DESIGN OF

LOW AND MEDIUM

STRENGTH CONCRETE
MIXES
ACCORDING TO
ROAD NOTE NO. 4
 Road Note No. 4 is mainly based on the
experimental investigations by Glanville,
dealing with the effect of aggregate grading on
the strength and workability of concrete.
 By using the same water/ cement ratio,
different strengths are produced by ordinary
Portland, rapid hardening Portland and high
alumina cements.
 The Road Note No. 4 presents a set of curves
relative water/cement ratio and compressive
strength at different ages and for different types
of cements.
 Extensive laboratory investigations were
conducted at the Road Research Laboratory to
study the relation among the various
parameters, like aggregate/ cement ratio, water/
cement ratio, degree of workability, grading,
and shape and size of aggregates. Based on the
result, design tables are presented in Road Note
No. 4 to select suitable aggregate/cement ratios
for a concrete mix.
Design a Concrete Mix to Suit the Following
Data Using the Method of Road Note No. 4
Specified works cube strength: 20 N/mm 2 at 28 days.

Degree of control: Very good with weigh batching

and constant supervision.
Degree of workability: High, since concrete is
required for casting the junctions of columns and
beams with congested reinforcement.
Type of cement: Ordinary Portland
Type of fine aggregate: Natural sand
Type of coarse aggregate: Crushed granite
(Angular aggregate) of 20 mm maximum size.
Design a Concrete Mix to Suit the Following
Data Using the Method of Road Note No. 4
The aggregates available at works site have the
following grading:
Percentage passing
IS Sieve Size
Coarse Aggregate Fine Aggregate
20 mm 100 -
10 mm 31 -
4.75 mm 7 -
2.36 mm - 100
1.18 mm - 92
600 micron - 76
300 micron - 48
150 micron - 3
Design a Concrete Mix to Suit the Following
Data Using the Method of Road Note No. 4
The specific gravity and bulk density of various
ingredients of the mix are as follows:
Dry bulk density
Material Specific gravity
(kg/m3)
Cement 3.15 1472
Coarse Aggregate 2.60 1520
Fine Aggregate 2.60 1680
Design the concrete mix & set out field mix
proportions for weigh batching & volume batching.
Also calculate the quantities of materials required
for 1 cubic meter of concrete.
(a) By weight (b) By volume
DESIGN OF CONCRETE
MIXES
ACCORDING TO
ROAD NOTE NO. 4
Design a Concrete Mix to Suit the Following
Data Using the Method of Road Note No. 4
Specified works cube strength: 20 N/mm 2 at 28 days.

Degree of control: Very good with weigh batching

and constant supervision.
Degree of workability: High, since concrete is
required for casting the junctions of columns and
beams with congested reinforcement.
Grading curve number: 03
Type of cement: Ordinary Portland
Type of fine aggregate: Natural sand
Type of coarse aggregate: Irregular aggregate of 20
mm maximum size.
Design a Concrete Mix to Suit the Following
Data Using the Method of Road Note No. 4
The aggregates available at works site have the
following grading:
Percentage passing
IS Sieve Size
Coarse Aggregate Fine Aggregate
20 mm 100 -
10 mm 31 -
4.75 mm 7 100
2.36 mm - 92
1.18 mm - 76
600 micron - 48
300 micron - 20
150 micron - 3
Design a Concrete Mix to Suit the Following
Data Using the Method of Road Note No. 4
The specific gravity and bulk density of various
ingredients of the mix are as follows:
Dry bulk density
Material Specific gravity
(kg/m3)
Cement 3.15 1472
Coarse Aggregate 2.50 1520
Fine Aggregate 2.60 1680

Design the concrete mix & calculate the quantities

of ingredients required for 1 cubic meter of concrete.
What is the density of fresh concrete? Also refer
following graphs and tables for the mixture design.
Table 1: Estimated relation between the minimum and mean compressive
strengths of cubes
Figure 1 Curves of four gradings of
20mm aggregate

Figure 2 Relationship between compressive

strength and w/c ratio
Table 2 Agg./cement ratio required to give 4 degrees of workability with different
w/c ratio & gradings
 Design of concrete mix
•For
  the degree of control used,
minimum strength is 75 percent of the average strength.
  = ¿ 2
Mean design strength   27 𝑁 / 𝑚𝑚
Water/ cement ratio = 0.62
For high workability, the required
aggregate/ cement ratio = 5.56
The proportion of fine to total aggregate = 25 percent
Hence the proportion by weight of ingredients are given by
Cement : Fine Aggregate : Coarse Aggregate
1 : :
1 : :
 Design of concrete mix
•Quantity
  of materials required for 1m3 of concrete
If C = weight of cement required per m3 of concrete
Then by absolute volume method, we have
+ + =1
Therefor, C = Cement = 323 kg
Water = 0.62 x 323 = 200 kg
FA = 1.39 x 323 = 449 kg
CA = 4.17 x 323 = 1347 kg
Density of fresh concrete = 2319
Thank You
 Design a Concrete Mix to suite the
Following Data Using the
Method of Road Note No. 4
Specified works cube strength: 30 N/mm 2 at 28 days.

Degree of control: Very good with weigh batching

and constant supervision.
Degree of workability: Vey low since compacting
will be affected by vibration
Type of cement: Ordinary Portland
Type of fine aggregate: Natural sand
Type of coarse aggregate: Irregular aggregate
The aggregates are stockpiled at works site in three
heaps and have the grading shown below:
Cumulative Percentage passing
IS Sieve Size Fine Coarse Aggregate
Aggregate 4.75 to 20 mm 20 to 40 mm
40 mm - 100 100
20 mm - 99 13
10 mm 100 33 8
4.75 mm 99 5 2
2.36 mm 76 0 0
1.18 mm 58 - -
600 micron 40 - -
300 micron 12 - -
150 micron 2 - -
The specific gravity of various ingredients of the
mix are as follows:
Material Specific gravity
Cement 3.15
Coarse Aggregate 2.50
Fine Aggregate 2.60

Design the concrete mix & calculate the quantities

of ingredients required for 1 cubic meter of concrete.
What is the density of fresh concrete?
LIMITATIONS OF ROAD NOTE NO. 4 METHOD
The design tables of aggregate / cement ratios
recommended in Road Note No. 4 cover only
three shapes of aggregates and four types of
grading.
But in practice many aggregates having
different shapes, sizes, and properties have to be
used for the mixes.
The Road Note No. 4 data can not be directly
used for design of air- entrained concrete.
Thank You