Organizational and technological solutions for controlling concrete structures projects in the dry hot weather in Iraq

Abstract

Iraq has suffered from a long period of neglect in projects due to the circumstances it has experienced, and there is a great need to construct infrastructure and development projects. The weather in Iraq is characterized by an increasing rise in temperatures, with summer temperatures reaching 50°C and relative humidity around 24%. The summer season extends for 5 months, and this requires procedures and precautions in projects that include concrete structures in hot climates that represented by high temperatures and low humidity. Such weather would affect the properties of fresh and hardened concrete, as the rapid evaporation of water from the mix causes different damages to the concrete, the appearance of shrinkage cracks, as well as a lack of workability. It also affects the strength of the concrete and its durability at later ages. Also, there are other problems in such projects related to poor quality and increased costs and time required to implement construction projects. Therefore, problems related to hot climates were studied through literature review in this regard. A questionnaire was also conducted to show the real problems that these projects suffer from, and problems were found that go beyond providing the above precautions that must be available in hot weather. Rather, it requires an increase in allocations, and there are problems related to the need for planning, as well as the necessary administrative, technical and legislative measures to improve performance.