Ralph:
The wall is a floodwall. Hundreds of homes will depend on it every 100 years or so. The expansion joints will be sealed with expandable/contractable waterstops. Hopefully, the product chosen will also be vandal-proof. Thus, at the moment, my concern is the wall itself.
Stan
On Sat, Jun 27, 2009 at 2:26 PM, Ralph Kratz <rhkratzse@aol.com> wrote:
Stan, just curious, but why are cracks a concern, whereas the potential similar-size gap in an expansion joint isn't?
Ralph Hueston Kratz
www.rhkse.com
Sent from my iPhone 3G
On Jun 26, 2009, at 12:16 PM, Stan Caldwell <stancaldwell@gmail.com> wrote:
Shrinkage of concrete during curing seems to me to be one of those fuzzy areas of structural engineering practice. Perhaps some of you can help shave the fuzz.
We have to design a small concrete floodwall on top of an existing levee. The wall will be about 300 ft. long, 12 in. thick, and 2 to 3 ft. tall. Joint spacing will be based on shrinkage, and joint width will be based on thermal expansion (101 dF in Dallas today). Back to the shrinkage problem, this is a flood protection wall so we do not want any cracks. We are thinking of 20 ft. joint spacing, but are having trouble justifying this choice, or any other, based on available literature.
Any thoughts?
Stan R. Caldwell, P.E.
HALFF Associates, Inc.
Richardson, Texas******* ****** ******* ******** ******* ******* ******* ***
* Read list FAQ at: http://www.seaint.org/list_FAQ.asp
** This email was sent to you via Structural Engineers* Association of Southern California (SEAOSC) server. To* subscribe (no fee) or UnSubscribe, please go to:
*
* http://www.seaint.org/sealist1.asp
*
* Questions to seaint-ad@seaint.org. Remember, any email you* send to the list is public domain and may be re-posted* without your permission. Make sure you visit our web* site at: http://www.seaint.org******* ****** ****** ****** ******* ****** ****** ********