A project manager in Phoenix said something about concrete pours that stuck with me

Honestly, we were doing a foundation for a small office building last spring, and the PM, a guy named Carl, insisted we wait an extra 4 hours past the standard time before starting the finish work. He said, 'The mix design for this batch has a higher fly ash content, it's setting slower than you think.' Tbh, I thought he was just being overly cautious, but he was right and it saved us from a major surface defect. Has anyone else had a PM call something like that based on the specific batch ticket?

3 comments

3 Comments

abby_chen3mo ago

Actually, that's not a batch ticket thing, that's just knowing your mix design. The ticket just confirms what was ordered versus what got delivered. Smart PMs learn how different recipes behave in the field.

paigeg2225d ago

I had a similar wake-up call early in my career when I blindly trusted a ticket and ended up with a load that was way too wet. Turns out the batch weights were right, but I hadn’t accounted for the high moisture in the aggregate that day. After that, I started keeping a little notebook (old school, I know) with notes on how different mixes felt and performed in the field, especially when weather changed. It’s saved me more times than I can count, and now I double-check every ticket against what I actually see in the drum.

cameron_webb3mo agoMost Upvoted

Sounds like a lucky guess to me. Abby_chen has a point, it's just basic mix knowledge. Not exactly a superpower.