Georgia Tech Professors demonstrate that mixing by shovel produces poor concrete… While researching  the potential for recycling rubble from Haiti’s broken buildings, a team of US engineers discovered how the shovels have contributed to the devastation from the earthquake. They found that mixing by “eye” and by hand create concrete that is very weak. So weak that it is less than half of the minimum compressive strength of concrete in the US, and many times it is closer to ¼ of the appropriate strength. These findings explain why the so many of the homes and buildings constructed by shovel came crushing down on the people of Haiti. Professors DesRoches and Kurtis took random samples from construction site around the country and then did standard strength testing of the concrete mix. We have highlighted the content of their report to the right. The sad thing is that these tests were conducted at construction sites that are currently rebuilding the homes and buildings for Haitians to move back into. This failed method of concrete production must be changed as quickly as possible, and we join with the Georgia Tech engineers in suggesting that we reject this practice and replace it with better technology. The change is especially critical when so many groups are currently building with shovels on the ground. The compressive strength numbers at 7, 14 and 29 days were measured and the Concrete MD returned some very good results. (Note: These tests were conducted using a recipe suggested by Architect for Humanity’s Rebuilding 101 Manual for Haiti). By comparison, we used the Cart-Away Concrete MD mixer to produce a standard foundation mix. Like the Georgia Tech study, we pulled several samples and had them tested at the lab for compressive strength (pounds per square inch or PSI). The results demonstrate the value of using well-measured batches of material and providing a robust mixing action for blending the recipe. The 28-day test yielded a concrete strength 181% higher than the minimum standard suggested by the Georgia Tech study! Using the Concrete MD can truly be the cure for the World’s poorest concrete….

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