Concrete Tracker

By request of the college and the State of Michigan, the construction of the building needed to incorporate ecologically aware products. One definite way to meet this requirement was by using an ICF wall system. The Bay College West had 66,000 square feet of finished floor space and approximately 61,000 square feet of wall surface area utilizing both 16” and 18” wide wall forms, 17 feet in height on both floors. The concrete used for the majority of the project was a 4,000 psi concrete with 20% slag replacement. When the walls were poured, a superplasticizer was added to take the concrete from a 2 ½” slump to an 8” slump. It allowed the concrete to be able to flow around a heavy reinforcement schedule within the wall cavity. Approximately 174 tons of rebar ranging in size from #4 up to #9 bar and 2500 cubic yards of concrete was used in the foundation and wall pours. The floors for the project utilized another 900 yards of concrete. The lower level used 1 ½ lbs. of fibermesh 300 for reinforcement in the slab on grade. The upper level metal desk used wire mesh fore reinforcement. After ample cure time and when construction allowed, the floors were then acid stained to get the desired look and followed the final layout of the ceiling. A polyurethane seal coat finished the operation. The exterior concrete amounted to another 500 yards of concrete again using the specified 4,000 psi concrete with 6% +/- 1.5% air content. The elevated walkway, which contained heat tubes within the slab, was poured using micro-silica fume in the mix. This was added to not only increase the strength but to provide a more dense and impermeable surface.