General Product Information for Steelike® UHPC
About Steelike® UHPC, UHPC Powered by Innovation™
The unique, all-white color of Steelike UHPC can be custom colored to match the surrounding environment of the installed structure – further enhancing product versatility. Customers may have confidence in the consistency of Steelike UHPC, as well as the predictability of the product’s performance and appearance.

The decades long journey behind the creation of Steelike UHPC means that Steelike is many times stronger and more durable than both conventional and high-performance concrete, with unmatched architectural possibilities.
Set Up Your Project for Success with Steelike® UHPC

Innovation that Sets Up Project Success

Steelike® UHPC Works Harder so Contractors Can Focus on Project Productivity
Only Steelike UHPC can be delivered directly to your project pre-mixed and ready to place. This feature allows contractors to focus on their job and what they do best.

Steelike™ Innovations Reduce Project Complexities and Costs
Only Steelike® UHPC can be routinely and confidently mixed in a standard front-loading ready-mix truck. This eliminates costs for specialty mixer shipping, setup, and rental fees. And the large capacity of a ready-mix truck means that for large projects a series of readily-available trucks can eliminate the need for a costly mobile batching facility. This can also decrease the number of contractor staff required to mix the UHPC. Only Steelike UHPC eliminates complexities and costs to allow increased project productivity.

Limited Space in Congested Locations . . . UHPC Powered by Innovation™
Steelike® UHPC can handle tight spaces. Mixing in a standard front loading ready-mix truck means no on-site space is required for storing, loading and mixing UHPC. The UHPC can be mixed off-site, with the truck driving directly to the project discharge location. For some applications, Steelike UHPC can even be placed directly from the truck.

Off-Job-Site Mixing Preferred . . . UHPC Powered by Innovation™
With Steelike® UHPC, you may select a product mixing location that is off-site. Because product is mixed in ready-mix trucks, Steelike® UHPC is ready for transport to the jobsite without additional transfer steps.

Value-Added Project Support . . . UHPC Powered by Innovation™
Our experts can support you and your project in many ways, for example by reviewing UHPC specifications and project requirements, making value-engineering suggestions, and suggesting faster ways to accomplish project objectives.

Flexibility for Changing Weather Conditions . . . UHPC Powered by Innovation™
Because Steelike® UHPC is mixed in the enclosed environment of a ready-mix truck, changing weather does not compromise the product. This can allow Steelike UHPC to be mixed while waiting for the rain to stop.

Easily Scales to Larger Volumes …UHPC Powered by Innovation™
Steelike® UHPC is easily scalable to support large volume projects. Just add more ready-mix trucks! In addition, for large projects, Steelike UHPC dry mix may be able to be delivered in tanker trucks, speeding up the loading process and eliminating the hassle of bulk bags. This scaling option is offered only by Steelike.

Tedious Transfer from Mixer to Transport . . UHPC Powered by Innovation™
Only Steelike® UHPC offers the convenience and cost savings of product mixing in a standard front-loading ready-mix truck. Once mixed, Steelike® UHPC is ready to go for placement.

Color Modification . . . The Solution is Steelike® UHPC
Steelike UHPC is an advance in ultra-high performance concrete with a unique all-white color. Unlike competing products, Steelike UHPC is always white with no premium purchase required. The all-white color of Steelike UHPC allows it to be modified to any color desired. No painting necessary!

When your project specifications call for UHPC, call us for Steelike® UHPC
Let us support your project with Steelike UHPC and provide a positive UHPC experience with our industry experts. Also download our printable product data sheet.
When Your Project Calls for UHPC, Call Steelike, Inc.

