Design Considerations for Roller Compacted Concrete and Rollcrete in Dams by Robert W. Cannon The traditional concepts of dam con- struction during the past 10 years have been altered by the uses of roller com pacted eonerete and rollerete. How. fever, there are diferences in the mate- ial properties of rolled concrete and Tollerete and theae are diseused. These Gigferences should be omsidered in the design of such structures. Keywords: compacting: compressive Asdngah concrete dam onereee dur iy; elats mix properdoning roller-com- acted concreter shear usengt tale engi watercement rao The concept of transporting, spreading, and compacting con: crete with lange equipment previ- ously used for earthwork and com: paction of rock fills has radically changed traditional concepts of dam construction during the past 10 years, The record setting: con- struction of Willow Creek Dam by the U.S. Army Corps of Engi neers in Heppner, Ore., has at tracted worldwide attention to the possibilities for this type of place- ment in dam construction. ‘The concept is equally applicable for construction of slabs on grade wherever there is sufficient room for the equipment to oper ate; however, such construction is less dramatic and therefore at- tracts less attention to its possibil ities. The concept has become known as roller compacted con- 50 erete (RCC) but has been referred to by some as “rollerete.” In 1980, ACI Committee 207 published a state-of-the-art paper on the sub- ject.! ‘The expression roller compacted conerete was first used in 1975, in the Tennessee Valley Authority's ‘General Construction Specifica- tion No. G-48, for Roller-Com- pacted Conerete.”” The specifiea- tion was issued to “‘govern the produetion and placing of no- slump conerete by construetion methods normally associated with the placement of roller compacted rock fills” The term rollerete was first used in 1974 by John Lowe III with reference to the emer- gency placement of one-half mil- lion eubie yards at Tarbela Dam.? He deseribed rollerete as ‘‘con- rete made from bank run gravel and very little cement placed con- tinuously by earthfill methods.” ‘The terms have been used inter- changeably to date with no clear distinction in terminology. The basic difference in philosophy con- cerns whether the end produet should approach that of soil-ce- ment or eonerete. This is particu- larly true with reference to dam construction. In the author's opin- ion, there is a sufficient difference in material properties between rollerete and rolled concrete to re quire a separation of the terms. This paper will discuss the use of both in dam construction, Definitions ACI Committee 116 defines con- erete as ‘‘a composite material which consists essentially of a binding medium within which are embedded particles or fragments of aggregate; in portland cement conerete, the binder is a mixture of portland cement and water.” Basically, the definition says that the quantity of "binding medium”? (paste) must be sufficient to embed all the particles or fragments of aggregate. Tn the author's opinion, this im- plies that: (1) the mix should have sufficient paste to fill all aggre- gate voids, to coat the entire sur- face area of aggregates, and suffi- cient excess to provide for proba- ble variations in aggregate gra¢ tion, and (2) fine aggregates should be separated from coarse aggregates in aggregate handling and batching procedures as a min- imum measure of control. Control of RCC consistency will improve with the increase in num- ber of separated coarse aggregate sizes in the same fashion as with conventional conerete. Basically the difference between rolled concrete and rollerete is in CONCRETE INTERNATIONAL/DECEMBER 1985control of voids within the consol dated material. Voids may be in herent in the proportioning of the no-slump mixture, may be the re- sult of variations in aggregate gradings, or may result from re- ducing water contents to speed placement. If the material con- forms to the definition of con- crete, paste will rise to the surface with continuing passes of the vi- rating roller. If the material has insufficient paste to fill the voids, continuing passes of the vibrating roller will crush aggregates at the surface. Roller compacted concrete (RCC) may be defined as concrete which differs from conventional no-slump conerete principally in requiring a consistency stiff enough to support the weight of vibratory rollers, but having a suf- ficient volume of paste to