Is it time to lift?

To determine if tilt-up concrete panels are ready for lifting, estimate

their in-place strength with field-cured, not lab-cured, cylinders

BY TIMOTHY S. FISHER

B
efore erecting tilt-up con-
crete panels, you must allow
them to gain enough
strength to withstand lifting
stresses. Erecting panels be-
fore they achieve the proper
strength can lead to damage, costly
repairs and even serious accidents.
But how do you know when the re-
quired strength has been reached?
Many tilt-up contractors start
erecting panels after the concrete
has cured for a specific time. For ex-
ample, a contractor may cast panels
Monday through Thursday of one
week so all are ready for erection the
following Monday. Other contrac-
tors erect panels after a minimum
seven-day curing period.
But curing time alone isn’t an ac-
curate method for determining in-
place concrete strength. Because
concrete gains strength more slowly
in cold weather and more quickly at
higher temperatures, you may end
up lifting the panels too soon, before
they are strong enough to handle
the loads imposed during erection.
Or the panels may achieve adequate
strength sooner than expected while
equipment and personnel wait idly
onsite for a specified curing time to
elapse.
Only reliable testing can produce
accurate estimates of in-place con-
crete strength. The most common tion of a Las Vegas church was a delicate operation for contractor Martin-Harris
testing method makes use of field- Construction. If the panels had been lifted too soon, they could have been dam-
cured cylinders. aged, resulting in costly repairs.
(continued)
 Field- vs. lab-cured
cylinders
Field-cured cylinders are prepared
at the same time as the laboratory-
cured cylinders that are used for ac-
ceptance of a concrete mix. However,
the field-cured specimens are left on-
site until testing, unlike the lab-cured
cylinders, which are removed from
the site and taken back to the lab for
moist curing before testing.
Because lab and field curing condi-
tions differ, lab-cured cylinders should
not be used to estimate the strength
of in-place concrete. Research has
shown that strengths of cylinders pro- Field-cured cylinders can provide accurate estimates of in-place concrete strength,
tected and cured onsite to simulate leading to safer, more profitable tilt-up jobs. Remember to keep cylinders covered
good field practices can be as much as to prevent moisture evaporation.
15% lower than standard moist-cured
laboratory cylinders. Field-cured handled properly. For the best re- m Stored as near to the panels as
cylinders also can attain higher early sults, field-cured cylinders should be: possible.
strengths if they are cured at tempera- n Maintained at the same tempera- n Left undisturbed until tested.
tures higher than the 73” F standard ture and moisture environment as
laboratory curing temperature. the concrete in the panel. This Proper use of field-cured
But even field-cured cylinders means keeping the cylinders under cylinders
won’t provide a good estimate of in- blankets during cold weather if the When scheduling a tilt-up job,
place concrete strength if they aren’t panels are protected that way. have the concrete producer give you
compressive-strength test results at
one, three and seven days for the
concrete to be supplied. You can use
the results to estimate testing times
for field-cured cylinders. These results
will also help you determine if the re-
quired lift strength (see box on this
page) will be reached in the time
frame allowed by the project sched-
ule. If not, concrete mix adjustments
can be made so low breaks don’t
delay the lift.
During the panel pour, have the first test should be done after the esti- can cut back on the number of field-
lab make at least six field-cured mated curing time obtained from the cured cylinders taken. However, in
cylinders plus the required lab-cured producer’s early breaks has passed, case of low breaks, never make fewer
cylinders. The six cylinders should though you may need to adjust the than four cylinders.
be made for each day’s pour, each timing if the cylinders are exposed to
different mix used in the panels or hot or cold weather. The other two Assessing strength
each 150 cubic yards of concrete de- sets of cylinders can be tested if the uniformity
livered. Be sure the lab technician first set doesn’t meet the required Cylinders taken from one truck-
marks the cylinder mold with the strength or if any of the cylinders are load of concrete often are used to
panel number or location corre- damaged. You may also need to test judge concrete from many truck-
sponding to the panel being poured these cylinders if the results from the loads that have been placed in nu-
with that truckload of concrete. first test are low or if you don’t think merous panels. For example, let’s say
Each test result is the average of the results are accurate. As the project cylinders are made from one lo-yard
two cylinders. Thus with six cylin- progresses and your time-of-test esti- truckload of concrete for each 150
ders, you can make three tests. The mates become more consistent, you cubic yards delivered, and each
panel being poured takes 15 cubic
yards. This means 10 panels will be
erected based on the test results of
one batch of concrete.
If there are concerns about batch-
to-batch variations in concrete
strength, use a combination of test
results from field-cured cylinders
and from nondestructive testing
methods such as a rebound hammer
(ASTM C 805, “Standard Test
Method for Rebound Number of
Hardened Concrete”). To judge the
uniformity of panel strength, obtain
an average rebound number for the
panel made with concrete from the
truck represented by field-cured
cylinders. Next, get average rebound
numbers for the other panels and
compare them with the average for
the first panel tested.
Conduct three rebound tests on
each panel (10 readings for each
test), and average the three results. If
the average rebound number for any
panel is three points lower than the
reference panel average rebound
number, there’s a 95% probability
that the concrete in that panel is dif-
ferent from that in the reference
panel. If the field-cured-cylinder test
results for the reference panel only
slightly exceed the required lift
strength, you may want to give any
questionable panels another day or
so of curing and recheck the re-
bound number before lifting.
Rebound numbers aren’t intended
as an alternative to determining con-
crete strength with test cylinders.
But the numbers are a useful supple-
ment to field-cured-cylinder test
results and can help you better esti-
mate the proper lifting time. How-
ever, some engineers may not allow
this use of the rebound hammer, so
be sure the engineer on your project
approves of this method before you
rely on it. bi;

Acknowledgment
This article is adapted from a story ap-
pearing in The Concrete Facts (Novem-
her/December 19971, published by Bak-
er Concrete Construction Inc., Monroe,
Ohio. Tim Fisher is a project engineer for
Baker and a former field-engineering edi-
tor for Concrete Construction.