There is a bit of a disconnect here. What you suggest would only work if the sugar were mixed in prior to placing. If he knew prior to placing that the concrete was below strength, he shouldn't have placed it.
Jay Shilstone
Jay Shilstone
Sent from my iPad
Charles,
Old time concrete truck drivers use to keep a bag or two of sugar behind the seat in case they had a mechanical break down where they would throw the bag in the mix to keep it from hardening and ruining their drum.
For a more technical response, small amounts of sugar, say 0.03% to 0.15% will retard the setting time whereas at 0.25% or more it can cause rapid setting. In any case it is not a good thing to put in concrete.
Thomas Hunt, S.E.
Fluor
From: Charles Canitz <canitzcf@aol.com>
To: seaint@seaint.org
Date: 11/16/2011 03:09 PM
Subject: Use of Sugar to Stop Concrete Curing
I was recently contacted by a colleague who advised that a contractor for his project used a few pounds of sugar (purchaed from a nearby grocery store) to prevent concrete from curing. The concrete was placed for a communications manhole afterwhich it was realized it had the wrong compressive strength. Using the sugar allowed the placed concrete to be easilly removed in a viscous state (versus use of a jack hammer).
Anyone previously encounter a previous situation? I'm assuming that the sugar reacts with the cement such that the hydration process is negated.
Thanks,
Charlie Canitz
Annapolis, MD
------------------------------------------------------------
The information transmitted is intended only for the person
or entity to which it is addressed and may contain
proprietary, business-confidential and/or privileged material.
If you are not the intended recipient of this message you are
hereby notified that any use, review, retransmission, dissemination,
distribution, reproduction or any action taken in reliance upon
this message is prohibited. If you received this in error, please
contact the sender and delete the material from any computer.
Any views expressed in this message are those of the individual
sender and may not necessarily reflect the views of the company.
------------------------------------------------------------