• Root cause analysis
• Site inspection, field evaluation and laboratory inspection
• Material deterioration examination
• Construction, design and material defect evaluation
• Non-destructive testing and petrographic examination
• Concrete mix design analysis
• Strength and material properties testing
• Finishing and appearance assessment
• Product performance evaluation

• Structural integrity evaluation
• Failure risk assessment
• Service life prediction
• Repair design and recommendations
• Historic preservation
• Building code conformance

Third Party Engineering has experience investigating a variety of problems associated with concrete and cement-based materials including the following:

• Cracking: Due to its brittle nature and relatively low tensile strength. While some cracking is expected in virtually all concrete construction, cracking may have detrimental effects on concrete performance and durability of a structure. Concrete cracking is often caused by one or more of the following: excessive loading, shrinkage, thermal contraction, corrosion of embedded reinforcement, chemical attack, freeze-thaw action, insufficient consolidation, inadequate jointing, improper support, and other factors.
• Surface Problems: Scaling, delamination and excessive wear affect slab performance and are often the result of improper construction practices and/or inadequate concrete mix design for the service environment. If not finished properly, flatness, levelness, and surface quality may not meet the needs of other trades or the end user.
• Reinforcement Corrosion: The expansive nature of reinforcement corrosion leads to cracking and spalling of concrete. Factors contributing to corrosion include insufficient protective cover, poor quality concrete, chloride ion penetration, and concrete carbonation.
• Frost Damage: Environmental exposure to harsh weather conditions, such as cyclical freezing and thawing (F-T), may result in severe deterioration if concrete is not adequately designed, mixed and constructed. The problem can be exacerbated by the use of deicing salts.
• Chemical Degradation: While concrete is non-reactive in most environments, degradation can occur due to acid attack, alkali-silica reaction (ASR), alkali-carbonate reaction (ACR), sulfate attack and exposure to corrosive chemicals.
• Surface Coating Failure: Excessive moisture vapor emission, inadequate surface preparation and material incompatibility can cause coating failures. Failure is typically manifested in the form of blistering, debonding, discoloration and peling of coatings.
• Stone Veneer/Tile Distress: Debonding of adhered veneer from building façades may be the result of inadequate installation practices or material defects and can create a life safety hazard. Other common problems with performance of tile include discoloration and cracking.
• Stucco Distress: Excessive cracking, warping and delamination of portland cement plaster (stucco) can be caused by structural movement, inadequate application, improper curing or inadequate proportioning of the plaster mix.
• Fiber-Cement Materials Degradation: Fiber-cement products used as exterior cladding occasionally experience problems in the form of warping, cracking, and deterioration. Causes can be inadequate installation, thermal and moisture effects, or manufacturing errors.
• Slab Moisture Vapor Emission: Excessive transmission of water vapor through concrete slabs can result in problems such as failures of moisture sensitive floor coverings, biological growth and construction delays. Slab moisture vapor emission rate is affected by slab thickness, slab age, slab exposure conditions, concrete mix design, sub-surface conditions and other factors.

This method statement describes the work procedures to be carried out during an execution stage of mass foundations/structures of which the character of the concrete is technically specified as a structure with large dimensions that thermal temperature and shrinkage can cause cracks in concrete.

Temporary control is required both during the concrete mix control at concrete batching plant prior to concreting and its monitoring after the concrete is placed in order that the requirements stated in the specification for concrete works e.g. a temperature differential between the interior of the concrete and any outside face can be maintained ( Basically ,heat on the surface of the concrete is easily released toward the ambient whereas the center remains its high temperatures), this follows that the temperature difference will induce the internal restraint and subsequently introduce thermal contraction cracks.

The method statement also includes details of temperature difference control procedure and all necessary temporary works such as curing method by thermal quilts, precaution barrier, temporary access and related activities which are required to undertake during a certain period such as consolidation etc...

Special care and planning is required as the volume of placement is large in relation to those normally being place on site.

Our method statement includes e.g. concrete batching plant control including supply and delivery to site, placement sequence, the method to control and prevent the concrete cold joint being introduced during concrete placing and a proper curing to maintain, control temperature difference not to exceed the specified tolerance stated in the Specification for Concrete Works of which the method of monitoring will be included.

While master specifications are widely available and usually adopted, we are involved in writing custom made project specifications.
 
Our specifications provide performance-based specs for concrete balancing the project needs with the available resources taking into consideration the requirements for latest techniques in construction industry. It addresses the special types of concrete such as self-consolidated concrete, architectural concrete massive structure and ability to resist aggressive environment such as chemical attacks, acidic attack, extreme weathers etc…
 
Our personnel have been involved and appreciated in writing the specification for some major projects in the Middle East.
 
The main tasks include:

• Update the related sections in the project specifications with the latest codes and standards
• Clarify the methods to be used and provide limits
• Integrating performance requirements with current practice using local materials
• Address the life cycle assessment of the construction through special requirements related to sustainability

Our wide ranging activities include reviewing construction materials documents such as manufacturer supplier data sheets of materials and assess compliance of products against standards, codes and specifications.

