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Pro tip: The new walkway at the city park shows why you should never skip the expansion joints
I was at Riverside Park yesterday and saw the new concrete walkway they put in last fall. It's already got a nasty crack running right through the middle of a long slab, and it's because they didn't put in any expansion joints for over 40 feet. The city saved a few bucks on labor and material, but now the whole section needs to be replaced. How do you guys handle clients who try to cut corners on joint spacing to save money?
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miles_burns7mo ago
Forty feet is a disaster waiting to happen. I show them a picture of a failed slab from a job two years ago that looks just like your park walkway. I tell them the repair bill was triple what proper jointing would have cost. You have to make them see it as paying a little now or a lot later. If they still push back, I put the refusal to follow specs in writing and make them sign it. That usually changes their mind fast.
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jason_lewis37mo ago
Actually, the main issue is usually control joints, not expansion joints, for something like a sidewalk. Expansion joints are for where the concrete meets another structure. For a long slab, it's the control joints cut into the surface that give it a weak spot to crack in a straight line. Without those, the concrete just cracks wherever it wants, which is always worse.
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