fully consolidate under externally ap- plied vibration, Rollerete may be defined as a conerete or soil-cement mixture whose no-slump consistency may ‘equal or exceed that of roller com- pacted concrete, but may fre- quently contain an insufficent vol- ume of paste to fill all voids and coat all particles of aggregate. Full consolidation may be as- sumed when the compacted mate- rial attains 98 percent of its maxi- mum densification, Compressive strength When the material conforms to the definition of concrete, investi- gators have found that strengths vary inversely with the water/ce- mentitious ratios in the same fash- ion as in conventional concrete. This does not appear to be true with rollerete of very high water! cementitious material ratios as in- dicated by Ernest K. Schrader in his latest paper on Willow Creek.* He states that conventional ideas of water-cement ratio do not ap- ply since strengths increased with inereased water contents. The ex- planation for this phenomenon concerns the effect of entrapped air voids on the strength of con- crete. 5 Bea Fig. 1 — Strength versus water-cement ratio. In any batching operation, the cementitious portion of a given mix is held relatively constant. Strength variations of solid eon- crete are primarily a reflection of variations in water demand. How- ever, strength is also affected by the air or void content of the eom- pacted conerete. Most investiga tors agree that a minimum strength loss of five percent may be expected for each one percent inerease in voids. For conventional concrete, this effect is seen in the strength dif- ferences in air entrained and non- air entrained concrete for a given twle ratio. The average water con- tent of the interior conerete for Willow Creek was approximately 215 pey (128 kgleu m) for 80 Ib (48 kg) of cement and 82 Ib (19 kg) of fly ash, or an average water/ee- mentitious material ratio of 1.92 by weight. Concrete quality _ monitor “CQM” test data from Exhibit 9.1 of Reference 6 indicates water contents varied from a low of 189 1b to a high of 249 Ib. This is con- siderably higher than the 182 Ib water content in the mix investi- gation program of reference." Wa- ter-cement ratios of this magni- tude are beyond published infor- mation on conerete. Prior to Wil- low Creek, Corps of Engineers specifications generally limited water-cement ratios to 0.8 in dams. In Fig. 1, the water-cement ra- tio strength data from ACI 211° (increased by approximately 20 CONCRETE INTERNATIONAL/DECEMBER 1985, percent) has been extrapolated to the average 28day strength data for 6 x 12 tamped cylinders at Willow Creek. It is quite apparent from Fig. 1 that a large change in w/c is required to have a signifi- cant impact on the strength of Willow Creek's interior concrete. Approximately 17 Ib (7.7 kg) of water is required to occupy 1 per- cent of the entrapped air voids of a cubie yard (0.76 cu m) of con- crete. The average 28-day strength of the interior conerete at Willow Creek was 1172 psi (8 MPa). Us- ing the 5 to 1 ratio, a 1 percent in- crease in entrapped air voids would reduce strengths by about 60 psi (0.41 MPa). If, however, 17 1b (7.7 kg) of water were added to offset the increase in void content, the loss in strength would be only 40 psi (0.28 MPa) based on Fig. 1. The result would be a net increase in strength of 20 psi (0.14 MPa) by adding 17 lb (7.7 kg) of water to the mix. From extension of the 211 curve in Fig.1, it would appear that this might hold true for any mix with a water/eementitious material ratio greater than 1.0 by weight. At lower wie ratios, the increased slope of the strength curve would indicate inereasing strengths with decreased water contents despite a corresponding inerease in voids, The optimum density studies by John Lowe! shown in Fig. 1 and 2 do not confirm this. One possible explanation is that the rate of a55 te 5 IS By 150 EJ 7 iE IZ as Ey COMPACTION] ENERGY: EQUIVALENT] MOD AASHO ze IS 140! 3a 3 6 7 | WATER CONTENT- % ORY WEIGHT 2500 7 mix a4 X54) PORTLAND CEMENT e 53 “Sg rey as = 2000 RI 5 Se 5 Sy é % 2 a e % 5 500 ey, : % g # 1000 3 3 j__WATER_ 0. 09 eevewrercvasty’ °° : 500 1 z 3 se 7 H WATER CONTENT— % ORY WEIGHT Fig. 2 — Compaction curve and compressive strength for rollerete mic. strength loss versus voids is More rollerete has been placed greater than 5 to 1 when the in- at Tarbela Dam than all other crease in void content is accom- placements combined. In the 1975 panied by a decrease in paste vol- emergency placement of rollerete tne for tunnel repairs, the eylinders were wet sereened and compacted Molding of test cylinders by tamping with a Kango bam If the material has sufficient — mer.”