Abstract:
Between writing this third edition and its actual publication, there have been some
possibly quite significant developments in my situation. The assumption during
writing the book was that I was fully retired and might contribute further to the
future of concrete technology only via this book and my website, if at all.
A change arose initially from the intention of Canmet/ACI to award me recognition for my contributions to concrete quality control at their symposium in May
2006. This has led to an arrangement for me to present a whole day seminar in
Silver Spring, Washington, in June 2006, under the auspices of NRMCA and
others, in an attempt to bring about a change in American practice from quality
control by the purchaser to control by the producer, as advocated in this book.
A further development has been an invitation to join a partnership of
the Canadian company Contek with the Shilstones (father and son, perhaps the
best known names in concrete technology in USA) in an endeavour to produce
world-leading software and to market and support it throughout the world.
You, the reader, will have to consult my website www.kenday.id.au for
information as to the outcome of the above. I have not made changes in the rest
of this introduction or in the text as a whole as a result of these developments but
considered that readers should be made aware of them, and may be interested to
see my views and intentions prior to their occurrence.
Original introduction
In this third and final edition my objectives differ from those of the previous
editions.
Rather than promoting the commercially available program ‘ConAd’, I am now
concerned to spread my developments as widely as possible in the world and in
the concrete industry and professions and also to look as far as possible into the
future of mix design and quality control. This is very much not a handbook on
how to comply with established standards but rather a view on how those
standards, and other entrenched attitudes, should be revised to more nearly reflect
