finishing concrete sidewalk curbs

Posted by on August 30, 2008, 11:17 am

Thanks for the information everyone. One more question. I was
talking to the concrete truck driver on my last pour and he said
contractors were starting to use the pea gravel mix for all their
pours and not just "pumped" pours since it makes the floating and
finishing way easier. Does anyone see any problems down the road with
using the pea gravel instead of using 3/4" crushed rock?

Posted by jloomis on August 30, 2008, 12:08 pm

P gravel is more apt to have cracking............as far as I understand.
The larger the rock, the better the strength.....
P gravel finishes well and works in easy.......You can use more steel in the
pour such as 1/2" rebar to offset some of the effects..
jloomis

> Thanks for the information everyone. One more question. I was
> talking to the concrete truck driver on my last pour and he said
> contractors were starting to use the pea gravel mix for all their
> pours and not just "pumped" pours since it makes the floating and
> finishing way easier. Does anyone see any problems down the road with
> using the pea gravel instead of using 3/4" crushed rock?

Posted by on August 30, 2008, 1:45 pm

Thanks jloomis....
John

Posted by Tom Cular on August 30, 2008, 5:56 pm

Sure do see issues with pea gravel!

1. It is a much softer stone than crushed stone.

2. It tends to be round and smooth as opposed to crushed stone that has been
fractured and has an irregular surface that promotes a much better bond
between the cement and the aggregate. The same reasom that beach sand is
recommended to NOT be used in concrete, from the constamt motion, beach sand
tends to become round and smooth. The same reason most states limit recycled
glass content in hot mix asphalt mixes, it fractures fairlly smooth and does
not present the bonding surface of mined or manufactured sand

3. In some areas, washed gravel is locally available and therefore much
cheaper to use than crushed stone. Been to that movie.

4. The reference to pump mixes using pea gravel are bogus. With a properly
designed pump mix, any pump can handle 3/4" crushed aggregate without
significant problems.

I've been on projects where pea gravel was spec'd due to the amount and
density of re-bar in a small area (column forms), but that was before the
admixtures that are available today.

Posted by on August 31, 2008, 11:46 am

Tom, that is interesting reading. Thanks for the information. What
type of admixtures are you refering to in column forms? Is the
admixture fibers that replace the aggregate in the concrete?
John

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