Entrained Air in Concrete for Drilled Piers 1

[zlindauer]

I am working on a project in Austin, Texas that has drilled piers as part of the foundation. This is a city building, so they like us to use their pre-approved concrete mixes. The mix that they have pre-approved for piers has air entrainment. We used Masterspec to put together our specs, and there is a line that says air entrained concrete should not be used for drilled piers. The contractor just pointed out this discrepancy to me. I would like to allow him to use the mix with entrained air. I was wondering if any of you know why it would be an issue to use air entrained concrete for piers.

Thanks

 

[Ron]

There is no logical reason, other than cost, that air entrained concrete cannot be used in drilled piers. Technically, it is fine to use air entrainment in drilled piers or any other foundation concrete.

 

[zlindauer]

That's what I thought. Thanks for the response. It's strange that our Masterspec had a line in it disallowing this.

 

[JAE]

Perhaps it is not "disallowing" it verses simply specifying that air is not really required in piers.

Of the 1000's of piers I designed and had built in Texas through the 1980's I never used air in them - nor had contractors request that it have air.

The only reason I could imagine needing the air is if the pumping of the concrete would be facilitated by the air.

 

[Ron]

JAE...exactly!