Recommended Concrete Mixes for Various Types of Construction
Gopal Mishra
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Recommended Concrete Mixes for Various Types of Construction Works:
Various types of concrete construction requires different concrete mixes for its construction. The recommended value of these concrete  mixes for various types of construction is presented in table below:
Table: Recommended mixes for Different Concrete Construction
Type of work
Concrete Mix Ratio
Max. size of aggregates (mm)
Water for dry aggregates (liter)*
Water for aggregates condition from dry to moist batch (liter)*
Water for best consistency (liter)*
Small precast work, fence posts, poles, garden furniture and other work of very thin sections
1:2:2
16
20
15 to 16
Soft
Storage tanks, cisterns, sewers, well knerbs, watertight work, and columns or other structural parts subjected to high stresses
Building and basement walls, silos, sills, lintels, machine foundations subject to vibration, bridges, dams, piers, etc exposed to action of water and frost foundation concrete for masonry walls
1:2:4
40
30
23 to 26
Stiff or Medium
Culverts, retaining walls, compound walls, ordinary machine bases, etc.
1:3:5
40
34
26 to 30
Stiff or Medium
Mass concrete for heavy walls, lean concrete for levelling course of RCC foundations
1:3:6
63
36
30 to 32
Medium
*for one cement bag batch
NOTES: When both fine and coarse aggregates are poorly graded, the following general rules regarding suitable proportioning of these will be found helpful:
For maximum size of coarse aggregates as 40mm and over, sand should be half as much as coarse aggregates.
For maximum size of coarse aggregates as 20mm and over, sand should be two-thirds as much as coarse aggregates.
For maximum size of coarse aggregates as 16mm, sand and coarse aggregates should be in equal parts.
