Steel mesh and rebar
Steel goes into concrete as mesh (welded fabric sheets, such as A393) or as loose bars (rebar, such as 12 mm high-yield bar). Concrete is strong in compression and weak in tension; the steel takes the tension. The engineer decides how much, where, and how much concrete covers it.
Plain strip foundations on good ground don't need steel under TGD A. Rafts, suspended slabs, deep trench fill in clay and many ground slabs do.
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Mesh: what A393 means
A393 is a square mesh of 10 mm bars at 200 mm centres. A full sheet is 4.8 m by 2.4 m. A sheet weighs about 71 kg: the heaviest and strongest of the standard A-series mesh.
Rebar
Loose bars are used for foundations, beams, raft edges and anything the mesh can't do. A 12 mm × 6 m reinforcing bar is about €6.83 without VAT, €8.40 with it, at 5.32 kg a bar.
Cover: the concrete over the steel
Steel too close to the surface rusts and splits the concrete. The cover is set by the exposure class and the design life under I.S. EN 206 and its Irish National Annex, which is why the engineer's drawing gives a figure for it. On site that means spacers or chairs under every sheet and bar, and a check before the pour.
A pre-pour check confirms the right number of bars, the specified cover to the steel and no debris in the shutter.
Fibres instead of steel
Polypropylene fibres in the mix can reduce plastic cracking in slabs, the Federation notes, but they are not a substitute for reinforcement, and they don't change the need for proper curing.
How many sheets a slab takes
| Slab | Area | Sheets (11.52 m² each), before laps |
|---|---|---|
| 20 m² | 20 m² | 1.7, so 2 sheets |
| 40 m² | 40 m² | 3.5, so 4 sheets |
| 60 m² | 60 m² | 5.2, so 6 sheets |
| 100 m² | 100 m² | 8.7, so 9 sheets |
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Steel mesh and rebar questions
What is A393 mesh?
A welded steel fabric of 10 mm bars at 200 mm centres, sold in 4.8 m × 2.4 m sheets. A sheet weighs about 71 kg.
How much is a sheet of A393 mesh?
About €79 to €104 a sheet, depending on VAT.
Does a concrete slab need mesh?
It depends on the design. TGD C allows an unreinforced ground-supported slab of 20 N/mm² concrete; rafts and suspended slabs are reinforced. Follow the engineer's drawing.
Can fibres replace mesh?
No. Polypropylene fibres help with plastic cracking, but they're not a substitute for reinforcement.
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