* (An instrument commonly paste to fill all the voids in the used in England for compacting combined gradation of the aggre- test specimens of lean concrete.) gates, it will fully consolidate un- The average 28-day strength of der externally applied vibration. the 2 bag mix was 1800 psi (12.4 Full consolidation will be achieved MPa) when paste surrounds all of the The 4 pef (0.64 kg/eu m) differ- aggregate particles at the surface. ence in reported average wet and If the mixture does not have dry densities indicates an average sufficient paste to fill the aggre- water content of 108 pey (64 kg/ew gate voids, it will not fully consoli- m) or an average w/e ratio of date under vibration and some 0.55. In the 1978 placement for ‘other method of molding cylinders __ repair of the service spillway com- must be employed for the tests to parative tests were run with eyl- be representative of the average _ inders compacted with the Kango conditions of the placement. hammer and with standard Amer ican Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) compaction proce- dures, Full consolidation was appar- ently not achieved with the AASHTO rammer as the average strength was only 1835 psi (12.7 MPa) compared with 2700 psi (18.6 MPa) with the Kango ham- mer. A similar difference in strengths was found between wet sereened, tamped 6 x 12 and tamped 9 x 18 cylinders at Willow Creek. The optimum density tests of Fig. 2 were compacted in a 14 in, (856 mm) compaction mold with compaction equivalent to a modi- fied AASHTO procedure. The amount of compactive ef- fort required to achieve full con- solidation in molding eylinders is dependent entirely on the rela- tionship between the volume of paste and the aggregate void sys- tem. In John Lowe’s optimum density study, the mixes with w/ (c+) ratios of 0.6 and higher meet the definition of concrete and could be consolidated by vibration. The strengths of these mixes cor- respond to normal. expectations for conerete with their propor- tions. The volume of paste as a ra- tio of the air-free volume of mor- tar for the 0.6 mix is 0.36. This corresponds closely to the mini- mum reeommendations of ACI 207 of 0.88 for interior mass mixes. Tensile strength The available test data on ten- sile strength indicates the tensile strength of horizontal cores from RCC placements may exceed the tensile strength of vertical cores from the same placement by as much as 20 percent. In comparing test data, it is thus important to consider the orientation of the test specimen with respect to type of test. With vertical cores, a direct ten- sile test would test tensile strength of the horizontal plane whereas a split eylinder tensile test of a vertical core would test strength in the vertical plane. When comparisons are made of tensile properties as a function of 52 CONCRETE INTERNATIONAL/DECEMBER 1985compressive strengths, it is impor- tant to remember that the rela- tionship also varies with eompres- sive strength. The relationship is also influenced by the method of test. Split cylinder tests generally produce higher strengths than di- rect tensile tests but are consid- ered by many as being more rep- resentative of actual tensile strengths. Fig. 3 is a plot of ten- sile /compressive strength test data from cores taken from test fills by the Tennessee Valley Au- thority," the U.S. Corps of En- gineers,"" the U.S, Bureau of Reclamation (Upper Stillwater Dam), the Construetion Industry Research and Information Associ- ation of London," and Willow Creek Dam, The cores represent tensile strength on the horizontal plane. The 4.5vJé curve appears to be the best fit for the RCC data. Considering 6Vfé as best fit for conventional concrete, the tensile strength of RCC in the vertical di- rection generally appears to be about 75 percent of conventional concrete with the same compres- sive strength. In the horizontal di- rection the strength of RCC might be expected to approach that of conventional concrete. A lowering of the tensile/eom- pressive strength relationship may logically be attributed to reduced aggregate bond due to the in- crease in surface area of aggre- gate and the decrease in paste vol- ume. For rollerete, it naturally fol- lows that even less paste volume combined with increased voids will further decrease the