White Concrete

[route56]

This is probably more of a technical question for the engineers out here...

Is there any difference between "white" Portland Cement and grey that would affect the structural quality when used in highway construction.

I have heard from a retired concrete engineer that a concrete that cures to a white color has been improperly cured, and would therefore deteriorate prematurely. However, the Portland Cement Association seems to indicate that the white color is in fact by design.

[cl94]

At this point in time, they can make concrete any color they want by using dyes or paint. NYSDOT, for example, occasionally uses red concrete stamped into bricks for crosswalks that does not fade over time. If they want concrete to be white nowadays, pigments can be mixed in and it will always remain a white color.

In the past, color was an indicator of how the concrete set, but that isn't really the case nowadays.

[jakeroot]

NYSDOT, for example, occasionally uses red concrete stamped into bricks for crosswalks that does not fade over time.

This seems like an ideal way to designate bus lanes.

[Mr. Matté]

A boring but tangentially related TIL for some of you:

I was putting together a detail sheet for some plans at my company and had to use a mounted curb detail. I took such a detail from another project we did along a NJ state highway which was essentially the one from the NJDOT CAD downloads, but was told by a PE there that the "white concrete" callout should be removed as only NJDOT apparently is allowed to use white concrete; every other project had to use standard colorless concrete.

Ever since I was told that, I started to actually notice the differential between curb colors. Take a guess where the state started building at this interchange.

[jeffandnicole]

This is probably more of a technical question for the engineers out here...

Is there any difference between "white" Portland Cement and grey that would affect the structural quality when used in highway construction.

I have heard from a retired concrete engineer that a concrete that cures to a white color has been improperly cured, and would therefore deteriorate prematurely. However, the Portland Cement Association seems to indicate that the white color is in fact by design.

Aren't the majority of jersey barriers - both permanent and temporary - generally white in nature? 

[Pete from Boston]

A boring but tangentially related TIL for some of you:

I was putting together a detail sheet for some plans at my company and had to use a mounted curb detail. I took such a detail from another project we did along a NJ state highway which was essentially the one from the NJDOT CAD downloads, but was told by a PE there that the "white concrete" callout should be removed as only NJDOT apparently is allowed to use white concrete; every other project had to use standard colorless concrete.

Ever since I was told that, I started to actually notice the differential between curb colors. Take a guess where the state started building at this interchange.

Only NJDOT is allowed to use white concrete?  Why?