Precast Concrete
Typical Precast concrete services include 3rd party Quality Assurance inspection, precast concrete inspection, concrete testing.
The use of precast/prestressed concrete in bridge structural members continues to expand rapidly due to expected lower initial installation cost and potentially shortened timeframe for design and fabrication, leading to quicker on-site delivery. This same technology has been successfully employed during roadway pavement repair and construction as an alternative to cast-in-place concrete, especially in high traffic areas where decreased duration of lane closures is critical. In both instances, precast/prestressed structural members or pavement panel components are fabricated and assembled offsite, transported to the project site, and installed on a prepared foundation. Because components are fabricated off-site in a controlled environment, transportation agencies frequently desire Quality Assurance observations by independent parties to verify fabrication is performed in conformance with the governing specification as well as industry standards or guidelines established by the Federal Highway Association (FHWA) and the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI).
KTA’s staff of concrete inspectors assists bridge and highway owners in meeting their quality assurance needs through a three stage inspection process. During pre-pour, inspectors verify that forms and embedded materials (e.g., reinforcing) conform to the specification. Concrete testing is performed to verify that the concrete meets specified physical (e.g., strength) requirements. Post-pour inspections document that the components conform to shop drawings (e.g., dimensions) and finished product is properly labeled, handled, stored and transported in the specified manner. KTA’s concrete inspectors are certified in accordance with the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI) and trained to perform Precast/Prestressed Structural Concrete inspections in accordance with PCI MNL-116, “Manual for Quality Control for Plants and Production of Precast and Prestressed Concrete Products; AWS D1.1, “Structural Welding Code – Steel”; and AWS D1.4, “Structural Welding Code – Reinforcing Steel.”