tensile prop- erties of the material. This is indi cated by the Willow Creek data in Fig. 3. Bond (tensile) strength on horizontal joints ‘The principal factors which eon- trol the bonding of one lift or layer of conerete to another are: (1) the condition of the surface to be bonded, (2) the moldability of the covering conerete, and (3) the ‘magnitude of work applied in con- solidating the covering concrete. A Fig. 3 pressive strength. Vertical cores; tensile strength versus com- Fig. 4 — Effect of exposure time on percent of bonded joints, number of misconceptions exist concerning the achievement of bond in RCC construction which have led investigators to seek a single sol A summary of both published and unpublished test data for bond CONCRETE INTERNATIONAL/DECEMBER 1985 of vertieal cores is presented in Table 1. The author was directly involved in six of the seven refer- enced placements. In addition to the construction of Willow Creek Dam, test fills have been con- structed at Willow Creek and Up- 8TABLE 1 — Summary of vertical core test data on bond Construction joints Lift joints T Foints bonded Joint Maximum Number Bond strength , Age size aggregate of Bonded Prswem) | Gays) | in (im) cores (wervent) psi__ (Pa) Number Percent TVA) % 30 (78) 12 75 188.16) 2100 TVA20) 7 15 Gay 2 % BS 2% 100 TVA2 1 15 G8) 3 25 = TVA3@) 1 13 G8) 4 100 153.06) ” TAs 1 13 G8) 8 13 ° VAS 1 1568) 2 0 290 2.0) WESA(4) 2 30 (78) n 0 = 100 WES2) 45 aM 10100 LC) 1 18 (88) 20 % 180 (1.24) 20 65 16-265) 1 80 (78) EI “ 325 (038) 2 a 16-35) 1 80 (78) é 100 100 (0.88) 6 50 La) 1 Bo (8) 6 50 io (076) 6 8 | we76) 1 15 (8) 2 60 30214) 10-76) 30 (78) 8 Leas) 1 7 (is) n 9 25 (1.69) LC) 1 30° (78) n 3 2m WES.36) 1" 1% a) Tt ° WES r 13 (8) 2 ° WES-46) 1 15 G8) 2 58 6 (on) WES 1 7% (9) 2 22 120 (082) WES 1 15 (3 6 100 225 (1.55) [ariam 6 15 G3 12 8 | cIRIAM, 6 13 Gay 2 o | arian 1 15 (8) 92 8 235 (1.62) CIRIAG) 2 1s GB 2 100 ao (097) CIRIA® a 15 (8) 58 96 fronted copsraetn jane, ‘Goneete of umpable consistency "Speak ibang wis with nerensed paste volume Abbreviations: PrN), indents project, teat ll number, and reference number: TVA, Tennesae Valley Authority: WES, Waterways Expriment Station, Ay Coe 2 egret “Gtlsbarg, Mien; UC, Cast Crank tat fils, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Pordand, Ore, distree CHRIA, Constraction Induiry Resear and Informatlon Assocation, Lindo, England per Stillwater dams. Only limited of laitance. The pereent of bonded TVA’s Tims Ford Dam" the time test data is available to date on joints from Table 1 is plotted in lapse between lifts was appro: core recovery for these place- Fig. 4 against time of exposure for mately 17 to 18 hr. Beeause of its ments. covering mixes of maximum ag- location, the placement was Condition of the surface gregate sizes of 3 in. (76 mm) plus shaded during exposure. No water The first misconception arose and 1'% in. (88 mm) minus. If we curing was applied but the surface from the lack of bleeding and lait- define a failure rate of 90 percent gave no evidence of drying prior ance in RCC placements. Previous or more as a cold joint, cold joints to being covered. experience, in conventional con- may be expected to oceur any time Ambient temperatures in Vicks- struction clearly indicated that after final set of the conerete. burg, Miss., were definitely on the achievement of bond was depen- Bond is clearly affected by the warm side for the third test fill dent on the removal of laitance. It maximum size of aggregate. Pro- placement at WES."* Lack of bond. also showed that the best methods _jecting the curves to zero, bond on some of the treated 1 day old of joint treatment, such as wet would indieate an influencing ef- joints can be attributed to the sandblasting, removed the least fect of aggregate size on critical stiffness of the covering mix. amount of excess material from timing for cold joints but there However, at least one mix with a the surface. It rather naturally does not appear to be any logical definite bondable consistency also followed that if there was no lait- basis for this. failed to bond. On the fourth test ance there was no need for joint ‘There is some indication that fill, the same mix bonded to an un- treatment. cool, moist, ambient conditions treated 1 day old joint. The treat- Testing of RCC placements may extend the timing of cold ment of cold joints appears to have clearly indicates that cold joints joints somewhat beyond final set. little influence on