seek to identify ambiguities and other potential sources of
trouble in the contract structures, and to present options for preventing problems. During projects, they
work to avoid and resolve conflicts that arise. In each case, the lawyer facilitates an exchange of
obligations that matches the reality of the project.

Procurement

Design-bid-build is the most common and well-established method of construction procurement. In this
arrangement, the architect, engineer or builder acts for the client as the project coordinator. They
design the works, prepare specifications and design deliverables (models, drawings, etc.), administer the
contract, tender the works, and manage the works from inception to completion. In parallel, there are
direct contractual links between the client and the main contractor, who, in turn, has direct contractual
relationships with subcontractors. The arrangement continues until the project is ready for handover.

Design-build

Design-build became more common from the late 20th century, and involves the client contracting a
single entity to provide design and construction. In some cases, the design-build package can also
include finding the site, arranging funding and applying for all necessary statutory consents. Typically,
the client invites several D&B contractors to submit proposals to meet the project brief and then selects
a preferred supplier. Often this will be a consortium involving a design firm and a contractor (sometimes
more than one of each). In the United States, departments of transportation usually use design-build
contracts as a way of progressing projects where states lack the skills or resources, particularly for very
large projects.

Construction management

In a construction management arrangement, the client enters into separate contracts with the designer
(architect or engineer), a construction manager, and individual trade contractors. The client takes on the
contractual role, while the construction or project manager provides the active role of managing the
separate trade contracts, and ensuring that they complete all work smoothly and effectively together.
This approach is often used to speed up procurement processes, to allow the client greater flexibility in
design variation throughout the contract, to enable the appointment of individual work contractors, to
separate contractual responsibility on each individual throughout the contract, and to provide greater
client control.
Design

In the industrialized world, construction usually involves the translation of designs into reality. Most
commonly (ie: in a design-bid-build project), the design team is employed by (i.e. in contract with) the
property owner. Depending upon the type of project, a design team may include architects, civil
engineers, mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, structural engineers, fire protection engineers,
planning consultants, architectural consultants, and archaeological consultants. A 'lead designer' will
normally be identified to help coordinate different disciplinary inputs to the overall design. This may be
aided by integration of previously separate disciplines (often undertaken by separate firms) into multi-
disciplinary firms with experts from all related fields, or by firms establishing relationships to support
design-build processes.

The increasing complexity of construction projects creates the need for design professionals trained in
all phases of a project's life-cycle and develop an appreciation of the asset as an advanced technological
system requiring close integration of many sub-systems and their individual components, including
sustainability. For buildings, building engineering is an emerging discipline that attempts to meet this
new challenge.

Traditionally, design has involved the production of sketches, architectural and engineering drawings,
and specifications. Until the late 20th century, drawings were largely hand-drafted; adoption of
computer-aided design (CAD) technologies then improved design productivity, while the 21st-century
introduction of building information modeling (BIM) processes has involved the use of computer-
generated models that can be used in their own right or to generate drawings and other visualisations as
well as capturing non-geometric data about building components and systems.

On some projects, work on-site will not start until design work is largely complete; on others, some
design work may be undertaken concurrently with the early stages of on-site activity (for example, work
on a building's foundations may commence while designers are still working on the detailed designs of
the building's internal spaces). Some projects may include elements that are designed for off-site
construction (see also prefabrication and modular building) and are then delivered to the site ready for
erection, installation or assembly.

On-site construction

Once contractors and other relevant professionals have been appointed and designs are sufficiently
advanced, work may commence on the project site. Typically, a construction site will include a secure
perimeter to restrict unauthorized access, site access control points, office and welfare accommodation
for personnel from the main contractor and other firms involved in the project team, and storage areas
for materials, machinery and equipment. According to the McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Architecture and
Construction's definition, construction may be said to have started when the first feature of the
permanent structure has been put in place, such as pile driving, or the pouring of slabs or footings.[22]
Commissioning and handover

Commissioning is the process of verifying that all subsystems of a new building (or other assets) work as
intended to achieve the owner's project requirements and as designed by the project's architects and
engineers.

Defects liability period

A period after handover (or practical completion) during which the owner may identify any
shortcomings in relation to the building specification ('defects'), with a view to the contractor correcting
the defect.