About the Product Process with Steelike® UHPC
For infrastructure projects, Steelike® UHPC is typically mixed on-site in accordance with directions provided by Steelike‘s Technical Support team. The following is an overview of the typical on-site process when working with Steelieke® UHPC.
Mixing
Flexible Mixing Options Support Customer Work Site Needs: Only Steelieke® UHPC offers our customers product mixing options that save costs in terms of time, labor and equipment. Innovative mixing options provide flexibility to better support specific project and job site needs. Off-Site Mixing: Steelieke® UHPC may be mixed off-site in a standard front loading ready-mix truck and then delivered to the project location. This option reduces work site disruptions and space requirements. On-Site Mixing: Steelieke® UHPC may be mixed at the job location in a standard front loading ready-mix truck or in a variety of other mixing equipment. |
Placing
For precast deck-level connections, Steelike UHPC can be placed flush with the surrounding deck. Whereas competing products require overfilling to grind away a top layer that gets filled with air bubbles, Steelike has a unique proprietary process to prevent the accumulation of air bubbles.
Curing
Steelike UHPC should be maintained at a minimum curing temperature of 50° F (18° C). Steelike has the capability to determine the in-place strength of the Steelike UHPC using embedded sensors without solely relying on breaking cylinder or cube samples.
Finishing
For a bridge deck overlay application, to achieve a desirable surface profile and adequate skid resistance, the top of an overlay is typically grinded and/or grooved.
Any formed surface of Steelike UHPC will replicate the texture of the form to a high level of detail, which can be advantageous for architectural and decorative applications.
Expertise to Support Customers from Job Start to Finish
Steelike’s Technical Support Team is committed to setting up our customers for success.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Contact Steelike, Inc., at +1-703-520-2763, or US Toll Free at 1-888-364-2541

