1. Reduce your construction time
In addition to safety, time and cost are often the driving challenges in construction. In fact, when you consider that large projects are often 80 percent over budget, which puts a corresponding strain on the project budget, they are among the most pressing. Concrete monitoring helps you not only avoid these risks, but even reduce construction time by up to 30 percent.
How is this possible?
The curing of concrete to the desired compressive strength can be controlled to a certain extent, but ultimately it is a chemical process that takes time. You may not be able to speed up the process with concrete monitoring, but you can tighten up the procedures. This is because the sensors provide you with the relevant information on the maturing process directly from the concrete. As a result, the strength calculations are continuously updated and you are informed of any progress in real time.
So while other contractors wait until the magic 28 days are up and the information from the lab arrives, you get all the compressive strength data in real time. Instead of waiting for test results, you know when the time is right and can remove the formwork on your own. It is not uncommon for this to happen seven days earlier than planned. Such time savings per concrete pour have a significant impact on construction time.
2. Reduce the cost of construction
The logical consequence is that a reduced construction time is also easier on the budget. It also increases productivity because if your team finishes earlier on the construction site, you can tackle the next project faster.
But there are even more aspects under which concrete monitoring saves you money. Here come the top five:
- You reduce your labor costs
- You shorten the rental period of equipment
- You need fewer test samples
- You save material
- You have lower laboratory costs
All in all, you can save up to 20 percent on construction costs. Many others try to do this by dumping prices in purchasing or personnel. Using concrete monitoring makes it much easier and fairer: you simply increase efficiency without charging your men or service providers more.
3. Improve your project management
Relying on data from the past may work in many industries – not so in construction and especially not when working with concrete. If the actual compressive strength does not match the estimate because the maturing process is delayed due to temperatures, for example, the entire construction project is literally thrown into turmoil. The same applies if you rely exclusively on others, as in the example of concrete strength in the laboratory.
Concrete monitoring gives you the ability to use a tool properly. Using data measured directly in the concrete and combined with supplementary information in the dashboard, you have everything at your fingertips to make precise forecasts on strength development. Instead of comparing empirical values and making assumptions, you have the results in black and white.
This gives you better decision-making, regardless of time and place. You don’t even need to be on site to do this, as you can access the data from any internet-enabled device. This way, you can significantly simplify and improve your project management.
Newsletter – Concrete Monitoring
4.Make the documentation simple
Annoying, but unavoidable: Every process during construction or production must be documented. Complete documentation is essential in order to comply with regulations and quality control requirements. In addition, you also have an obligation to the building owners or clients to prepare your processes transparently. Last but not least, the correct logging even protects you, because when it comes to warranty, you have the burden of proof.
We can’t take everything off your hands, but when it comes to documenting the maturing process of your concrete and its quality, you can rely on us. That’s because ConcR’s IoT sensors measure all relevant data directly in the box, automatically send it to the cloud, and reliably store it there. Your workers no longer need to keep lists, and quite apart from the labor savings, you also minimize the risk of incorrect records.
This data can be found in the ConcR portal:
- Documentation of temperature and strength monitoring
- Display of the complete temperature history
- Automatic execution of the maturity calculation
- Display of the correlation between time and strength development
Using ConcR’s proprietary software, you can export all data in the format you need and make it available to your team, builders or clients.
5.Use facts instead of assumptions
Concrete simulations have an enormous disadvantage: the general conditions are rarely as in the manual. In reality, conditions are rarely predictable. The most important, and at the same time most difficult, to predict influence is changing weather conditions. Particularly in extreme conditions, such as very high or very low outside temperatures, there is a risk of delays as well as defects such as cracks.
Concrete monitoring sensors give you access to real data at all times. With an accuracy of +/- 0.5 degrees Celsius, ConcR’s sensors provide you with both the hydration temperature in the concrete and the ambient temperature. So as soon as you notice any discrepancies, you can take action yourself to protect your concrete and prevent serious defects.
6. Simplify your quality assurance with concrete monitoring
On every job site, there are critical areas in the concrete, depending on the strength, location and stress. Fracture tests are only an inadequate way of solving problems here because their results do not represent the entire construction site and are often inconsistent.
Sensors can be used specifically at problem areas so that you have a full overview of the development of compressive strength even at critical points. This allows you to detect weak points before they become a problem.
You also benefit from the use of concrete monitoring in long-term quality management: thanks to their long battery life, the sensors continue to send data to the cloud even after completion of the construction project, which is an invaluable advantage for their operators as well, especially in very complex projects such as road or bridge construction.
