Controlled Low Strength Material (CLSM)

in Transportation Projects
Presented By:
National Ready Mixed Concrete Association
 National Ready Mixed Concrete Association

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 About the Course
Learning Units
• AIA Provider Number: G416 Course: CLSM101 | 1.0 LU/Elective | 1.0 PDH

• Learning Objectives:
– Recognize when CLSM may be used on transportation projects.
– Learn about mixture design and the various component materials that may
be used.
– Understand the various properties that may be used to define CLSM.
– Learn the test methods used to evaluate CLSM during the construction
process.

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 Reference 1 - ACI 229R-13: Report on
Controlled Low Strength Materials

Reference 2 – NCHRP Report 597

Reference 3 - www.flowablefill.org/

Reference 4 -

Reference 5 - ASTM STP1331: Specifications and Use of

Controlled Low-Strength Material by State Transportation
Agencies

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 Controlled Low Strength Material

• Self-consolidating cementitious material

used primarily as a backfill and as an
alternative to compacted fill.
• Other terms used to describe this material
include:
• flowable fill,
• controlled density fill,
• flowable mortar,
• plastic soil-cement, and
• soil-cement slurry.
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 Controlled Low Strength Material

• Cement
• Sand
• Water
• Air-Entraining Additive
• Other Admixtures/Additives

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 Controlled Low Strength Material

• Flowable Fill Overview (Courtesy of Chaney Enterprises)

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 Controlled Low Strength Material

• Intended to result in a compressive

strength of 1,200 psi or less.

• Most CLSM applications require

unconfined compressive strengths of 300
psi or less.

• Long-term strengths (90 to 180 days)

should be targeted to be less than 100 psi
for excavation with hand tools.

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 Controlled Low Strength Material

• structural fill (~1,200 psi)*,

• backfill and bedding,
• anticorrosion fills,
• electrically conductive materials,
• low-permeability fills,
• thermal or insulating fills,
• durable pavement base, and
• erosion control.
*Note: Not to be considered as low strength concrete.
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 Controlled Low Strength Material

• Advantages:
• Advantages:
• Readily available
• Allows all weather
• Easy to deliver
construction
• Versatile
• Can be excavated
• Strong and durable
• Requires less inspection
• Quick opening to traffic
• (4 hours or less) • Reduces equipment needs

• Does not settle • Requires no storage

• Reduces excavation costs • Makes use of coal
• Improves worker safety combustion by-product

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 Controlled Low Strength Material

• CLSM generally costs more per cubic yard

(cubic meter) than most soil or granular
backfill materials

• Its many advantages often result in lower

in-place costs.

• For some applications, CLSM is the only

reasonable backfill method available.

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 Controlled Low Strength Material

Labor Granular Backfill Flowable Fill

Placement
$70.18 $35.09
(2 laborers @ 35.09*)
Compaction
$70.18 n/a
(2 laborers @ 35.09*)
Heavy Equipment
$45.82* n/a
Operator
Hand Compactor $15.00* n/a
Backhoe $25.00* n/a
Total labor/hour $226.18 $35.09
Source: Chaney Enterprises

84% labor cost savings

* National industry average including overhead costs
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 Controlled Low Strength Material

• When excavating around conduit

etc., the obvious material change
in CLSM versus the surrounding
soil or granular backfill is
recognized by the excavating
crew, alerting them to the
existence of the conduit.

• Coloring agents have been used

in mixtures to help identify the
presence of CLSM.

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 Controlled Low Strength Material

• Materials normally meet ASTM,

but not always necessary.

• Materials selection based on:

• availability;

• cost;

• specific application; and

• necessary mixture characteristics.

(flowability, strength, excavatability, and density)
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 Controlled Low Strength Material

• Cement:

• Type I or Type II ASTM C150

• Blended ASTM C595*

• Performance ASTM C1157*

*Note: if prior testing indicates acceptable results.

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 Controlled Low Strength Material

• Fly Ash:
• Class C or F ASTM C618 preferred
• But not necessary (carbon contents up to 20-25% may be allowable)
• improve flowability,
• increases strength,
• reduce bleeding,
• reduce shrinkage, and
• reduce permeability.

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 Controlled Low Strength Material

• Fly Ash:
• High-fly-ash-content CLSM results in lower densities
(compared to mixtures w/high agg. contents).

• Other cementitious materials acceptable:

• CKD
• Silica Fume
• Slag

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 Controlled Low Strength Material

• Admixtures: • Admixtures:
• Air-entraining admixtures: • Air-entraining admixtures:
• Water content can be reduced as
• improved workability,
much as 50 percent when using
• reduced shrinkage, AE.
• little or no bleeding, • Higher air contents enhance
thermal insulation and resistance
• minimal segregation,
to f-t cycles.
• lower unit weights, and • To prevent segregation w/high
• control of ultimate strength air, mixtures need sufficient fines
development. to promote cohesion.

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 Controlled Low Strength Material

• Water:
• Meet ASTM C94
• Ready mixed concrete water is acceptable.

