New Mississippi Department of Public Safety Headquarters Built with Assurance LWC

"The admixture is called MVRA 900," says Dean E. Craft, President and COO of ISE Logik Industries, Inc. "MVRA actually stands for moisture vapor reduction admixture. What it does in the concrete, it actually solidifies inside the capillaries. Just like the ones in our bodies, concrete has capillaries and that allows moisture to move in and out of the concrete, which is no big deal for the concrete. But, when you install flooring, that moisture can cause very, very detrimental problems for the flooring contractor."

Craft goes on to explain that MVRA 900 "solidifies in the capillaries, shuts down the moisture, and therefore the floors don't fail."

Concrete Supplied by MMC Materials, Inc.

The $33.7 million project in Rankin County, Mississippi, utilized ready mix concrete supplied by MMC Materials, a leading regional producer headquartered just outside of Jackson, Mississippi.

Nate Reynolds, part of the Quality Control team with MMC Materials, Inc., worked closely with engineers to conform with the project's unique concrete mix design. "We have poured quite a few projects with structural lightweight concrete," he says, "but the unique thing about this project is the fact that it was air entrained.

"There were significant meetings and planning to make sure we did not have delamination on the slab. And we relied on the expertise of one of our preferred contractors, Bonds and Associates. They are the top notch concrete contractor in our market," says Reynolds.

MMC's On-Site Lab Guided Process

The company has a sophisticated onsite laboratory at their Jackson, Mississippi batch plant led by quality Assurance Director Ben Hardy. The lab crew ran a comprehensive series of trial batches to ensure the resulting lightweight concrete met the strict specifications set by the project's engineers.

Michael West, quality control director, explains the process. "We put up several lab mixes and tested the strength just make sure we could make the mix work for the specs that were required," says West.

Lightweight Aggregate Handling

"We also had to make sure we had a place to keep all the lightweight material, so we had to actually build a bin. We had to maintain a certain storage capacity to meet their pour schedule."

Reynolds notes the material was trucked in material from Louisville, Kentucky. "There were some logistical challenges," says Reynolds, "but, once we got the material in, we had the loader operator turn the pile and soak the lightweight for 48 hours."

Due to its absorptive nature, lightweight aggregate requires saturating the material to as uniform a moisture content as possible before adding the other ingredients of the concrete. This simple process minimizes the possibility of slump loss during pumping.

"Lightweight is very porous and has a high absorption rate, so it had to be saturated well," notes West. "We made sure to keep sprinklers on the material and did our homework to prepare ahead of time. When it was time to deliver, we ensured everything was in order and simply executed the plan."

MVRA 900 Dispensing

Besides the lightweight, another unique ingredient in the concrete was the moisture vapor reducing admixture. "Our product is mainly shipped in 275 gallon totes," says Craft. "The benefit for the producer is there's a quick connect at the bottom. Most producers just simply connect their existing lines to that quick connect. It's basically hands free, so it really couldn't be more simpler than adding any other admixture."

Conclusion

MMC provided roughly 2000 yards of structural, lightweight concrete to fill all of the building's elevated metal decks. Andercorp’s Jackson, MS office led construction of the new building.

The updated Mississippi Department of Public Safety headquarters consolidates many of the state's law enforcement divisions under one roof. The new facility is adjacent to existing state agencies and is expected to maximize taxpayer resources.