Assesment of quality implementation of concrete ingredients uses for building construction in jimma town

Abstract

One of the building construction materials widely used in construction project is concrete. Concrete being one of the important constituents of the construction project and construction material produced from three main ingredients namely cement, aggregates and water. In order to get quality concrete product, which satisfies the strength, workability and durability requirement, great care has to be given for concrete work starting from the ingredients selection. The ingredient selected has to fulfill the requirement stated on standards. The constituents of concrete, which majority of them occur naturally, are subjected to a wide range of variability and quality problems. Concrete being one of the important constituents of many of the construction projects, in addition to its subjectivity to variability, requires a close and thorough care and handling in construction projects. Therefore, with this respect a research was carried out to assess the quality implementation of concrete ingredients and workmanship in Jimma town on building constructions with a special emphasis given to the concrete making aggregates. The objective of the research was to assess the quality implementation of concrete ingredients and workmanship in general and to give recommendation in line with the outcome of the results of the research. The research is conducted through laboratory investigation and field observation which is found in Jimma town of concrete making ingredients. The findings of the conducted tests shown as sufficient tests on cement and aggregate on the laboratory but not include water. Those indicate to improve the concrete quality of the ingredients in building constructions. From the observation made in construction sites the implementation of concrete ingredients in most projects are not up to the standards with respect to quality and implementation and handling of the ingredients on the sites. Another conclusion drawn from the research was that the concrete ingredients quality, the handling and storage of the materials should be upgrade in all aspects including expert training and introduction of standardization for the quality of the concrete ingredients.