Maintenance, repair and improvement

Maintenance involves functional checks, servicing, repairing or replacing of necessary devices,

equipment, machinery, building infrastructure, and supporting utilities in industrial, business,
governmental, and residential installations.

Demolition

Demolition is the discipline of safely and efficiently tearing down buildings and other artificial structures.
Demolition contrasts with deconstruction, which involves taking a building apart while carefully
preserving valuable elements for reuse purposes (recycling - see also circular economy).
MATERIALS
Binder(binding agent)- any material or substance that holds or draws other materials together to form a
cohesive whole mechanically, chemically, by adhesion or cohesion.
Binders are liquid or dough-like substances that harden by a chemical or physical process and bind
fibres, filler powder and other particles added into it. Examples include glue, adhesive and thickening.
Mechanical binders are bond stones in masonry and tie beams in timber framing.

Cement- a binder- sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is
seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel (aggregate) together. Cement mixed with
fine aggregate produces mortar for masonry, or with sand and gravel, produces concrete. Concrete is
the most widely used material and is behind only water as the planet's most-consumed resource.

Cements used in construction are usually inorganic, often lime or calcium silicate based, and can be
characterized as hydraulic or the less common non-hydraulic, depending on the ability of the cement to
set in the presence of water (see hydraulic and non-hydraulic lime plaster).

Hydraulic cements (e.g., Portland cement) set and become adhesive due to a chemical reaction between
the dry ingredients and water. The chemical reaction results in mineral hydrates that are not very water-
soluble and so are quite durable in water and safe from chemical attack. This allows setting in wet
conditions or under water and further protects the hardened material from chemical attack. The
chemical process for hydraulic cement was found by ancient Romans who used volcanic ash (pozzolana)
with added lime (calcium oxide).

Non-hydraulic cement (less common) does not set in wet conditions or under water. Rather, it sets as it
dries and reacts with carbon dioxide in the air. It is resistant to attack by chemicals after setting.

Aggregate- is a broad category of coarse to medium-grained particulate material used in construction,

including sand, gravel, crushed stone, slag, recycled concrete and geosynthetic aggregates. Aggregates
are the most mined materials in the world. Aggregates are a component of composite materials such as
concrete and asphalt; the aggregate serves as reinforcement to add strength to the overall composite
material. Aggregates are used as a stable foundation or road/rail base with predictable, uniform
properties (e.g. to help prevent differential settling under the road or building), or as a low-cost
extender that binds with more expensive cement or asphalt to form concrete. Although most kinds of
aggregate require a form of binding agent, there are types of self-binding aggregate which do not
require any form of binding agent.

Sources for these basic materials can be grouped into three main areas: mining of mineral aggregate
deposits, including sand, gravel, and stone; use of waste slag from the manufacture of iron and steel;
and recycling of concrete, which is itself chiefly manufactured from mineral aggregates. In addition,
there are some (minor) materials that are used as specialty lightweight aggregates: clay, pumice, perlite,
and vermiculite.
Concrete- a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid
cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in
the world after water, and is the most widely used building material. Its usage worldwide, ton for ton, is
twice that of steel, wood, plastics, and aluminum combined. Globally, the ready-mix concrete industry,
the largest segment of the concrete market, is projected to exceed $600 billion in revenue by 2025. This
widespread use results in a number of environmental impacts. Most notably, the production process for
cement produces large volumes of greenhouse gas emissions, leading to net 8% of global emissions.
Other environmental concerns include widespread illegal sand mining, impacts on the surrounding
environment such as increased surface runoff or urban heat island effect, and potential public health
implications from toxic ingredients. Significant research and development is being done to try to reduce
the emissions or make concrete a source of carbon sequestration, and increase recycled and secondary
raw materials content into the mix to achieve a circular economy. Concrete is expected to be a key
material for structures resilient to climate disasters, as well as a solution to mitigate the pollution of
other industries, capturing wastes such as coal fly ash or bauxite tailings and residue.

