Coordination Conference on Hydraulic Concrete

Abstract

In his opening speech, V. V. StoI'nikov, Doctor of Technical Sciences, chairman of the coordination commission for hydraulic concrete, stated that the construction of hydraulic plants in the northeastern, northern, and eastern parts of the country brings along several new requirements the concrete has to meet. These requirements have been laid down in the new State Standard 4795-68, which was worked out by the B. E. Vedeneev AII-Union Scientific-Research Institute of Hydraulic Engineering. Many new requirements, such as ultimate strength, capacity to absorb water, shrinkage and swelling, etc., have been introduced. Great care is paid to the frost resistance of the concrete, especially at temperatures below --20~ V. V. Stol'nikov pointed to the chief shortcomings in the practice of setting up specifications for materials for hydraulic concrete; the conditions which the concrete has to stand are not examined with due consideration, and it occurs often that only the general directives of standard specifications are used, whereas the particular circumstances under which the structures must exist are not taken into account, nor are the structural peculiarities of the buildings and their construction methods. What is needed is a more comprehensive and creative approach to the design of the composition of the concrete and to its purpose in accordance with the environmental conditions of the concrete used in structures.Fillers for hydraulic concrete must also be considered with great care, and one may not confine oneself to a former approach that had been used in the construction of gravity structures. Today, fiIlers sometimes do not have the required high quality, though the requirements the concrete has to meet have been raised considerably since the power industry has turned to building thin arched dams and dams in seismic regions of the country. V 9 V. StoI'nikov emphasized the importance of testing the materials at construction sites by piling up and testing experimental blocks of sufficient size on an artiUery shooting range.Three main problems were put at the discussion of the conference:1. Experience gathered with concrete materials in the construction of hydraulic structures.2. Experience gathered in drawing up specifications for materials for various types of concrete for hydraulic structures.3. Investigation of and tests with hydraulic concrete and materials for preparing such concrete.