Cold weather concreting: provisions of codes and research advances

Abstract

In cold regions, concrete practitioners face challenges in achieving the target performance criteria of concrete produced at low temperatures. When concrete temperature drops to −2.8°C, the hydration development of cementitious binders nominally ceases due to the freezing of mixing water, which results in hydraulic and osmotic pressures that exceed the tensile capacity of concrete, especially at early age (immature stage). Subsequently, the hardening and strength gain rates of concrete are adversely affected, resulting in insufficient microstructural development and irreversible deterioration, which makes concrete applications challenging under cold weather. Therefore, multiple investigations have been conducted to develop efficient approaches to overcome the challenges of placing concrete at low temperatures. The current paper synthesises code provisions in North America and Europe and state-of-the-art knowledge on cold weather concreting, in terms of mixture components as well as new inventions and methods of concrete curing and protection at low temperatures. Hence, it should provide informative guidance for the construction industry in cold regions to improve cold weather concreting practices.