How to Pour Concrete in Columns and Walls? [PDF]

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Pouring concrete in columns and walls needs great caution to ensure the achievement of designated strength and durability. Place the concrete in layers, and compact each layer properly to obtain a consolidated concrete mass that encircles steel bars and has low permeability. Use vibrations to consolidate fresh concrete, but avoid over-vibration as it may cause segregation.

Improper concreting procedures may cause segregation, honeycomb, crack development, and reinforcement corrosion. As a result, the concrete column or wall may deteriorate and fail.

How to Pour Concrete in Columns and Walls

• If the height of the wall or column form is not considerably long, pour concrete from the top of the forms.
• Place concrete at or close to its final position.
• Pour concrete in layers with a thickness ranging from 30cm to 50cm if the height of the RC column is large.
• Place concrete walls with a maximum 60cm layer in one pass to avoid segregation.
• The period between successive concrete layers should not be longer than half an hour for normal concreting conditions and 20 minutes in case of hot weather conditions.
• For walls deeper than 1.2m, pour concrete through vertical trunks or chutes positioned at an interval of 2.4m.
• Freefall of concrete from the trunk end should be done from 0.9 to 1.5m (occasionally restricted to 0.6m); otherwise, segregation would occur.
• The concrete freefall should be continuous. Prevent separation because of free falling of concrete over reinforcement or other embedded objects.
• Discharge concrete into the formworks directly without the use of chutes, trunks, or hoppers, if possible, to decrease segregation possibilities.
• Vibrate each layer to compact it properly. Lift the vibrator after the complete compaction of each concrete layer. Extend vibrator into the previous layer by 10-15cm.
• If the supply of concrete interrupts during concrete pouring, try to avoid the formation of cold joints in the wall or column.
• Sometimes, set retarder materials might be used to the concrete surface to delay its setting and create a good bond with the next batch of concrete. Sugar can retard the concrete setting time by up to four hours. The next layer of concrete should be thinner than previous ones, and vibration should extend into the previous layers.
• Prevent strikes of concrete against the formwork wall during pouring; otherwise, concrete separation would occur that may create honeycomb at the bottom of the concrete element.
• In RC columns and narrow walls, start concrete pouring with 5 to 10 cm grout to avoid collection of loose stones at the bottom that lead to honeycomb formation. The grout slump is the same as the concrete slump with the same or lower w/c ratio.
• Alternatively, place the same concrete mix with half coarse aggregate at the bottom with a thickness range from 15-30cm.
• Roughen concrete surfaces after initial set with brush, if, for any reason concreting stops for a day to create good bonding with the next concrete layer. 
• Sloping layer lines (leaking if water is present) and honeycombs are signs of improper concrete pouring in walls.
• In summary, avoid problems arising from improper concreting practices by preventing full depth placement of concrete at one point, a lower slump for upper layers, preventing lateral movement of vibrators in concrete, and thoroughly vibrating concrete.

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