When aggregate is mixed with dry Portland cement and water, the mixture forms a fluid slurry that is
easily poured and molded into shape. The cement reacts with the water through a process called
concrete hydration that hardens over several hours to form a hard matrix that binds the materials
together into a durable stone-like material that has many uses.[8] This time allows concrete to not only
be cast in forms but also to have a variety of tooled processes preformed. The hydration process is
exothermic, which means ambient temperature plays a significant role in how long it takes concrete to
set. Often, additives (such as pozzolans or superplasticizers) are included in the mixture to improve the
physical properties of the wet mix, delay or accelerate the curing time, or otherwise change the finished
material. Most concrete is poured with reinforcing materials (such as rebar) embedded to provide
tensile strength, yielding reinforced concrete.

Properties

Concrete has relatively high compressive strength, but much lower tensile strength.[96] Therefore, it is
usually reinforced with materials that are strong in tension (often steel). The elasticity of concrete is
relatively constant at low stress levels but starts decreasing at higher stress levels as matrix cracking
develops. Concrete has a very low coefficient of thermal expansion and shrinks as it matures. All
concrete structures crack to some extent, due to shrinkage and tension. Concrete that is subjected to
long-duration forces is prone to creep.

Tests can be performed to ensure that the properties of concrete correspond to specifications for the
application.

Concrete Strength

The ingredients affect the strengths of the material. Concrete strength values are usually specified as the
lower-bound compressive strength of either a cylindrical or cubic specimen as determined by standard
test procedures.

The strengths of concrete is dictated by its function. Very low-strength—14 MPa (2,000 psi) or less—
concrete may be used when the concrete must be lightweight.[97] Lightweight concrete is often
achieved by adding air, foams, or lightweight aggregates, with the side effect that the strength is
reduced. For most routine uses, 20 to 32 MPa (2,900 to 4,600 psi) concrete is often used. 40 MPa (5,800
psi) concrete is readily commercially available as a more durable, although more expensive, option.
Higher-strength concrete is often used for larger civil projects.[98] Strengths above 40 MPa (5,800 psi)
are often used for specific building elements. For example, the lower floor columns of high-rise concrete
buildings may use concrete of 80 MPa (11,600 psi) or more, to keep the size of the columns small.
Bridges may use long beams of high-strength concrete to lower the number of spans required.[99][100]
Occasionally, other structural needs may require high-strength concrete. If a structure must be very
rigid, concrete of very high strength may be specified, even much stronger than is required to bear the
service loads. Strengths as high as 130 MPa (18,900 psi) have been used commercially for these reasons.

Energy efficiency

Energy requirements for transportation of concrete are low because it is produced locally from local
resources, typically manufactured within 100 kilometers of the job site. Similarly, relatively little energy
is used in producing and combining the raw materials (although large amounts of CO2 are produced by
the chemical reactions in cement manufacture).[101] The overall embodied energy of concrete at
roughly 1 to 1.5 megajoules per kilogram is therefore lower than for most structural and construction
materials.

Once in place, concrete offers great energy efficiency over the lifetime of a building.[103] Concrete walls
leak air far less than those made of wood frames.[104] Air leakage accounts for a large percentage of
energy loss from a home. The thermal mass properties of concrete increase the efficiency of both
residential and commercial buildings. By storing and releasing the energy needed for heating or cooling,
concrete's thermal mass delivers year-round benefits by reducing temperature swings inside and
minimizing heating and cooling costs.[105] While insulation reduces energy loss through the building
envelope, thermal mass uses walls to store and release energy. Modern concrete wall systems use both
external insulation and thermal mass to create an energy-efficient building. Insulating concrete forms
(ICFs) are hollow blocks or panels made of either insulating foam or rastra that are stacked to form the
shape of the walls of a building and then filled with reinforced concrete to create the structure.

Fire safety

Concrete buildings are more resistant to fire than those constructed using steel frames, since concrete
has lower heat conductivity than steel and can thus last longer under the same fire conditions. Concrete
is sometimes used as a fire protection for steel frames, for the same effect as above. Concrete as a fire
shield, for example Fondu fyre, can also be used in extreme environments like a missile launch pad.

Options for non-combustible construction include floors, ceilings and roofs made of cast-in-place and
hollow-core precast concrete. For walls, concrete masonry technology and Insulating Concrete Forms
(ICFs) are additional options. ICFs are hollow blocks or panels made of fireproof insulating foam that are
stacked to form the shape of the walls of a building and then filled with reinforced concrete to create
the structure.

