Described are dry cast lightweight veneer blocks and a system and method of installing lightweight veneer blocks. The courses can be assembled without mortar between the courses. As an example, sides of the veneer blocks have areas that recede from an imaginary plane between adjacent veneer blocks to give a deep texturing and a shadow effect between veneer blocks. The installation system and method include a substrate, an air barrier applied to the substrate, a plurality of veneer blocks, and an adhesive applied between the plurality of veneer blocks and the air barrier.

Described are dry cast lightweight veneer blocks and a system and method of installing lightweight veneer blocks. The courses can be assembled without mortar between the courses. As an example, sides of the veneer blocks have areas that recede from an imaginary plane between adjacent veneer blocks to give a deep texturing and a shadow effect between veneer blocks. The installation system and method include a substrate, an air barrier applied to the substrate, a plurality of veneer blocks, and an adhesive applied between the plurality of veneer blocks and the air barrier.

The present disclosure discloses a method for compression casting concrete by reducing an amount of cement, including: adopting any existing concrete mix proportion designed for concrete of given strength, mixing the concrete, pouring the concrete into a mould, and compressing the concrete at a given pressure, where 28-day strength of the compacted concrete is increased; gradually reducing an amount of cement while keeping amounts of other materials unchanged, where 28-day strength of the concrete is gradually reduced until the concrete meets a design index; proportionally reducing amounts of water and cement in a last mix proportion while keeping amounts of other materials unchanged, where during compression casting of the concrete, discharge of cement paste is gradually reduced until no cement paste is discharged; and compression casting a concrete member according to a final mix proportion.

The present disclosure discloses a method for compression casting concrete to reduce the amount of cement, including: adopting any existing concrete mix proportion designed for concrete of given strength, mixing the concrete, pouring the concrete into a mould, and compressing the concrete at a given pressure, where 28-day strength of the compacted concrete is increased; gradually reducing the amount of cement while keeping the amounts of other materials unchanged, where 28-day strength of the concrete is gradually reduced until the concrete meets a design index; proportionally reducing amounts of water and cement in a last mix proportion while keeping the amounts of other materials unchanged, where during compression casting of the concrete, discharge of cement paste is gradually reduced until no cement paste is discharged; and compression casting a concrete member according to a final mix proportion.

A method for encasing underground electrical cables, includes (a) providing a fresh concrete composition including a paste that includes a hydraulic binder, a mineral addition and water, the paste being present in a mixture with sand and aggregates, whereby the paste is present in the concrete composition in a volume of <320 L/m.sup.3 and/or the solid volume fraction of said paste is >50 vol.-% and (b) placing the fresh concrete composition so as to encase the underground cables therewith.

A low strength backfill material having a 28 days compressive strength less than approximately 2.0 MPa is provided. The backfill is suitable for use in areas with dense underground utilities due to its high excavatability and good thermal conductivity. The backfill includes a cementitious binder of approximately 1 weight percent to approximately 10 weight percent and fine aggregates in an amount of approximately 40 to approximately 75 weight percent. Filler is provided at 20 microns to approximately 100 microns for high flowability. A density-controlling agent of 0.0001-5 weight percent is used such that the density of a cured backfill material is approximately 1600 kg/m.sup.3 to 2000 kg/m.sup.3. Thermally conductive particles having a size range of approximately 0.01 microns to 500 microns in an amount of approximately 0.1 to 10 weight percent are evenly dispersed throughout the backfill.

A low strength backfill material having a 28 days compressive strength less than approximately 2.0 MPa is provided. The backfill is suitable for use in areas with dense underground utilities due to its high excavatability and good thermal conductivity. The backfill includes a cementitious binder of approximately 1 weight percent to approximately 10 weight percent and fine aggregates in an amount of approximately 40 to approximately 75 weight percent. Filler is provided at 20 microns to approximately 100 microns for high flowability. A density-controlling agent of 0.0001-5 weight percent is used such that the density of a cured backfill material is approximately 1600 kg/m.sup.3 to 2000 kg/m.sup.3. Thermally conductive particles having a size range of approximately 0.01 microns to 500 microns in an amount of approximately 0.1 to 10 weight percent are evenly dispersed throughout the backfill.

The present disclosure discloses a method for compression casting concrete to reduce the amount of cement, including: adopting any existing concrete mix proportion designed for concrete of given strength, mixing the concrete, pouring the concrete into a mould, and compressing the concrete at a given pressure, where 28-day strength of the compacted concrete is increased; gradually reducing the amount of cement while keeping the amounts of other materials unchanged, where 28-day strength of the concrete is gradually reduced until the concrete meets a design index; proportionally reducing amounts of water and cement in a last mix proportion while keeping the amounts of other materials unchanged, where during compression casting of the concrete, discharge of cement paste is gradually reduced until no cement paste is discharged; and compression casting a concrete member according to a final mix proportion.

A method for encasing underground electrical cables, includes (a) providing a fresh concrete composition including a paste that includes a hydraulic binder, a mineral addition and water, the paste being present in a mixture with sand and aggregates, whereby the paste is present in the concrete composition in a volume of <320 L/m.sup.3 and/or the solid volume fraction of said paste is >50 vol.-% and (b) placing the fresh concrete composition so as to encase the underground cables therewith.

The invention relates to a method for producing a hydraulically-bonded multilayer panel with at least one face layer and at least one core layer, wherein the method comprises the following steps a. introducing a flowable face mixture into a mold. The face mixture contains at least the following components i. face paste containing at least 1. hydraulic binder and 2. water; and ii. aggregate. The aggregate has a mean diameter d50 determined according to ISO 13320:2009 and/or according to EN 12620 of greater than 100.0 m; whereby a face mixture layer is formed; b. introducing a dry to earth-moist core mixture into the mold, wherein the core mixture contains at least the following components i. core paste containing at least 1. hydraulic binder, 2. fines, wherein the fines have a mean diameter d50 determined according to ISO 13320:2009 of up to 100.0 m, and 3. water; and ii. aggregate, wherein the aggregate has a mean diameter d50 determined according to ISO 13320:2009 and/or according to EN 12620 of greater than 100.0 m; whereby a core mixture layer is formed, and c. pressing the face mixture layer with the core mixture layer into the mold to form a hydraulically-bonded, directly strippable multilayer panel with at least one face layer and at least one core layer, wherein water contained in the face mixture layer is partially or completely pressed into the core mixture layer