VIJAYAWADA: A team of engineering experts from Madras Cements Limited, manufacturers of Ramco cement, on Sunday advised a group of masons here to use blended cement for constructions and maintain the cement-water ratio perfectly.

N. Mavul Rao and K. Venkateswara Rao, technical officers from the company, conducted a daylong workshop for masons from Krishna district. They observed that many masons were using high-grade cement for construction as they were unaware that the cement variety was not suitable to the climatic conditions here.

"The heat of hydration levels are very high in high-grade cement, due to which, iron used in the construction gathers rust and the structure gets cracks over a period of time," they said.

Blended cement, they said, has 70 per cent of lime component, whereas the high-grade cement has 90 per cent of lime component. "Since blended cement is a mixture of lime and qualitative fly ash, the heat of hydration levels are low in it," they explained.

Competitions held

They conducted competitions in cement mixing and gave away prizes to the winners.

Over 200 masons from the district participated in the workshop.

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