Preface: Ask why instead of who

The functioning of the quality chain in concrete construction was questioned in late 2010s, when two major failures occurred in the industry. In both cases, a large amount of concrete was dismantled only a few months after pouring.

All the parties involved were called to review the standard of their own performance. Often, the issue appears to be insufficient compaction of concrete on the site, for one reason or another.

Why do compaction problems occur although we have been pouring and compacting concrete in Finland for more than a hundred years already?

The task of the concrete compaction worker is a heavy one and maybe not seen as particularly valued or one that requires special professional skills. One may end up using the compactor, or concrete vibrator, with very little experience despite the significance of the task to the standard of the end result.

The current design guidelines and practices often make the pouring of concrete very difficult, particularly as a result of the reinforcement of heavy-duty concrete structures.

In infrastructure construction, on the other hand, compaction needs to be of high precision and efficient due to the extremely strict durability requirements for concrete.

Quality is a factor that should be reviewed much more comprehensively. For example, if the frost resistance requirements of concrete result in a situation where the compaction of concrete is impossible, the specified quality of the end result is not necessarily achieved.

It is necessary to impose more effective supervision of the most critical work phases. It may take a year to build a complex bridge structure, but the end quality depends on the pouring work carried out on one day. Concrete work supervisors are always needed on the worksite.

If a failure occurs, it is pointless trying to find just one culprit. No one person is to blame.

Jussi Mattila, Managing Director, Association of Concrete Industry in Finland