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| What Is Fiber Reinforced Concrete? |
| By Greg Vanden Berge |
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Fiber reinforced concrete is a structurally reinforced concrete mixture
that uses glass, natural and even sympathetic fibers to increase the
strength of concrete mixes.
When I was building a concrete pond in my backyard, I contacted the
concrete Ready Mix Company and asked them for suggestions about which
type of concrete mix I would actually need to use for something like
this.
The dispatcher suggested a 3000 p.s.i. concrete mixture with fiberglass.
I had used fiberglass one other time when I was building a foundation in
the mountains, where temperatures often fell below freezing during the
winter.
The concrete dispatcher in the mountains told me that the fiberglass
additive would help to prevent foundation cracks during freezing
temperatures and would increase the strength of the building foundation. |
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The only problem that I had with the fiberglass reinforced concrete at
that time was the fiberglass hairs sticking out of the building
foundation. Some of the fiberglass hairs were over an inch and a half
long and would actually stick up like little hairs, all over the
building foundation.
One of the biggest problems that concrete finishers have, when they're
using fiber reinforced concrete is the ability to provide a smooth
finish on areas that are going to be exposed, like sidewalks and
driveways, because they hairs keep poking up and as they trowel over
them, they lie back down in the concrete creating a small line in the
concrete, before they actually pop back up again..
I explained my concerns about this to the dispatcher who was suggesting
that I use this type of mixture for my pond and he told me that they are
now using smaller fiberglass particles and they shouldn't be a problem.
He was right, it wasn't a problem and it really didn't affect my finish
at all. The ponds turned out good, but you could see little fiberglass
hairs sticking up all over the top of the concrete finish, that were
about an eighth of an inch long, if you looked close enough.
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