Concrete also provides good resistance against externally applied forces such as high winds, hurricanes,
and tornadoes owing to its lateral stiffness, which results in minimal horizontal movement. However,
this stiffness can work against certain types of concrete structures, particularly where a relatively higher
flexing structure is required to resist more extreme forces.

Earthquake safety

As discussed above, concrete is very strong in compression, but weak in tension. Larger earthquakes can
generate very large shear loads on structures. These shear loads subject the structure to both tensile
and compressional loads. Concrete structures without reinforcement, like other unreinforced masonry
structures, can fail during severe earthquake shaking. Unreinforced masonry structures constitute one
of the largest earthquake risks globally.[106] These risks can be reduced through seismic retrofitting of
at-risk buildings, (e.g. school buildings in Istanbul, Turkey).[107]

Construction with concrete

Concrete is one of the most durable building materials. It provides superior fire resistance compared
with wooden construction and gains strength over time. Structures made of concrete can have a long
service life.[108] Concrete is used more than any other artificial material in the world.[109] As of 2006,
about 7.5 billion cubic meters of concrete are made each year, more than one cubic meter for every
person on Earth.

Reinforced concrete

The use of reinforcement, in the form of iron was introduced in the 1850s by French industrialist
François Coignet, and it was not until the 1880s that German civil engineer G. A. Wayss used steel as
reinforcement. Concrete is a relatively brittle material that is strong under compression but less in
tension. Plain, unreinforced concrete is unsuitable for many structures as it is relatively poor at
withstanding stresses induced by vibrations, wind loading, and so on. Hence, to increase its overall
strength, steel rods, wires, mesh or cables can be embedded in concrete before it is set. This
reinforcement, often known as rebar, resists tensile forces.

Reinforced concrete (RC) is a versatile composite and one of the most widely used materials in modern
construction. It is made up of different constituent materials with very different properties that
complement each other. In the case of reinforced concrete, the component materials are almost always
concrete and steel. These two materials form a strong bond together and are able to resist a variety of
applied forces, effectively acting as a single structural element.

Reinforced concrete can be precast or cast-in-place (in situ) concrete, and is used in a wide range of
applications such as; slab, wall, beam, column, foundation, and frame construction. Reinforcement is
generally placed in areas of the concrete that are likely to be subject to tension, such as the lower
portion of beams. Usually, there is a minimum of 50 mm cover, both above and below the steel
reinforcement, to resist spalling and corrosion which can lead to structural instability. Other types of
non-steel reinforcement, such as Fibre-reinforced concretes are used for specialized applications,
predominately as a means of controlling cracking.

Precast concrete

Precast concrete is concrete which is cast in one place for use elsewhere and is a mobile material. The
largest part of precast production is carried out in the works of specialist suppliers, although in some
instances, due to economic and geographical factors, scale of product or difficulty of access, the
elements are cast on or adjacent to the construction site. Precasting offers considerable advantages
because it is carried out in a controlled environment, protected from the elements, but the downside of
this is the contribution to greenhouse gas emission from transportation to the construction site.

Advantages to be achieved by employing precast concrete:

Preferred dimension schemes exist, with elements of tried and tested designs available from a
catalogue.

Major savings in time result from manufacture of structural elements apart from the series of events
which determine overall duration of the construction, known by planning engineers as the 'critical path'.

Availability of Laboratory facilities capable of the required control tests, many being certified for specific
testing in accordance with National Standards.

Equipment with capability suited to specific types of production such as stressing beds with appropriate
capacity, moulds and machinery dedicated to particular products.

High-quality finishes achieved direct from the mould eliminate the need for interior decoration and
ensure low maintenance costs.

