Ready-mix Concrete in the Cariboo Region
United Concrete & Gravel Ltd manufactures ready-mix concrete at three locations: Quesnel, Williams Lake, and 100 Mile House. Ready-mix concrete is an exact blend of cement powder, gravel, water, and admixtures. Your concrete comes in a plastic or unhardened form in a truck-mounted mixer. The ready-mix concrete is subsequently completed on the job site by being put into forms. The concrete will solidify in only a few hours. Contact us today if you want ready-mix concrete in the Cariboo region. We also provide concrete sealers available in all locations.
Concrete Where You Need It
Ready-mix concrete can be unloaded from the mixer truck using chutes connected to the back of the mixer truck. These chutes normally extend 12 feet. Ready-mix concrete can also be placed into a pumper truck, which utilizes a boom and hose to place the concrete. For difficult-to-reach jobs, a pumper truck is necessary. A pumper truck may often reach 110 feet or more.
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Ready-mix concrete is purchased and sold by volume. A cubic yard of concrete measures 3' long, 3' deep, and 3' wide. A cubic meter of concrete is 1 meter long, 1 meter deep, and 1 meter wide. Please contact us and we will gladly calculate your concrete requirements for you!
Concrete Calculator
A concrete calculator can help you decide how much concrete you need. You may calculate slab and footing pours and obtain estimation advice.
Residential and Industrial Concrete
United Concrete & Gravel Ltd's three batch plant facilities and a big fleet of mixers and pumper trucks can fulfill practically any ready-mix concrete demand, from private patios to commercial or large industrial projects.
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Ready-mix concrete: What do I ask for?
Use | Recommended Compressive Strength | Slump | Air % |
|---|---|---|---|
Basement walls and footings | 25 MPa | 3.5" | 2-5 |
Basement floors | 28 MPa | 3.5" | 2-5 |
Driveways, exterior steps, sidewalks * | 32 MPa | 3.5" | 6-8 |
*Note: All concrete exposed to applications of salt and freeze/thaw cycles should be air entrained.
Concrete Specifications
Air entraining admixtures (AEA) are used in concrete to intentionally entrain microscopic air bubbles. The AEA is mixed directly into the concrete either before or during the mixing process. Millions of minute air bubbles are dispersed equally throughout the paste percentage of the mix in air-entrained concrete. To be successful, these bubbles must have a specific size and dispersion. Natural or captured air bubbles are too huge and unevenly spaced to be useful. Air entrainment will significantly increase the durability of concrete exposed to moisture during freezing and thawing cycles. Entrained air significantly enhances the resistance of concrete to surface scaling induced by de-icing chemicals such as salt. Fresh concrete's workability is also greatly enhanced, and bleeding and segregation are decreased or eliminated.
CSA Classes of Concrete
The minimum strengths and water-to-cementing materials (W/CM) ratios are specified below. The W/CM ratio is the entire quantity of water in the mix, including aggregate water, divided by the total weight of cementing materials in the mix, which includes cement, fly ash, and silica fume. The mixtures listed are for 20 mm aggregate.
Class | Strength (MPa) | Water/Cement Ratio | Air % |
|---|---|---|---|
N | 20 | No requirement | No requirement |
F2, C4 | 25 | 0.55
| 4-7 |
F2 | 30 | 0.55 | 4-7 |
F1 | 30 | 0.5 | 5-8 |
C2 | 32 | 0.45 | 5-8 |
C1 | 35 | 0.4 | 5-8 |
Higher strength mixes and/or lower W/CM are often supplied, especially for classes F2, C4 and N.
Concrete Curing
It is crucial for the long-term stability of concrete that it is maintained as wet as possible during the first seven days following placement. Furthermore, it must be given enough curing time before being exposed to cold conditions or de-icing salts. Curing concrete correctly necessitates precise moisture and temperature management because, without proper curing, concrete may only attain 50% of its maximum design strength. The logic for a 28-day cure time is founded on two facts:
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To generate strength, cement, the "active" element in concrete, requires constant moisture.
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If the concrete is kept moist for at least seven days, it will have increased strength and would not shrink or crack much.
Curing can be assisted in a number of ways:
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Spray-on liquid curing agents and sealers
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Water ponding or spraying a mist over the concrete
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Coverings such as wet burlap, polyethylene and insulating blankets
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Leave forms in place
One of the most successful and easy approaches is to use a liquid curing agent. As soon as the finishing is completed, the curing agent should be applied. In order to retain moisture, curing chemicals produce a membrane on the surface of the concrete. No additional work on the concrete can be done once the curing agent has been applied. Curing agents should be applied with a spray or roller.
Curing is an integral part of concrete construction, according to CSA A23.1-94, and needs moisture to maintain the concrete at 100% relative humidity and a minimum temperature of 10° C for at least three days. For the durability criteria of exposure classes F1, C1, C2, S1 and S2, this duration is increased to a minimum of seven days.
Cold Weather Concreting
Concrete can be laid securely during the colder months if all the precautions are followed. During colder weather, the mix should be modified to the ambient temperature by heating the concrete, adding accelerators, and providing protection. From October 1st to April 15th, United Concrete & Gravel Ltd heats all concrete to fulfill CSA criteria while maintaining appropriate setting times and strength growth. High Early is an acceleration mechanism that reduces setup times in cold conditions.
Concrete generates heat during hydration as a result of the chemical interaction between cement and water to form a solid paste. The temperature of the new concrete, the temperature of the surrounding air, the size of the concrete, and the mix design all have an effect on hydration. Because concrete sets more slowly as the temperature drops, it is critical to monitor the temperature of the concrete during and after placement. When it's cold outdoors, finishing and form removal may take longer, and if necessary safety precautions aren't taken, strength development may suffer.
Freezing Weather
Concrete should not be poured on frozen ground, snow, or during freezing temperatures. The expansion and contraction of the frozen water inside the concrete can cause surface issues like scaling, spalling or cracking if concrete freezes while it is moist.
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Keep concrete away from freezing conditions for 3 to 7 days after installation.
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Keep the forms in place for as long as possible. Corners and edges are particularly sensitive (cover and heat if necessary).
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Cover and heat flatwork, or use insulated blankets or plastic and straw to protect it.
This data is offered to help you with your cold-weather construction. Please see CSA A23.1 - 94 Section 21 for a comprehensive examination of cold-weather concrete practices.
Plasticizers
Plasticizers are admixtures that increase slump in concrete, making it simpler to install. Plasticizers spread cement particles throughout a concrete mix. The effect is similar to adding water but without the negative side effects. Furthermore, they minimize the amount of water in the combination to achieve greater, early strengths.
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Plasticizers can help you construct more affordably while also producing higher-quality concrete. Gently flowing concrete can be laid more readily, giving good consolidation around rebar and tight forms with less vibration. Plasticizers should be included with low initial slump concrete to produce a workable mix with better strength properties.
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Plasticized concrete should be used for floors, suspended slabs, toppings, walls, columns, and any other application that requires a higher slump concrete. This technical component of concrete mix design can be handled by our dispatch manager. Please contact us for a free quote.
