Conventional concrete is the lay term for concrete that is produced by following the mixing instructions that are commonly published on packets of cement, typically using sand or other common material as the aggregate, and often mixed in improvised containers. Can typically withstand a pressure from about 1500 psi to 6000 psi.

Compressive strength greater than 6000 psi. High-strength concrete is made by lowering the water-cement (W/C) ratio to 0.35 or lower. Aggregate must be selected carefully for high-strength mixes. In some applications of high-strength concrete the design criterion is the elastic modulus rather than the ultimate compressive strength.

High-performance concrete (HPC) is a relatively new term for concrete that conforms to a set of standards above those of the most common applications, but not limited to strength. While all high-strength concrete is also high-performance, not all high-performance concrete is high-strength. Some examples of such standards currently used in relation to HPC are:

• Ease of placement

• Compaction without segregation

• Early age strength

• Long-term mechanical properties

• Permeability

• Density

• Heat of hydration

• Toughness

• Volume stability

• Long life in severe environments

• Depending on its implementation, environmental

Self-compacting concrete (SCC) which was cohesive, but flowable and took the shape of the formwork without use of any mechanical compaction.

SCC is characterized by the following:

• extreme fluidity as measured by flow, typically between 18 in to 28 in of spread rather than slump (height)

• no need for vibrators to compact the concrete

• easier placement

• no bleeding, or aggregate segregation

• increased liquid head pressure, which can be detrimental to safety and workmanship

SCC can save up to 50% in labor costs due to 80% faster pouring and reduced wear and tear on formwork.

Shotcrete uses compressed air to shoot concrete onto (or into) a frame or structure. The greatest advantage of the process is that shotcrete can be applied overhead or on vertical surfaces without forming. It is often used for concrete repairs or placement on bridges, dams, pools, and on other applications where forming is costly or material handling and installation is difficult. Shotcrete is frequently used against vertical soil or rock surfaces, as it eliminates the need for formwork. It is sometimes used for rock support, especially in tunneling. Shotcrete is also used for applications where seepage is an issue to limit the amount of water entering a construction site due to a high water table or other subterranean sources. This type of concrete is often used as a quick fix for weathering for loose soil types in construction zones.

There are two application methods for shotcrete:

• dry-mix – the dry mixture of cement and aggregates is filled into the machine and conveyed with compressed air through the hoses. The water needed for the hydration is added at the nozzle.

• wet-mix – the mixes are prepared with all necessary water for hydration. The mixes are pumped through the hoses. At the nozzle compressed air is added for spraying.

Pervious concrete, used in permeable paving, contains a network of holes or voids, to allow air or water to move through the concrete. This allows water to drain naturally through it, and can both remove the normal surface-water drainage infrastructure, and allow replenishment of groundwater when conventional concrete does not. It is formed by leaving out some or all of the fine aggregate (fines). The remaining large aggregate then is bound by a relatively small amount of cement. When set, typically between 15% and 25% of the concrete volume is voids, allowing water to drain at around 5 gal/ft²/ min (70 L/m²/min) through the concrete.

Conventional pavement concrete: Concrete with high content of cement. The mix achieves a high density and high volume of coarse aggregates.

Roller compacted concrete: Roller-compacted concrete, sometimes called rollcrete, is a low-cement-content stiff concrete placed using techniques borrowed from earthmoving and paving work. The concrete is placed on the surface to be covered, and is compacted in place using large heavy rollers typically used in earthwork. The concrete mix achieves a high density and cures over time into a strong monolithic block. Roller-compacted concrete is typically used for concrete pavement, but has also been used to build concrete dams, as the low cement content causes less heat to be generated while curing than typical for conventionally placed massive concrete pours.

This type of concrete is able to develop high resistance within few hours after being manufactured. This feature has advantages such as removing the formwork early and to move forward in the building process at record time, repair road surfaces that become fully operational in just a few hours.

Fiber-reinforced concrete (FRC) is concrete containing fibrous material, which increases its structural integrity. It contains short discrete fibers that are uniformly distributed and randomly oriented. Fibers include steel fibers, glass fibers, synthetic fibers and natural fibers – each of which lend varying properties to the concrete. In addition, the character of fiber-reinforced concrete changes with varying concretes, fiber materials, geometries, distribution, orientation, and densities. Fibers are usually used in concrete to control cracking due to plastic shrinkage and to drying shrinkage. They also reduce the permeability of concrete and thus reduce bleeding of water. Some types of fibers produce greater impact–, abrasion–, and shatter–resistance in concrete.

Whitetopping is the covering of an existing asphalt pavement with a layer of Portland cement concrete. Whitetopping is divided into types depending on the thickness of the concrete layer and whether the layer is bonded to the asphalt substrate. Unbonded whitetopping, also called conventional whitetopping, uses concrete thicknesses of eight inches or more that is not bonded to the asphalt. Bonded whitetopping uses thicknesses of two to six inches bonded to the asphalt pavement and is divided into two types, thin and ultrathin. Texturing the asphalt makes the bond. Thin whitetopping uses a bonded layer of concrete that is four to six inches thick while an ultrathin layer is two to four inches thick. Ultrathin whitetopping is suitable for light duty uses, such as roads with low traffic volume, parking lots and small airports. Fiber reinforced concrete is used in some thin whitetopping overlays and almost all ultrathin whitetopping overlays.