Mass structures

Due to cement's exothermic chemical reaction while setting up, large concrete structures such as dams,
navigation locks, large mat foundations, and large breakwaters generate excessive heat during hydration
and associated expansion. To mitigate these effects, post-cooling[114] is commonly applied during
construction. An early example at Hoover Dam used a network of pipes between vertical concrete
placements to circulate cooling water during the curing process to avoid damaging overheating. Similar
systems are still used; depending on volume of the pour, the concrete mix used, and ambient air
temperature, the cooling process may last for many months after the concrete is placed. Various
methods also are used to pre-cool the concrete mix in mass concrete structures.[114]

Another approach to mass concrete structures that minimizes cement's thermal by-product is the use of
roller-compacted concrete, which uses a dry mix which has a much lower cooling requirement than
conventional wet placement. It is deposited in thick layers as a semi-dry material then roller compacted
into a dense, strong mass.
Surface finishes

Raw concrete surfaces tend to be porous and have a relatively uninteresting appearance. Many finishes
can be applied to improve the appearance and preserve the surface against staining, water penetration,
and freezing.

Examples of improved appearance include stamped concrete where the wet concrete has a pattern
impressed on the surface, to give a paved, cobbled or brick-like effect, and may be accompanied with
coloration. Another popular effect for flooring and table tops is polished concrete where the concrete is
polished optically flat with diamond abrasives and sealed with polymers or other sealants.

Other finishes can be achieved with chiseling, or more conventional techniques such as painting or
covering it with other materials.

The proper treatment of the surface of concrete, and therefore its characteristics, is an important stage
in the construction and renovation of architectural structures.

Prestressed structures

Prestressed concrete is a form of reinforced concrete that builds in compressive stresses during
construction to oppose tensile stresses experienced in use. This can greatly reduce the weight of beams
or slabs, by better distributing the stresses in the structure to make optimal use of the reinforcement.
For example, a horizontal beam tends to sag. Prestressed reinforcement along the bottom of the beam
counteracts this. In pre-tensioned concrete, the prestressing is achieved by using steel or polymer
tendons or bars that are subjected to a tensile force prior to casting, or for post-tensioned concrete,
after casting.

Pretensioned concrete is almost always precast, and contains steel wires (tendons) that are held in
tension while the concrete is placed and sets around them.

Post-tensioned concrete has ducts through it. After the concrete has gained strength, tendons are pulled
through the ducts and stressed. The ducts are then filled with grout. Bridges built in this way have
experienced considerable corrosion of the tendons, so external post-tensioning may now be used in
which the tendons run along the outer surface of the concrete. In pre-tensioned concrete, the
prestressing is achieved by using steel or polymer tendons or bars that are subjected to a tensile force
prior to casting, or for post-tensioned concrete, after casting.

More than 55,000 miles (89,000 km) of highways in the United States are paved with this material.
Reinforced concrete, prestressed concrete and precast concrete are the most widely used types of
concrete functional extensions in modern days. For more information see Brutalist architecture.

Cold weather placement

Extreme weather conditions (extreme heat or cold; windy conditions, and humidity variations) can
significantly alter the quality of concrete. Many precautions are observed in cold weather placement.
Low temperatures significantly slow the chemical reactions involved in hydration of cement, thus
affecting the strength development. Preventing freezing is the most important precaution, as formation
of ice crystals can cause damage to the crystalline structure of the hydrated cement paste. If the surface
of the concrete pour is insulated from the outside temperatures, the heat of hydration will prevent
freezing.

Underwater placement

Concrete may be placed and cured underwater. Care must be taken in the placement method to prevent
washing out the cement. Underwater placement methods include the tremie, pumping, skip placement,
manual placement using toggle bags, and bagwork.

Grouted aggregate is an alternative method of forming a concrete mass underwater, where the forms
are filled with coarse aggregate and the voids then completely filled with pumped grout.

Concrete roads are more fuel efficient to drive on, more reflective and last significantly longer than other
paving surfaces, yet have a much smaller market share than other paving solutions. Modern-paving
methods and design practices have changed the economics of concrete paving, so that a well-designed
and placed concrete pavement will be less expensive on initial costs and significantly less expensive over
the life cycle. Another major benefit is that pervious concrete can be used, which eliminates the need to
place storm drains near the road, and reducing the need for slightly sloped roadway to help rainwater to
run off. No longer requiring discarding rainwater through use of drains also means that less electricity is
needed (more pumping is otherwise needed in the water-distribution system), and no rainwater gets
polluted as it no longer mixes with polluted water. Rather, it is immediately absorbed by the ground.
[citation needed]

Mortar- a workable paste which hardens to bind building blocks such as stones, bricks, and concrete
masonry units, to fill and seal the irregular gaps between them, spread the weight of them evenly, and
sometimes to add decorative colors or patterns to masonry walls. In its broadest sense, mortar includes
pitch, asphalt, and soft mud or clay, as those used between mud bricks, as well as cement mortar. The
word "mortar" comes from Old French mortier, "builder's mortar, plaster; bowl for mixing."