Frequently Asked Questions about UHPC
Are you new to UHPC? These are questions are commonly asked questions about UHPC from FHWA website UHPC FAQs, last updated December 2019.
Concrete is a composite material made from coarse aggregate (rocks), fine aggregate (sand), portland cement, and water. When mixed, the portland cement and water combine together in a chemical reaction to create the glue that holds together the aggregates. Concrete starts as a semi-liquid that can be placed or formed. It hardens over time to create a solid that is similar to rock.
Ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) is a class of concrete that combines together many of the recent advances in concrete science to create a material with far superior properties. In the fresh state it is more fluid than regular concrete thus making it easier to place into the formwork. In the hardened state it is much stronger than regular concrete. It also contains a large amount of randomly distributed steel fibers that help the UHPC maintain its load-carrying capacity even after overloads or in aggressive environments. Finally, the UHPC is much less permeable than regular concrete and thus the UHPC is far less likely to degrade due to freeze-thaw action or corrosion of embedded reinforcing steel.
Imagine that you added a hundred pounds of needles to every ton of concrete. These needles would be randomly distributed throughout the concrete and would help to reinforce it on a micro scale. In practice, about 2 percent of the volume of a UHPC product is steel fibers. These fibers are usually small diameter steel wires that are cut to be less than 1 inch long. The fibers stitch together the UHPC so that, even if the UHPC experiences a large load that causes it to crack, the fibers will allow the UHPC to continue to resist the load.
The normal concretes used today in highway bridges are designed to offer better performance than “sidewalk” concrete, but are prone to cracking and degradation primarily due to corrosion of the embedded reinforcing bars. UHPC offers much superior durability. Through its enhanced strength, it also allows for optimization of the design of the structure. UHPC structures can be easier to construct and can create opportunities to reduce the normal reliance on large volumes of field-cast concrete.
FHWA plays a leading role in bringing innovative solutions to the highway infrastructure sector. By and large, State Departments of Transportation own and operate the infrastructure, but their perspective may not extend to national and international best practices and innovative ideas. FHWA recognized the potential in UHPC in the early 2000s and has, through their research arm at the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center, focused on developing deployable solutions that make use of the best that this technology has to offer.
The simple answer is cost. Normal concretes cost a few pennies per pound, while the price of UHPC is more like a half dollar per pound. In short, the constituents in UHPC cost more.
For this reason it is important to use the UHPC in critical locations where its benefits reduce short and long term costs elsewhere. Moving forward, it is expected that the cost of UHPC will reduce as the technology matures.
The technological advancements inherent in UHPC both will afford direct solutions to today’s infrastructure challenges and will be integrated into the normal concretes of tomorrow. One of the biggest opportunities for UHPC will be to rehabilitate and harden the highway infrastructure against the insidious effects of traffic loads, an unforgiving environment, and time. UHPC has the potential to allow for the long-term rehabilitation of road and bridge surfaces without requiring full reconstruction. It can also allow for the repair of substandard infrastructure in a way that meets current design requirements while minimally impacting the operation of the facility. Most importantly, it can open the door to longer service lives with reduced need for repair and thus reduced impact on the traveling public.
Got more questions? We have answers. Contact Us.
Frequently Asked Questions about
Steelike® UHPC
Steelike UHPC is the only ultra-high performance concrete that is all-white, can be routinely and confidently mixed in a ready-mix truck as well as in other traditional mixers, and does not have metal fibers exposed on the surface at risk of staining the UHPC. Steelike UHPC is also the only UHPC whose dry mix is 100% preblended, resulting in an exceptionally smooth flow and consistent and predictable quality of mixed product.
The raw material cost of Steelike UHPC is typically less than other UHPC products. In addition, the unique features of Steelike UHPC and the innovations developed by Steelike can increase project productivity compared to typical UHPC placement methods, resulting in additional contractor cost savings. Steelike UHPC provides savings through both lower material cost and increased contractor productivity.
Yes, Steelike UHPC meets or exceeds FHWA specifications standards.
Steelike is mentioned in the following document published by FHWA: FHWA Publication No: FHWA-HRT-19-011
Generally speaking, anywhere concrete is used, Steelike UHPC can be used with significant performance advantages. The challenge is to optimize the application of UHPC according to its mechanical and durability properties to extract all of its benefits to maximize the cost-effectiveness. Many applications for Steelike UHPC are listed here.
Finally, the unique 100% preblended dry mix results in an extremely smooth and highly consistent material flow, further facilitating the casting of ultra-thin components and creating highly predictable mixing and casting conditions well suited for a repetitive production environment. Bill Kulish, the inventor of Steelike UHPC, created the formula with architectural applications in mind, and has demonstrated the material’s versatility as a medium for design expressions through many proofs of concepts.
Ready-mix trucks are widely available and relatively affordable to rent. This typically saves contractors money compared to renting and setting up specialty mixers from other UHPC suppliers. In addition, a single truck can mix 4 times as much as the typical largest specialty mixer, resulting in less time spent waiting for fresh UHPC to be mixed. Finally, for projects in congested locations, Steelike UHPC can be mixed offsite and driven onto the project site for discharge.
Yes! We have a YouTube playlist with over a dozen videos of Steelike UHPC being mixed in ready-mix trucks. Click here to view the video playlist.
Got more questions? We have answers. Contact Us.
Projects with Steelike® UHPC
Granart Road Bridge over Branch of Welch Creek
Bridge deck overlay, Kane County, IL
Hughes Road Bridge over Blackberry Creek
Repair of longitudinal joints between precast concrete beams, Kane County, IL
Scott Road Bridge over Welch Creek
Repair of longitudinal joints between precast concrete beams, Kane County, IL
Walnut Street Tunnel
Column pedestals and encasement of steel columns, Philadelphia, PA
Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge
Bridge deck overlay, New Port, Rhode Island
Bridge 3020S – SB – Milepost 30.62 (BDR-3-20)
Closure pours between precast deck panels + haunches + shear pockets; Expansion joint headers, Rayleigh County, WV
Bridge 3022N – NB – Milepost 33.93 (BDR-4-20)
Closure pours between precast deck panels + haunches + shear pockets; Expansion joint headers, Rayleigh County, WV
Precast prestressed UHPC girders
Cast in Allentown, NJ. Currently located at FHWA Turner Fairbank Highway Research Center in McLean, VA.
“Now I know why you call it a composite and not concrete or mortar”


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