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 Controlled Low Strength Material

• Aggregates
• Meet ASTM C33
• But not necessary

• The type, grading, and shape of

aggregates affect the physical
properties:
• flowability and
• compressive strength.

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 Controlled Low Strength Material

• Aggregates (examples of suitable aggregates):

• ASTM C33 within specified gradations,

• Pea gravel or pea stone with sand,

• ¾ inch minus aggregate with sand,

• Native sandy soils, with more than 10 percent passing #200,

• Quarry waste products, generally ⅜ in. minus.

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 Controlled Low Strength Material

• Aggregates
• Uncontrolled excavation allowable in some cases.
• Silty sands w/up to 20% passing #200 satisfactory.
• Soils w/variable grading also effective.
• Soils with clay fines have exhibited problems with:
• incomplete mixing,
• mixture stickiness,
• excess water demand,
• shrinkage, and
• variable strength.
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 Controlled Low Strength Material

• Other Non-Standard Acceptable Aggregates:*

• coal combustion products,
• crusher fines,
• discarded foundry sands,
• glass cullet,
• reclaimed crushed concrete,
• ground tire rubber.
*Note: expansive materials discouraged.
(e.g. wood, wood ash, other organics)
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 Controlled Low Strength Material

• Properties
• In-service CLSM, especially lower-
strength CLSM, exhibits characteristic
properties of soils.
• Characteristics of CLSM are affected
by mixture constituents and proportions
of the ingredients in the mixture.
• Can be highly variable.

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 Controlled Low Strength Material

• Wet Properties
• Flowability
• Segregation
• Subsidence
• Hardening time
• Pumping

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 Controlled Low Strength Material

• Wet Properties
• Flowability
• Varies from stiff to fluid.
• Methods of expressing flowability:
• ASTM D6103: 3 x 6 in. open-ended
cylinder modified flow test,
• ASTM C143 standard concrete slump
cone, and
• ASTM C939 grout flow cone.
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 Controlled Low Strength Material

• Wet Properties

• Flowability

• ASTM D6103: Good flowability - no

noticeable segregation and spread is at
least 8 in. in diameter.

• ASTM C143*: Slump cone

• Low flowability: slump less than 6 in.

• Normal flowability: slump 6 to 8 in.

• High flowability: slump greater than 8 in.

32 *typically used for non-flowable CLSM

 Controlled Low Strength Material

• Wet Properties
• Segregation
• Separation of materials when flowability
produced by adding water.
• For highly flowable w/out segregation,
• adequate fines for aggregate suspension and
stability,
• fly ash and other mineral admixtures can
account for these fines,
• silty or noncohesive fines (up to 20% of total
aggregate) have been used.
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 Controlled Low Strength Material

• Wet Properties
• Subsidence
• Reduction in volume of CLSM as it releases water and entrapped air
through mixture consolidation.
• Excess water (not for hydration)
• absorbed by the surrounding soil or released bleed water.
• Most subsidence occurs during placement,
• degree is dependent on free water released,
• typically ⅛ to ¼ in. per foot of depth,
• associated with mixtures of high water content,
34 • lower water contents may exhibit little or no subsidence.
 Controlled Low Strength Material

• Wet Properties
• Hardening time
• Approximate time for CLSM to go from the plastic state to a hardened state with
sufficient strength to support a person of average weight.
• This time is greatly influenced by the amount and rate of bleed water released.
• Chemical admixtures may be used to accelerate set (excludes CaCl).

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 Controlled Low Strength Material

• Wet Properties
• Hardening time
• Dependent on type and quantity of cementitious material.
• Normal factors affecting the hardening time are:
• Type and quantity of cementitious material(s)
• Aggregate shape and absorption
• Permeability and degree of saturation of surrounding soil
• Moisture content of CLSM
• Proportioning of CLSM
• Mixture temperature and ambient placing temperature
• Humidity
• Depth of fill
• Use of admixtures
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 Controlled Low Strength Material

• Wet Properties
• Hardening time
• Time can be as short as 1 hour, but generally takes 3 to 5 hours under
normal conditions.
• Suitable tests for determining CLSM hardening time:
• penetration-resistance test according to ASTM C403 and D6024.
• Depending on the application, penetration numbers of 500 to 1500 are normally
required to assure adequate bearing capacity

Penetrometer or Kelly Ball

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 Controlled Low Strength Material

• Wet Properties
• Pumping
• Voids in the mixture should be adequately filled with solid particles to
provide cohesiveness and stability for transport through the
pressurized pump line without segregation.
• The mixture should be statically stable so that it does not segregate
and cause settling problems during pumping or in place.
• CLSM with high entrained-air contents can be pumped, although care
should be taken to maintain low pump pressures.

