Winter Construction – Mat Foundation

Photo Credit: Alex Mead

This picture illustrates many lessons for actual construction and also gives a perspective of the actual scales necessary for use in even moderate size concrete construction. To begin, it is clear the snow on the ground and in the air means the temperature is below freezing, single degree Fahrenheit temperatures to be specific. This means workers will be slower and must take more frequent breaks to warm their bodies. Also, the construction site is slippery and objects become covered in snow leading to increase fall and trip hazards. One final interesting fact is the size of the rebar cage the workers are building. Notice how the workers are standing fully upright in a volume that will be filled completely with concrete. This mat-foundation job was poured in several pours ranging from 2 000 to 6 000 yards in size.