the bonding of are not dependent on the presence In the initial RCC placement at RCC placements. st CONCRETE INTERNATIONAL/DECEMBER 1885,‘Test data indicates that the con- crete covering a cold joint should have a slumpable consistency to achieve bond. This is indicated by the successful bonding of @he in- advertent, overwet coverimg mix in TVA’s second test fill and the significant inerease in bond of the slumpable eonerete in the fourth WES test fill. Testing also indi- cates that saturating the joint with water prior to covering may be detrimental to bond development. Moldability of covering conerete The ability of conerete to mold to any surface depends on the tex- ture of the surface, the shape and volume of coarse aguregate in the mix, and the flowability of the mortar, Once the lower lift has completely hardened, bond is de- pendent on the interlocking of the paste of the covering mix into the pore structure of the sound paste of the lower lift. The flow of paste at the surface improves with the smoothness of the surface, de- creased volume of coarse aggre- gate, and the increase in volume and consistency of the paste. If the lower surface has not completely hardened, bond will be improved to the extent of remolding and combining of the lower surface paste with the paste of the cover- ing mix. For bond on cold joints, it ap- pears imperative to use a bonding mix of slumpable consistency. Such eonerete ean still be consoli- dated with large vibratory rollers if spread in 3 in, thick layers and covered with 8 to 10 in. of no- slump consisteney conerete prior to consolidation. A bedding mix is not necessary if tensile bond strength is not required sinee ade- quate moldability for watertight- ness and shear strength can be achieved with proper mix design. Minimum consolidation In the author's opinion, one of the problems in developing bond strength on 1 day old joints is the amount of emphasis which has been given to establishing the minimum number of vibrating passes. In many instances, the au- thor believes that bond would have SHEAR-PRICTION FACTOR OF SAFETY OF 3 bor TT WoL. Regte Wels Rest 3.5 Var/vot en ee eee f¥e = 2000 pst (13.8 MPa) prt = 200 psi (7.38 MPa) TT T i to Resist Sliding to Resist Overturning | ‘VOLUME REQUIRED FOR SLIDING RESISTANCE AS A RATIO OF MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS oo. 0 2 Wo €0 80 100 120 1h0 160 180 200 ‘BOND STRENGTH IN PST 0.2 0.3 Ok 0.5 0.8 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 BOND SHRENGTH AS"A RATTO OF CoNGRBTE’ TENSILE StaENGTH Fig. 5 — Effect of bond strength on volume requirements. been substantially improved by additional passes. The number of passes of the vibratory roller is not the controlling: economic element. ‘The bringing of paste to the sur- face (for mixes with adequate paste content to achieve bond) is an indication of approaching max- imum densification. However, it may not be the right stopping place for bond. Most investigators stop at this point because paste accumulates on the roller under continued vibration after paste reaches the surface. If a second layer is placed over the first layer before the first layer reaches ini- tial set, the first layer will receive the additional needed vibration without the problem of paste ac- CONCRETE INTERNATIONAL/DECEMBER 1985 cumulation. This was done in the initial test fill at Tims Ford and may explain the good bond with 8 in, aggregate, Shear strength of horizontal joints ‘The shear strength require- ments for joints is normally based on a factor of safety for a combi nation of bond strength (cohesion) plus friction. The coefficient of frietion for eonerete sliding on a relatively smooth conerete surface is approximately 0.7. The plane of failure increases with joint incli- nation and bond. The coefficient of friction is generally taken as 1.0 when intimate contact of the two surfaces is assured. The coeffi- 51m H = 200 ft. (61m) He 150 fe. (yom) . ev i t+ TT Chet 20 yo 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 TT SHEAR-PRICTION FACTOR OP SAPETY AGAINST SLIDING BOND STRENGTH OF HORIZONTAL JOINTS IN psi Fig. 6 — Minimum section dam; effect of design head and joint strength on shear-friction factor of safety. cient of friction for the interior thor is not aware of any design concrete at Willow Creek from agency” or organization which ac- laboratory investigations was cepts a shear-friction factor of 0.88." A considerably higher value safety less than 3 for normal