Giatec Welcomes Lafarge as a SmartRock® Plus Producer
Lafarge Canada Inc., a member of LafargeHolcim Ltd. and a world leader in the building materials industry, offers a wide range of specialized and branded concrete solutions (such as Ductal® and Agilia ®) for various applications in the construction industry. With the addition of SmartRock® Plus, Lafarge will…
In-Place Strength Monitoring of Concrete
Why Proper Monitoring of Concrete Strength and Maturity is Important One of the most important things to know during a construction project is the strength and maturity of concrete at any given time. Contractors have traditionally relied on lengthy break tests performed in laboratories in order to gather…
How Smart Technology Can Help You Get Around Labor Shortage
Maximizing Efficiency on the Job Site Not only did the construction industry lose approximately 2 million skilled construction workers during the recession between 2007 and 2011, many of the skilled workers that were forced out of the industry have not returned. What’s more is that the U.S. Bureau…
How Concrete Can Help Reduce Air Pollution
Two of the main contributors to air pollution can be reduced thanks to technological advancements in the concrete industry. Learn more now.
Top 10 World Record Breakers in Concrete
This week, we’ve compiled our top 10 record breakers in concrete. From old to new, this list will give you an idea of the best of the best in the world of concrete! 1. Oldest Man-Made Concrete The earliest recordings of concrete structures date back to 6500BC by the…
Can SmartRock® Plus Reduce Shoring Costs and Accelerate Construction?
Shoring. It might be the most boring part of any construction project. Hundreds of vertical supports just standing there, for weeks, doing nothing. As boring as it is, shoring is a critical safety element designed to keep new concrete structures from collapsing. The good thing about shoring: it…
Ready Mix Producers Can Cut on Operational Costs with SmartRock® Plus
According to industry data, quality management for all concrete production costs about $1 per cubic yard in the U.S. Of that dollar, 75¢ represents the cost of the quality department in working on job sites, making and breaking cylinders, and all of their other critical functions. The rest…
Concrete Producers Can Learn Something from the Ancient Romans
How Ancient Roman Concrete Has Survived The Centuries Researchers have found concrete mixes from the Roman Empire prove to be the world’s longest-lasting. Modern concrete recipes are very different from the Roman formula, as modern concrete usually features cement, water, aggregates, and a reinforced steel interior. The History…
Giatec Welcomes Hilltop Companies as a New SmartRock® Plus Producer
Hilltop Companies, a lead supplier in quality ready mixed concrete, partners with Giatec to offer SmartRock® Plus to local contractors. SmartRock® Plus is a value-added solution offered to contractors and construction companies who want to obtain real-time concrete temperature and strength results on the jobsite. This is critical…
3 Benefits SmartRock® Plus Gives Flatwork Contractors
Simply put, SmartRock® Plus is a rugged concrete maturity system, coupled with powerful reporting and data sharing capabilities, and real-time temperature monitoring. As with all maturity systems, the contractor can benefit from knowing real-time strength allowing him to post-tension decks, strip forms, or open pavements to traffic sooner….
Benefits to Using Recycled Tires in Concrete
How Recycled Tires Are Used to Reinforce Concrete Although there have been cases of concrete structures lasting centuries (like the Colosseum), concrete produced today will realistically last around up to 50 years depending on the mix design, the reinforcement, the placement, and exposure conditions. The fact is that…
SmartRock® Plus for Concrete Mix Optimization
Who cares about concrete mix optimization? In the concrete industry ”mix optimization” is an often abused term that vendors to the ready mix producers use when trying to justify their “value proposition” and sell their products. However, when used proactively, from the ready mix producer standpoint, mix optimization…
Using SmartRock® Plus to Defend your Concrete
You’re not alone. It’s not only in your market that testing labs produce bad results and you have to pay to defend your concrete. This is a big, broad problem across North America and around the world. So, if testing labs are so bad, and the problem is…
What if there was a new technology to help you quickly, easily improve the profitability of your ready mix business? What would this “ideal” new technology look like to a concrete producer? It would probably encompass: Innovative technology that has proven value to contractors Low risk for the…
3 Ways Telematics Can Improve Construction
In the pursuit of saving time, it becomes difficult when a project is caught up in contracts and agreements, project changes, and the many regulations and procedures that are necessary to complete a project. These problems cause other concerns such as relevant equipment, materials, and foreman required to…
4 Uses of SmartRock® Plus for Prestressed Concrete Producers
SmartRock® Plus was originally designed for ready mix producers, however, prestressed concrete producers now also see a lot of opportunity in this technology. There are four ways prestressed producers can take advantage of the SmartRock® Plus technology for real-time monitoring of temperature, strength, and maturity. 1) Temperature Monitoring:…
Road Salt Meets its Match With a New Type of Concrete
More Durable Concrete That Doesn’t React to Salt It has been a known fact for engineers that road salt, used as a de-icing agent every winter to protect the roads from the dangerous build-up of ice, are also responsible for the slow degradation of the concrete to which…
Could SmartRock® Plus Replace Concrete Cylinders for Acceptance Testing?
In a typical construction project, the strength of the concrete is assumed to be the same as the strength of the cylinders cast from that same load of concrete. Cylinders are made in the field, by a technician and cured under standard conditions. The cylinders are not intended…