Provided that the revision of construction materials has been accepted from users in various fields of construction plus maintenance of concrete structure, also taking into account recent developments in concrete technology, our goal is to modify the specification based on performance for the following:

• Structural Performance Verification
• Seismic Performance Verification
• Materials and Construction
• Maintenance and repair
• Dam Concrete
• Mass Concrete
• Pavement

3PE provides the right combination of technical knowledge and experience of construction and building inspectors. Our inspectors examine buildings, highways, dams, bridges, and other structures. They ensure that their construction, alteration, or repair complies with building codes and ordinances, zoning regulations, and contract specifications for environmental application.
 
Our inspectors are Green Star certified for inspecting the concrete ready mix facilities and assist in establishing an environment management system.
 
An Environmental Management System (EMS) is a set of processes and practices that enable an organization to reduce its environmental impacts and increase its operating efficiency. The system calculates and reduces the environmental footprint due to concrete and other materials with value engineering

Provision of extensive research on special concrete ingredients and the standards related to any new material to be introduced to the market.

Research includes: Testing program, summary of the related standards, analysis of testing results, market study for application of new material…

3PE concrete specialists have an extensive international experience in tailored projects and special types of concrete with design solutions and recommendations.
We offer special concrete mix design solutions which are practical, economical, durable and meeting the intended life cycle requirement of the construction. Our optimized mix design includes but not limited to the following:

• Pervious concrete
• Steel fiber reinforced concrete
• Polypropylene fiber concrete
• Diaphragm walls and secant piles
• Corrosion resistant reinforcement
• High performance concrete
• Massive concrete
• Self-consolidated concrete
• Green concrete

Design of special concrete to comply with the needs of all the special cases mentioned above in terms of: Pumpability, placeablity, durability and so forth. Studies include placement methodologies, proactive measures, pre project management, mixture design and all other requirements to achieve satisfactory goals.

• Hot Weather Concreting
• High Strength Concreting
• Cold Weather Concreting
• Massive Concrete Placements
• Self-Consolidating Concrete
• High Early Strength
• Nuclear Concrete

Our systematical data review for strength analysis provides some key indicators on the variation of the concrete mixture in addition to the calculation of standard deviation, coefficient of variation and other qualitative factors. We plot the strength curve, frequency distribution and quality charts to analyze outcomes with the comparison of achieved results at the time of the trial mix.

When early strength results display doubtful values, 3PE will not only alert the parties but will also provide some corrective measures to prevent re-occurrence of such incidents with a plan for evaluating the existing concrete in structure.

When the strength test results for a concrete mixture fall below the project requirements, an argument will usually follow as to who to blame and where the mistake lies. The concrete ready mix supplier personnel will blame the testing company; the people at the testing company blame the batch plant or the contractor. Our personnel will team up with other parties on site to analyze the defects and provide proactive measures.

The quality of concrete in structure is not only related to proportioning of concrete but it is at equal level related to batching, mixing, transporting and placing.
A concrete is said to be adequately mixed if the samples taken from different portions of a batch will have essentially the same fresh density, air content, slump, and coarse-aggregate content within the permissible errors as stated in ASTM C94.

The control sequence of entering the data and proper timing of mixing the ingredients will effect:
Cost analysis and quality of the production
Control mixing time
Control fair face concrete and discoloration
Reduction of unwanted additives

Transporting and Handling Concrete

• Planning of the proper method for transporting and handling the fresh concrete will aid to avoid:
• Delays in concreting work, which may reduce the productivity.
• Early stiffening and drying out, which may create problem in placing and finishing the concrete
• Segregation of coarse aggregate from the sand-cement mortar.

Our team was involved in architectural concrete and massive concrete whereby the concrete methodologies and technical inspections provided to our customer were the key for quality achievement for such elements.
The successful mixing and transporting of concrete requires the careful management of many factors especially when a special type of concrete is being used.

This method statement describes the work procedures to be carried out during an execution stage of mass foundations/structures of which the character of the concrete is technically specified as a structure with large dimensions that thermal temperature and shrinkage can cause cracks in concrete.

Temporary control is required both during the concrete mix control at concrete batching plant prior to concreting and its monitoring after the concrete is placed in order that the requirements stated in the specification for concrete works e.g. a temperature differential between the interior of the concrete and any outside face can be maintained ( Basically ,heat on the surface of the concrete is easily released toward the ambient whereas the center remains its high temperatures), this follows that the temperature difference will induce the internal restraint and subsequently introduce thermal contraction cracks.

The method statement also includes details of temperature difference control procedure and all necessary temporary works such as curing method by thermal quilts, precaution barrier, temporary access and related activities which are required to undertake during a certain period such as consolidation etc...

Special care and planning is required as the volume of placement is large in relation to those normally being place on site.

Our method statement includes e.g. concrete batching plant control including supply and delivery to site, placement sequence, the method to control and prevent the concrete cold joint being introduced during concrete placing and a proper curing to maintain, control temperature difference not to exceed the specified tolerance stated in the Specification for Concrete Works of which the method of monitoring will be included.

The concrete repair has always been a need especially with the increased awareness of deterioration and maintenance needed.
The repair of concrete combines between art, science and engineering. This is where a proper concrete repair method should be applied. 3PE uses a systematic approach for concrete repair

• Review of construction documents and drawings
• Field observation to determine the causes of damage
• Provide proper sampling plan and inspect the Testing
• Evaluation and interpretation of results with evaluation for the need and extend of the repair
• Inspection to prepared the old concrete for repair
• Inspection the repair method
• Provide a technical report with all evidences and photos