How Much Ballast Do I Need?

In this article, we will discuss how much ballast do I need in 1m³ concrete?

Ballast may be defined as a thick mixture of sand and gravel grinding small rock stone that makes rough coarse aggregate utilized in a vast range of construction uses, firstly it is utilized for heavy-duty work and producing concrete.

When constructing of Pathway, driveway, patio, and slab, there is a requirement for the concrete mix to flow, so there is the mixing of cement, ballast, and water in the needed ratio and amount to achieve the required compressive strength.

Ballast or aggregate is the main ingredient of concrete kept to cement that attaches ballast particles altogether, water and a few additives are also kept to make a final paste ready for flowing.

Properties of concrete depend upon the density of and quantity of ballast material, grade of concrete, and changing the amount of ballast affects the concrete strength, lightweight ballast creates low strength concrete.

Based on the Imperial system, the strength of concrete is measured in Pounds per square inch (psi) or megapascals (MPa), low strength concrete has the strength of 2000 psi or 14 MPa.

While higher strength concrete utilized for superstructures and bridges is about 10000 psi or 70 MPa, and commonly, for civil building structures,  5000 psi (35 MPa) of concrete strength is used.

Commonly, the weight of ballast is around 1.75 tons per cubic meter or 1750 kg/ m³, available in a market with a small bag of 25kg which yields a volume of about 0.015 cubic meters.

  1. How Much Ballast Do I Need?  

The answer to how much ballast do I need is mentioned below:

a. Ballast cement mix ratio:-

For mixing ballast and cement to make a concrete appropriate for the driveway pathway, the patio is 1 part cement to 5 parts of ballast, characterized as a standard ballast cement mix ratio of 1:5 (1 part of cement and 5 part of ballast) for producing concrete, others mix ratio 1:4 (1 part of cement and 4 part of ballast) and 1:6 (1 part of cement and 6 part of ballast) can also be utilized.

b. Ballast cement ratio:-

Blending 1 part cement to 6 parts ballast forms concrete appropriate for driveways, paths, and patios, and advancing the ratio to 1:8 offers foundation-strength concrete. It is possible to keep other materials to improve the strength of the concrete. These usually possess steel reinforcing bars.

c. Concrete mix ratio using ballast:-

To make a concrete mix of specific high strength, the concrete mix ratio would be 1:5 (mixed using 1 part cement to 5 parts ballast) used for building slabs or concrete panels. The ratio for the concrete mix utilizing ballast is 1:6 (mixed using 1 part cement to 6 parts ballast) creating concrete best for driveways, paths, and patios.