Cement mortar becomes hard when it cures, resulting in a rigid aggregate structure; however, the
mortar functions as a weaker component than the building blocks and serves as the sacrificial element in
the masonry, because mortar is easier and less expensive to repair than the building blocks. Bricklayers
typically make mortars using a mixture of sand, a binder, and water. The most common binder since the
early 20th century is Portland cement, but the ancient binder lime mortar is still used in some specialty
new construction. Lime, lime mortar, and gypsum in the form of plaster of Paris are used particularly in
the repair and repointing of historic buildings and structures, so that the repair materials will be similar
in performance and appearance to the original materials. Several types of cement mortars and additives
exist.

Rebar (short for reinforcing bar; known when massed as reinforcing steel or reinforcement steel)- a
steel bar used as a tension device in reinforced concrete and reinforced masonry structures to
strengthen and aid the concrete under tension. Concrete is strong under compression, but has weak
tensile strength. Rebar significantly increases the tensile strength of the structure. Rebar's surface
features a continuous series of ribs, lugs or indentations to promote a better bond with the concrete
and reduce the risk of slippage.

Concrete is a material that is very strong in compression, but relatively weak in tension. To compensate
for this imbalance in concrete's behavior, rebar is cast into it to carry the tensile loads. Most steel
reinforcement is divided into primary and secondary reinforcement:

Primary reinforcement refers to the steel which is employed to guarantee the resistance needed by the
structure to support the design loads.

Secondary reinforcement, also known as distribution or thermal reinforcement, is employed for

durability and aesthetic reasons, by providing enough localized resistance to limit cracking and resist
stresses caused by effects such as temperature changes and shrinkage.

Secondary applications include rebar embedded in masonry walls, which includes both bars placed
horizontally in a mortar joint (every fourth or fifth course of block) or vertically (in the horizontal voids of
cement blocks and cored bricks, which is then fixed in place with grout. Masonry structures held
together with grout have similar properties to concrete - high compressive resistance but a limited
ability to carry tensile loads. When rebar is added they are known as "reinforced masonry".

A similar approach (of embedding rebar vertically in designed voids in engineered blocks) is also used in
dry-laid landscape walls, at least pinning the lowest course in place into the earth, also employed
securing the lowest course and/or deadmen in walls made of engineered concrete or wooden landscape
ties.

In unusual cases steel reinforcement may be embedded and partially exposed, as in the steel tie bars
that constrain and reinforce the masonry Nevyansk Tower or ancient structures in Rome and the
Vatican.

Steel has a thermal expansion coefficient nearly equal to that of modern concrete. If this were not so, it
would cause problems through additional longitudinal and perpendicular stresses at temperatures
different from the temperature of the setting. Although rebar has ribs that bind it mechanically to the
concrete, it can still be pulled out of the concrete under high stresses, an occurrence that often
accompanies a larger-scale collapse of the structure. To prevent such a failure, rebar is either deeply
embedded into adjacent structural members (40–60 times the diameter), or bent and hooked at the
ends to lock it around the concrete and other rebar. This first approach increases the friction locking the
bar into place, while the second makes use of the high compressive strength of concrete.

