Book review / Critique de livre 619 Like the three earlier editions of this bo k produced between 1963 and 1981, this fourth and final edition seeks to communicate a comprehensive knowledge of the technology of Portland cement concrete to its reader. Unlike many other classic texts on the same subject which have become somewhat dated, the periodic updating of this book culminating in the fourth edition has kept it alive and current with the concrete technology of the eighties and nineties in most respects. Consistent with this process, the comprehensive list of selected references spanning a wide range of sources worldwide, which was a particularly valuable feature of the previous 1981 edition, has been extended to include many items published between 1981 and 1995. Despite its title, this book is about much more than simply the properties of concrete. It is really a synthesis of the knowledge required to select suitable materials for a concrete mixture, how to proportion and mix these materials properly, and how to place and consolidate the resulting mixture to ensure that both the shortand long-term properties in the hardened state are satisfactory for the application in question. As the author correctly asserts, the primary property requirements in the hardened state are satisfactory compressive strength and adequate durability, but the former has always tended to preoccupy engineers responsible for specification development and construction much more than the latter because of the still widely held perception that concrete is a low-tech material consisting simply of water, cement, and inert aggregates. While many of the fundamentals of making good concrete have not changed, the variety of ingredients available for doing so has broadened greatly with respect to chemical admixtures and supplementary cementing materials or mineral admixtures, so the new chapter title highlighting chemical admixtures is welcome, as is the greater attention given to discussion of concretes made with supplementary cementing materials such as pulverized fly ash, ground granulated blastfurnace slag, or silica fume. However, a logistically strange feature of the layout carried over from previous editions is that the discussion of mixture proportioning practices is left to the last chapter, instead of following the chapters on the raw material ingredients and preceding the chapters on properties of the concrete mixture which derive from and depend strongly on the proportions selected. Nevertheless, North American and British practices, including the 1988 update to British practice, are adequately covered. Unfortunately, European practice which, as the author states, may well supersede British practice within the European Union is barely mentioned. The coverage of hardened concrete with respect to curing, strength development, and properties other than durability has been extended and reorganized from two chapters in the previous 1981 edition to four in this edition, with the important issue of temperature effects in concrete highlighted in a new chapter. The topic of durability is also covered more fully with respect to alkali-aggregate reactivity and carbonation, and is rearranged into two chapters instead of the previous one, with the second devoted specifically to freezing and thawing and the effect of the presence of chlorides. However, discussion of alkali-aggregate related durability problems is confined mainly to the well-known relatively rapid form of alkali-silica reaction remedied by pozzolanic additives. Even though the author states that he regards the subject area as too vast for full treatment in his book, some mention of the problems created by slower reacting siliceous aggregates that have created serious concerns in recent years, and for which the remedies are uncertain or unknown, would have been welcome. The chapter on concretes with particular properties which are special in one way or another has been extended considerably beyond the scope of the previous edition to include flyash, slag, and silica fume concretes and retain coverage of the various forms of lightweight concrete. High-density concrete for radiation shielding has been dropped, perhaps reflecting the reluctance in the developed world to build more nuclear power stations. The author introduces the term “high performance concrete” which, as he acknowledges, infers an allegedly distinct product. It is unfortunate that he has used the term at all because of its currently overworked buzzword connotation, particularly in Canada, and the inevitable implication that all other concretes are necessarily in some way inferior for their intended purpose. Aside from this criticism, the chapter contains new and useful information on concretes which excel in performance with respect to one or other definable properties, for example, with respect to flowability, compressive or flexural strength, shrinkage, resistance to cracking, abrasion resistance, and (or) water permeability, or chloride ion penetration. Since 1969, this reviewer has used the three previous editions of this book as a primary reference in undergraduate civil engineering courses on construction materials and as Received July 11, 1997. Manuscript accepted October 1, 1997.
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