concrete mix design, submittals, and aci 301

huangyhg

concrete mix design, submittals, and aci 301
back in feb. '05 there was a thread entitled "concrete mix design". (
i still write my own concrete specification, and tailor it to each job.  i believe it makes me a better engineer, as i have to think about each paragraph at some time or other.   also, whenever i learn something new, as often happens reading this forum, it's an easy matter to update the master.  if there is a question, i know exactly if and where the answer appears in the the spec.
i dread the day when buildings are designed by computer wizards and spec'd by aci 301.
i still think you are correct to ask for the info under 301 article 1.6.  i just don't know if i would have the fortitude to carry that argument to the contractor.
i know that aci 301 refers to aci 318..and that aci 318 is a referenced standard in the ibc... but what section of aci 318 refers to aci 301?
aci 318-02 refers to aci 301 on page 2, introduction, (right column, toward bottom) "...other aci publications, such as 鈥淪pecifications for structural concrete (aci 301)鈥?are written specifically for use as contract documents for construction."
there is another reference in the "prestressed concrete" chapter, r18.21.1 (page 287)
i don't think that aci 318 makes any other references to 301.  as i understand it, this is because the two documents serve very different purposes.  318 is the design code, and 301 is intended as a specification that tells the contractor how to build.
i'd really like to hear the perspective of an aci expert on this subject.  if no one uses aci 301 as a stand-alone concrete spec, then i wonder why is it still offered as such by aci.  (and now i see aci has even released a new version - aci 301-05