op- was obtained from the relatively erating conditions, For net oper- green lift joint of the test fill. This ig heads (H) less than 300 ft, is not surprising, however, since Fig. 5 indicates that the size of the the unconfined shear strength of dam will be controlled by mini- concrete may range from 25 to 35 mum section requirements as long. percent of the compressive as the minimum bond strength strength. The design engineer (JS) exceeds the following: should not be misled into thinking {18 Bond) = such tests represent the strength i Of dam eonstruction joints. henry Bond strength has already been _Bond is also plotted as a ratio of discussed. In the design of dams, concrete tensile strength in Fig. 5. the importance of bond strength Under the best conditions, the can be seen in a plot of bond _ strength of bond on hardened con- strength requirements versus the struetion joints should not be as- difference in volume requirements sumed greater than approxi- for the size of dam to be con- mately 60 percent of the tensile trolled by its stability against strength of the weaker material on overturning or controlled by a _ either side of the joint. For roll- minimum shear-friction factor of crete, the bond strength on hard- safety of 8. (See Fig. 5.) The au- ened joints without special treat- ment, is extremely questionable. The shear-friction factor of safety for rollerete construction should, therefore, be based on frictional resistance alone. Durability When the volume of paste in RCC mixtures constitutes a suffi- cient binding medium to embed all the particles of aggregates, Fig. 2.2.1, 2.2.2, and 2.3.2 of Ref- erence 1 clearly indicate com- pacted densities of 98 to 99 per- cent of theoretical air-free densi- ties when compacted by vibration. imilar results were obtained both in the laboratory and from the densities of test fill cores as re- ported in Reference 17. It is thus apparent that very little, if any, air can be successfully entrained into no-slump eonerete of the re- quired stiffness necessary to sup- port the weight of vibrating roll- ers. The difference between RCC and rollerete in resistance to cycles of freezing and thawing would be limited to their differ- enees in permeability. Both mate- rials will be subject to surface spalling under severe exposure unless protected by an insulating layer of frost resistant concrete. Without protection, the depth of spallage would be deeper and oc- cur sooner in undrained portions of the more permeable rollerete. No one knows at this stage of ‘experience with rollerete, what ef fect percolating water will have on material stability with time, We do know that free lime is leached from the cement jell as water pei colates through cracks. The prit cipal source of leakage with roll- crete will be the horizontal con- struction joints. If the leakage rate is high ‘and the cementitious binder is thin, there is a possibility of eventual complete loss of binder at the joint. Joint friction is directly affected by uplift conditions along the joint. However, for bonded joints there is a considerable time lag between changes in head water and change in uplift pressure depending on the rate of percolating water. For a 56 CONCRETE INTERNATIONAL/DECEMBER 1985,quality joint, the time lag may be a matter of weeks or months whereas the uplift pressure on an uncemented joint of high leakage rate may adjust completely in a matter of hours. Fig. 6 shows the effect of design head on the factor of safety against sliding assuming compres- sion over the entire base and uplift pressure varying from a maxi mum upstream to zero down- stream. Minimum seetion require ments are based on. stability against overturning. From Fig. 6, a 150 ft high dam designed for a normal head of 130 ft would re- quire a minimum bond strength of approximately 55 psi for a design shear-friction factor of safety of 3. Under porous joint conditions the safety factor would approach 14 under normal head water and ap- proach 1.0 under a maximum flood of 150 ft. Under these conditions, the designer should be very con- servative in his assumptions of bond on horizontal joints. Comparative costs Cost comparisons may be mis- leading unless two separate and distinct designs are bid competi- tively for the same job. U.S. Army Corps of Engineer estimates for alternate designs of rockfill and rollerete for Willow Creek Dam were competitive. Bid prices for the rollerete dam were $11 million less than Corps estimates. Costs appear