Technical Notes

While various materials may act as ‘cements’, this technical note will focus on Portland cement-based binders, including cement-only products and blends of cement with supplementary cementitious materials (SCM’s) such as fly ash, slag and silica fume

This Technical Note deals with the articulation of masonry walls, both internal and external, built on a concrete slab-on-ground or strip footing.

This technical note reminds designers of the reasons for including joints in buildings and the performance requirements they should meet.

Bond strength is a measure of the ability of the units and mortar in masonry construction to remain bonded and resist applied stress and movement, particularly in tension.

The majority of masonry structures exhibit excellent long-term performance with comparatively low maintenance cost.

This technical note discusses the mechanisms of external sulfate attack which include chemical reactions and the physio-chemical effects on concrete.

This technical note provides background knowledge of the requirements used when supplying coarse aggregates for asphalt.

This technical note provides background knowledge of the requirements for aggregates for use in concrete.

This technical note provides background knowledge of the requirements used when supplying aggregates for use in railway ballast applications.

This document, “roadbase” is designed to give the reader background knowledge of some of the more general requirements used when supplying roadbase to a particular project.

Fly ash, a by-product or ‘waste’ product from the combustion of coal, has become an important material in a variety of construction industry applications.

In the Australian concrete industry context, the term ‘slag’ generally refers to ground, granulated, iron blast furnace slag – with the descriptors to be explained and developed in this technical note.

The amorphous silica materials are a class of Supplementary Cementitious Materials (SCM’s) more diverse than the other SCM’s commonly used in concrete.