Improving concrete trade labor productivity through the use of innovations

Concrete activities are typically critical to a project's schedule, therefore examining how to improve their labor productivity can have a direct impact on a project's overall performance. As part of a research program to improve construction productivity sponsored by the Construction Industry Institute (CII), the authors investigated innovations in the concrete trades and their impact on labor productivity. The innovations studied were 100ksi steel reinforcement, self-consolidating concrete (SCC), and modular formwork. The 100ksi reinforcing steel study analyzed a typical beam cross-section and compared its total weight to that of a typical 60ksi reinforcing design. Often, high strength reinforcing steel is a lower cost alternative to a standard design due to lower amounts of steel. The SCC study collected quantities and unit rates of SCC and a comparable conventional mix at several projects. The projects using SCC had faster placement unit rates compared to conventional concrete mixes. Modular formwork was found to have significant advantages in productivity over stick-built formwork systems. From the analysis of a sample project, modular formwork gains a cost advantage at varying floors based on local labor rates. The findings should help management understand performance of these concrete innovations when considering their use.