Objectives of cold weather concreting practices are to prevent damage to early-age freezing. The conditions of cold weather concreting exist when the air temperature has fallen to, or is expected to fall below, 40°F (4°C) during the protection period. The protection period is defined as the amount of time recommended to prevent concrete from being adversely affected by exposure to cold weather or freezing during construction.
Pre-Construction Preparation for Cold Weather: Prior to cold weather construction, the general contractor, construction manager, concrete contractor, concrete supplier, testing laboratory representative, and architect/engineer should meet in a preconstruction conference to define what cold weather concreting and protection methods will be used. Plans to protect fresh concrete from freezing and maintain temperatures above recommended minimum values should be made well before freezing temperatures are expected to occur.