definitely to favor rollerete over rockfill assuming Corps esti- mates for rockfill were more accu- rate than estimates for rollerete. ‘The basie difference in design criteria for rollerete and rolled conerete dams less than 300 ft high is the difference in allowable bond on construction joints. Mini- mum section requirements for dams less than 300 ft high, are basically controlled by resistance to overturning under maximum design head. Sliding resistance is generally based on maximum nor: ‘mal pool elevations because of the extended time required to effect changes in uplift on construction Joints. For sliding resistance of a minimum section, bond require- ments will vary with design head as indicated in Fig. 5. The differ- ence in volume requirements be- tween a minimum conerete sec: tion and a rollerete section of un- certain bond will decrease as the difference between maximum de- sign head and normal operating head inereases. The low operating head at Willow Creek was a major factor in whatever economic ad- vantage rollerete may have had over rolled concrete. ‘The cost of rollerete for Willow Greek was $20 per eubie yard ($26 per cubie meter) according to the latest cost figures. Its volume was 1.4 times the minimum volume re- quired for overturning at its max- imum design head. The break-even cost for a minimum section of rolled concrete would be $28 per ‘cubic yard ($37/eu m). A minimum section rolled concrete dam would have required a minimum bond strength of approximately 80 psi (0.21 MPa) for equivalent stiding resistance to Willow Creek. In the author's opinion, the added cost of ‘a separation of fine and coarse ag- gregate for control of gradation and the increase in cementitious material costs to provide the needed minimum paste volume, should not have exceeded $2 per cube yard ($2.60/eu m).. Upper Stillwater Dam in Utah is a 275 ft (84 m) high rolled con- erete dam. To insure the needed bbond strength on horizontal joints, specifications required that ‘80 percent of all test cylinders ex- ceed 4000 pounds per square inch (27.6 MPa) compressive strength at one year.”” The higher than nor- mal strength requirements re- sulted from a lower than normal relationship between tensile strength and compressive strength. (See Fig. 4.) The bid prices for RCC ranged from $22 to $30 per cubie yard ($29 to $39 per cu m) for the 20 contractors bid- ding. on the job. Approximately $2 pey ($2.60/eu m) should be added to this price for sand which was furnished under a separate con- tract. A comparable design for CONCRETE INTERNATIONAL/DECEMBER 1985 rollerete could require as much as 3 times the volume of Upper Still- water to maintain the same factor of safety against sliding depend- ing on frictional resistance alone. In the author's opinion, material costs could have been substan- tially reduced on both projects by use of a more realistic specifica- tion requirement for fly ash. In particular, it makes no sense to specify very low loss of ignition limits for no-slump conerete since entrainment of air is not consid- ered. The primary function of fly ash in RCC, beyond its long-range pozzolanie strength contribution, is to inerease the volume of the ce- mentitious binder to the mini- mums needed to coat all the parti- cles of aggregate and fill all the aggregate voids while lowering its heat generating characteristics This does not require long-term storage or extensive prequalifica- tion testing. Conclusions Designers need to be aware that rollerete is not simply a lean mixture of conerete which ean be used in the design of concrete dams without accounting for the differences in its properties in proportioning section require- ments. The variability of the ma- terial for both rollerete and rolled conerete must be considered in as- sumed values of bond for sliding resistance. We have insufficient experience, at this time, to judge the stability of porous materials subject to high pressure water percolation when the water/ee- mentitious materials ratios of those materials exceed present ex- perience levels. ‘The absence of laitance in RCC and rollerete does not change needed concern for bond on cold joints, A covering mix of slump- able concrete appears essential to insure bond on eold joints. Supe- rior bond is obtained when the surface of the cold joint is rela- tively free of moisture. Exeept for differences in mate- rial costs, there appears to be lit: tle difference in the unit cost of roller compacted eonerete in