Effect of climatic conditions on the quality of fresh and hardened concrete in the South East Nigeria

This study investigates the effect of Climatic conditions on fresh and hardened concrete produced in the South East, Nigeria. The variables considered in this study are temperature and relative humidity. The Climatic condition parameters were obtained from Nigerian Metrological Agency in Lagos, Nigeria for this study. The average yearly temperature ranged 26.39oC to 32.49oC was used as control for the experiment. Slump and strength tests were conducted on concrete samples and results revealed that workability and compressive strength of the concrete were affected by temperature and relative humidity. It was discovered that concrete produced in the morning hours (9am-12 noon) when the temperature and relative humidity are low, have better quality than those produced in the late afternoon (2-4pm) as depicted by the results of the tests on the tables. The study therefore, recommends that Professionals and other stakeholders in the construction practice should be aware that temperature and relative humidity have effects on the quality of concrete during production on site. This study further establishes that the appropriate time to produce high quality concrete is between the hours of 9am-2pm and any other time will require the use of admixture to produce concrete of same quality although of a higher cost thereby affecting the cost of the project. Furthermore, professionals in practice are advised to ensure effective supervision during concrete production.