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Ready Mixed Concrete - Basics
Did you know?
Ready mixed concrete is one of the most widely used and versatile materials in the world. It is literally the foundation of modern civilization.
Is there a difference between "cement" and "concrete" ?
Most people don’t know the difference between “cement” and “concrete” and use the terms interchangeably. In fact, while they are related, they most definitely are not the same thing!
Cement is a gray powder and just one of the ingredients required in the recipe to make concrete. The other ingredients in the recipe are water, air, a fine (smaller) aggregate such as sand, a coarse (larger) aggregate such as stone, and a small amount of chemical additives. You may think of cement being to concrete as flour is to cake.
The manufacturing process starts at a concrete batching plant but continues on the way to the job.
Concrete is a mixture of water, aggregates, cement, air and additives and the mixing which begins at the plant continues all the way to the job-site inside the concrete mixer truck. That's why you see the drums of the trucks rotating on their way down the road. The water and cement form a paste which coats the surface of the fine and coarse aggregates to bind them together.
Once the wet concrete is poured , a chemical reaction called hydration causes the paste to harden and gain strength. Concrete's remarkable quality of being liquid and malleable when freshly mixed and turning into a strong and durable material as it hardens explains why this building material has become ubiquitous in modern construction. This amazing material, concrete, can be formed into virtually any shape to build houses, skyscrapers, highways and bridges, and dams.
Concrete is the most widely used and versatile building material in the modern world.
What is the difference between cement and concrete? Basic facts about concrete.