com- stRecommended Practice for Evaluation of Strength Test Results of Concrete, (Reaffirmed 1983) (214-77) Statistical methods provide valuable tools for assessing results of strength tests, and such information is also of value in refining design criteria and specifications. Discusses briefly the numerous variations that occur in the strength of concrete and presents statistical methods useful in interpreting these variations. ACI Committee 214, 1977, 14 pp. $7.75; to ACI members $5.50. > AMERICAN CONCRETE INSTITUTE P.O. Box 19150 Detroit, Mi 48219 58 parison with rollerete. There is a significant difference in volume requirements, however, if the dif- ferenees in properties are ac- counted for in design. References 1. ACI Commitee 207, ‘Roller Com pacted Concrete,” (ACI 207.5R-80), American Conerete Institute, Detroit, 1980, 22 pp, 2. "General Construction Specifica- tion No. G-48 for Roller Compacted Conerete,” Tennessee Valley Author: ity, Knoxville, Aug, 1975, pp. 1+ 's. “Repairs at Tarbela Dam Race Spring Snowmelt,” Engineering News-Record, V. 198, Oct. 31, 1974, p. 8 4, ACI Committee 116, “ and Concrete Terminology,” (ACT 116R-78), American Conerete Insti- tute, Detroit, 1978, 50 pp. '5, Schrader, Ernest, and MeKinnon, Richard, “Construction of Willow Greek Dam,” Concrete International: Design & Construction, V. 6, No. 5, May 1984, pp. 38-45 6. “Concrete Report; Willow Creek Dam—World’s First All Roller Com. pacted Concrete Dam,” U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Walla Walla Dis: triet, Aug. 1984 7. “Willow Creek Lake, Heppner Oregon—Supplement 1 to GDM 2 Phase Il—Maine Dam, Spillway, and Outlet Works—V. 1," U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Walla Walla Dis thiet, June 1981. 8. ACI Committee 211, “Standard Practice for Selecting Proportions for ‘Normal, Heavyweight, and Mass Con- crete (ACI 211.1-81)," American Con: erete Institute, Detroit, 1981, 82 pp. 9, Lowe, John III, “Use of Rollerete in Barth Dams,"” Proceedings, CIRIA International Conference on Rolled Conerete for Dams, Construction In- dustry Research and Information As- association, London, 1981, pp. Wl Ws. 10. Chao, Paul C., “Tarbela Dam— Problems’ Solved by Novel Con. cretes,” Civil Engineering—ASCE, V. 50, No. 12, Dec. 1980, pp. 58-64. i1. Gannon, Robert W., “Compac- tion of Mass Concrete with Vibratory Roller,” ACI JOURNAL, Proceedings V. T1, No, 10, Oct. 1974, pp. 506-5138. 42. Cannon, R. W., "Bellefonte Nu- clear Plant—Test for Compaction of No-Slump Conerete Next to Form: work,” Progress Report No. 2, Ten- nessee Valley Authority, Knoxville, ‘Aug, 1974, 5 pp. 18. Cannon, R. W., “Bellefonte Nu clear Plant—Roller Compacted Con- crete—Evaluation of Core Test Re- sults,” Report No. CEB-76-39, Ten: nessee Valley Authority, Knoxville 1977, 6 pp. 14, Tynes, W. O., “Feasibility Study of No-Slump Conerete for Mass Con: crete Construetion,"” Miscellaneous Paper No. €-78-10, US. Army Engi- neer Waterways Experiment Station, Vieksburg, Oct. 1973, 29 pp. 15. “Lost Creek No Slump Roller Compacted Concrete Investigation,” Final Report, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Portland Distriet, North Pavifie Division Materials Laboratory, ‘Troutdale, Mar. 1974, 8 pp. 16, Saucier, K. L., “Investigation of No-Slump Roller Gompacted Conerete (RCC) for Use in Mass Concrete Con- struction,” Proceedings, CIRIA Inter- national Conference on Rolled Con: crete for Dams, Construction Indus- try Research and Information Associ- ation, London, 1981, pp. 9-1 thru 9-7. 17. Dunstan, M.R. H., “Rolled Con- crete for Dams—Construetion Trials Using High Flyash Content Con- crete,” Technical Note No. 106, Con- struction Industry Research and In- Formation Association, London, May 1981, p. 34. 18, Design of Gravity Dams, U.S. Bureau of Reelamation, Denver, 1976, 558 pp. Recined and reviewed under Inet publi Robert W. Cannon, a member of the Inetitute for more than 20 years and a Fellow, 18.0" consulting engineer in Maryville, Penn. He ts a member of ACT Committers 207, Mass Concrete: 540, Nucloar Structures; 359, Anchor aie to Concrete: and teas recently ap int the ne Concrete Materials esearch Council. A graduate of Geor. ra Intute of Techno, he retired from the Tennessee Valley Authortt ‘in 1980 after 31 years as a research nd design engineer specializing im anerete dams and power plant sirua- tes hte san edna om such subjects us roller compacted con Grete fy aah sea, and Slee! ombed- ‘ment CONCRETE INTERNATIONAL/DECEMBER 1985