We've been working on a highway patch job. It's tedious at best and downright brutal at worst.
Due to temperatures, night is the best time to patch concrete. For sawing, it's required. Hot, expanding pavement can trap a concrete saw blade when the patch is finally near completely sawed. It's called a blade slam. I've felt where the slam is like somebody hitting next to your foot with a sledge hammer. The blade seizes and the only thing to do is remove the blade, saw multiple slices and relieve enough pressure to retrieve the blade. If that doesn't work, a concrete breaker is required.
As far as removing the concrete, the day works but the summer heat is brutal. Temperatures can reach over 100 degrees on any given day and there is no shade. That's why most of the work is at night and the patch is finally poured in the early morning. The increasing heat help cure the concrete quicker and getting off the highway is sooner.
So, that's where I've been. The shifts run up to 14 hours and there's little time to do much of anything except work, eat, shower and sleep.
I have some thoughts about the process of taking care of a relative that's passed. Some thoughts will require tact on my part, or a disclaimer. I don't want to offend, although the process leads to some harsh thoughts on what it takes to finally put a loved one to rest.
Curious, does the accelerated curing rate from the heat have an effect on the integrity of the concrete?
ReplyDeleteAs far as coming off sounding harsh, I lost my mother when I was 22, go ahead and vent. Most everyone will understand, screw those that don't. Just like with a shaken bottle of soda it's not a good idea to keep everything capped.
The concrete is designed for high early strength, so the compressive strength is higher due to the extra cement and chemicals to accelerate the hydration. Whether the long term durability is compromised would be hard for me to say. I drive over patches I poured back in the early 80's.
ReplyDeleteThe problems with concrete are usually due to the sub-structure, thermal buckling and high impact loads due to uneven pavement. The compressive strength is probably design overkill in reality.
I'm still sorting my thoughts on the event. With the upcoming memorial service, I have the feeling I'll have more things to add to my thoughts.