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 Controlled Low Strength Material

• In-Place Properties
• Strength (bearing capacity)
• Density
• Settlement
• Thermal insulation/conductivity
• Permeability
• Shrinkage (cracking)
• Excavatability
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• Shear Modulus
 Controlled Low Strength Material

• In-Place Properties
• Density
• Wet density in place:
• Normally 115 to 145 lb/ft3,
• CLSM with only fly ash, cement, and water
should have a density between 90 to 100 lb/ft3,
• Lower unit weights can be achieved by:
• using lightweight aggregates,
• high entrained-air contents, and/or
• foamed mixtures.

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 Controlled Low Strength Material

• In-Place Properties
• Permeability
• Excavatable CLSM is like compacted
granular fills.
• Typical values:
• 10–4 to 10–5 in./s (or cm/s).

• Mixtures with higher strength and higher fines

content can achieve permeabilities as low as
10–7 in./s.

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 Controlled Low Strength Material

• In-Place Properties
• Shrinkage (cracking)
• Shrinkage and shrinkage cracks do not
affect the performance.
• Ultimate linear shrinkage:
• 0.02 to 0.05 percent

• CLSM with high volumes of fly ash (~965

lb/yd3) exhibit higher amounts of linear
shrinkage.

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 Controlled Low Strength Material

• In-Place Properties
• Excavatability
• CLSM with a compressive strength of 100 psi or less can be excavated
manually.
• A removability modulus (RE) helps to determine excavatability
U.S. Units Metric Units
𝑊𝑊 1.5 × 104 × 𝐶𝐶 0.5 𝑊𝑊 1.5 × 0.619 × 𝐶𝐶 0.5 RE < 1.0, is removable.
𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅 = 𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅 = RE > 1.0, is not easily removed.
106 106
[W is the dry mass density (lb/ft3 or kg/m3), and C is the 28-day unconfined compressive strength (lb/in2 or kPa)]:
Credit: Hamilton County, Ohio CLSM-CDF Specification and as reported in NCHRP Report 597 (2008) and ACI Report 229

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 Controlled Low Strength Material

• In-Place Properties
• Excavatability
• Mixtures with high coarse aggregate
quantities can be difficult to remove by hand,
even at low strengths.

• Mixtures using fine sand or only mineral

admixtures as aggregate filler have been
excavated with a backhoe up to strengths of
100 to 300 psi.

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 Controlled Low Strength Material

• In-Place Properties
• Excavatability
• Acceptable long-term performance has been
achieved with combined cement contents
from 40 to 100 lb/yd3 and Class F fly ash
contents up to 350 lb/yd3.
• Lime (CaO) contents of fly ash that exceed
10 percent by weight can be a concern
where long-term strength increases are not
desired.

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 Controlled Low Strength Material

• In-Place Properties
• Excavatability
• For CLSM with high cementitious content (or
w/fly ash or slag), long-term (56, 90, or 180 days)
strength tests should be conducted to estimate
the potential for excavatability.
• In addition to limiting the cementitious content,
entrained air can be used to maintain low
compressive strength.

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 Controlled Low Strength Material

• Proportioning
• Well-graded fine aggregate = more stable CLSM which resists
• segregation and
• excessive bleeding.
• Remember: Avoid too much clay!
• Cementitious starting point:
• 25 to 100 lb/yd3 of cement and
• up to 300 lb/yd3 of fly ash
(promotes setting and long-term strength).
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 Controlled Low Strength Material

• Proportioning
• ACI 211.1 proportioning may be used to establish initial mixture
design.
• Basic CLSM mixtures:
• fine aggregate: 2500 to 3500 lb/yd3,
• water: 400 to 500 lb/yd3,
• portland cement: 25 to 200 lb/yd3,
• fly ash: 0 to 700 lb/yd3,
• results in ~2-5% entrapped air.
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 Controlled Low Strength Material

• Proportioning

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 Controlled Low Strength Material

(from ACI 229R-13)

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 Controlled Low Strength Material

• Mixing performed in:

• central-mixed concrete plants,

• ready mixed concrete trucks,

• pugmills, and

• volumetric mobile concrete mixers.

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 Controlled Low Strength Material

• Mixing performed in trucks:

• Load truck mixer at standard charging
speed in the following sequence:
• Add 70 to 80 percent of water required
• Add 50 percent of the aggregate filler
• Add all cement and fly ash required
• Add balance of aggregate filler
• Add balance of water

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 Controlled Low Strength Material

• Transporting
• Ready mix trucks
• Dump trucks/non-agitating mixers
(discouraged)
• Pumps (conveyed transporting)
• volumetric-measuring and
continuous-mixing concrete
equipment (VMCM) for jobsite
mixing
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 Controlled Low Strength Material

• Placing
• chutes,
• conveyors,
• buckets, or
• pumps.
• Internal vibration, compaction, or
consolidation NOT required,
consolidates under own weight.
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 Controlled Low Strength Material

• Placing
• Protect from freezing
• No need to cure like concrete
• Place continually (e.g. trench backfill)
or in lifts (e.g. under pipes)

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 Controlled Low Strength Material

• Testing
• Visual, and/or

• Consistency,
• Flowability

• Unit Weight (Density),

• Strength.

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 Controlled Low Strength Material

• Testing in place:

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