A new tool Holcim (US) Inc. has developed for cement and ready mixed customers enables Android, Apple 4 & 4S iPhone and Blackberry smartphone users tailors mix design and slab pour schedules according to a four-day forecast of building site evaporation rates.
The free weatherAPP charts by zip code or smartphone-relayed GPS location an average wind speed, relative humidity, air temperature and evaporation rate profile, denoting whether plastic shrinkage cracking “is not likely,” “is probable,” or “is likely” to occur in those conditions, along with respective green, yellow or red indicator color codes.
Holcim (US) programmers created the application with an ACI 305R-10: Guide to Hot Weather Concreting formula, which states: “Concrete mixed, transported, and placed under conditions of high temperature, low humidity, or wind requires an understanding of the effects such environmental factors have on concrete properties and construction operations. When these factors are understood, measures can be taken to eliminate or minimize undesirable effects.”
Unveiled at World of Concete 2012 in Las Vegas, weatherAPP is the company’s first in a series of concrete practice-geared smartphone tools. It follows recent deployment of calQ, a web-based program assisting users in quantifying their concrete and aggregate products’ contribution to LEED credits; and Cement-Online, an order- and account-tracking program for concrete producers. Holcim (US) insists the weatherAPP is the first of many apps the company is planning to develop for its customers.