By now you know that we advocate exercising as much control over as much of the concreting process as possible. Fiber is one of those things that can help you deliver a better product to your customer.

     While most all batch plants can now supply you with fiber, some fibers are too coarse and some quantities insufficient to effectively control early cracking.

     You may be using fiber now. If not, perhaps you werent able to find a fiber that wasnt hairy, or maybe you dont believe the added cost is worth the investment.

     We find that early crack control is the most important function of fiber in our work. Other benefits include reduction of permeability and improved surface toughness.

     For a bit of history: The Roman Coliseum was built with fiber reinforced concrete. A pueblo house built in1540 with straw reinforced adobe brick is believed to be the oldest house in the US. Another example of reinforcing with natural fibers is the horsehair in plaster.

     There is no longer any doubt about the effectiveness of fibers in their ability reduce thermal cracking and plastic shrinkage cracking. There are voluminous reports from reliable independent testing agencies to conclusively document the value-added properties of fiber reinforcement. We do not view fiber as an alternate to steel, but as a complimentary ingredient to minimize early cracking and improve long term durability.

     We used a number of fibers from different manufacturers over the years. Five years ago we began using a polypropylene monofilament dosed at 1.5 lbs per CY.

     We now use a polyester fiber with 30,000,000 yes, 30 million fibers per pound. Tests on FiberNet show a 75 percent reduction in shrinkage cracks. Our experience has been positive, good early crack control without a hairy surface. We recommend on 1 lb bag be added to each CY for normal situations. We have used as much as 3 lbs per CY on 2" thick pours, also with great results. FiberNet comes 30 bags per box @ $2.50 per bag. We add it to the truck at the jobsite and mix for 5 minutes. It carries our Stamp of Approval.