Common rebar is made of unfinished tempered steel, making it susceptible to rusting. Normally the
concrete cover is able to provide a pH value higher than 12 avoiding the corrosion reaction. Too little
concrete cover can compromise this guard through carbonation from the surface, and salt penetration.
Too much concrete cover can cause bigger crack widths which also compromises the local guard. As rust
takes up greater volume than the steel from which it was formed, it causes severe internal pressure on
the surrounding concrete, leading to cracking, spalling, and, ultimately, structural failure. This
phenomenon is known as oxide jacking. This is a particular problem where the concrete is exposed to
salt water, as in bridges where salt is applied to roadways in winter, or in marine applications. Uncoated,
corrosion-resistant low carbon/chromium (microcomposite), silicon bronze, epoxy-coated, galvanized,
or stainless steel rebars may be employed in these situations at greater initial expense, but significantly
lower expense over the service life of the project.[15][16] Extra care is taken during the transport,
fabrication, handling, installation, and concrete placement process when working with epoxy-coated
rebar, because damage will reduce the long-term corrosion resistance of these bars.[17] Even damaged
epoxy-coated bars have shown better performance than uncoated reinforcing bars, though issues from
debonding of the epoxy coating from the bars and corrosion under the epoxy film have been reported.
These epoxy-coated bars are used in over 70,000 bridge decks in the US, but this technology was slowly
being phased out in favor of stainless steel rebar as of 2005 because of its poor performance.

Fibre-reinforced plastic rebar is also used in high-corrosion environments. It is available in many forms,
such as spirals for reinforcing columns, common rods, and meshes. Most commercially available rebar is
made from unidirectional fibers set in a thermoset polymer resin, and is often referred to as FRP.

Some special construction such as research and manufacturing facilities with very sensitive electronics
may require the use of reinforcement that is non-conductive to electricity, and medical imaging
equipment rooms may require non-magnetic properties to avoid interference. FRP rebar, notably glass
fibre types have low electrical conductivity and are non-magnetic which is commonly used for such
needs. Stainless steel rebar with low magnetic permeability is available and is sometimes used to avoid
magnetic interference issues.

Reinforcing steel can also be displaced by impacts such as earthquakes, resulting in structural failure.
The prime example of this is the collapse of the Cypress Street Viaduct in Oakland, California as a result
of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, causing 42 fatalities. The shaking of the earthquake caused rebars
to burst from the concrete and buckle. Updated building designs, including more circumferential rebar,
can address this type of failure.
Takt Time in construction

With construction methods that have highly repetitive products like bridge construction, tunnel
construction, and repetitive buildings like hotels and residential high-rises, use of takt is increasing.

An ideal production system has continuous flow and creates value for the customer while transforming
raw materials into products. Construction projects use critical path method (CPM) or program
evaluation and review technique (PERT) for planning and scheduling. These methods do not generate
flow in the production and tend to be vulnerable to variation in the system. Due to common cost and
schedule overruns, industry professionals and academia have started to regard CPM and PERT as
outdated methods that often fail to anticipate uncertainties and allocate resources accurately and
optimally in a dynamic construction environment. This has led to increasing developments and
implementation of takt.

Space scheduling
Takt, as used in takt planning or takt-time planning (TTP) for construction, is considered one of the
several ways of planning and scheduling construction projects based on their utilization of space rather
than just time, as done traditionally in the critical path method. Also, to visualize and create flow of work
on a construction site, utilization of space becomes essential. Other space scheduling methods:
 Linear scheduling method (LSM) and vertical production method (VPM) which are used to
schedule horizontal and vertical repetitive projects respectively,
  Line-of-balance (LOB) method used for any type of repetitive projects.
 Location-based management system (LBMS) uses flowlines with the production rates of the
crews, as they move through locations with an objective of optimizing work continuity.

Comparison with manufacturing

In manufacturing, the product being built keeps moving on the assembly line, while the workstations are
stationary. On contrary, construction product, i.e. the building or infrastructure facilities being
constructed, is stationary and the workers move from one location to another.
Takt planning needs an accurate definition of work at each workstation, which in construction is done
through defining spaces, called "zones". Due to the non-repetitive distribution of work in construction,
achieving work completion within the defined takt for each zone, becomes difficult. Capacity buffer is
used to deal with this variability in the system.

The rationale behind defining these zones and setting the takt is not standardized and varies as per the
style of the planner. Work density method (WDM) is one of the methods being used to assist in this
process. Work density is expressed as a unit of time per unit of area. For a certain work area, work
density describes how much time a trade will require to do their work in that area (zone), based on:
1. Product's design, i.e., what is in the construction project drawings and specifications
2. Scope of the trade's work
3. Specific task in their schedule (depending on work already in place and work that will follow
later in the same or another process)
4. Means and methods the trade will use (e.g., when prefabricating off-site, the work density on-
site is expected to decrease)
5. Crew capabilities and size.