Start with what the issued Section 03 37 23 leaves to the drawings and the design memorandum: confirm that the dam sections and plans show the pay lines, the zones that take each RCC and conventional mixture, the facing system, the bedding concrete and bedding mortar locations, the contraction joints with their waterstops and drains, the gallery size, shape, slope, and gutter, the spillway, and the plant area. Then check that the section has been edited to the zones, facing, gallery scheme, and downstream face drawn, that its cementitious materials, bedding, and mixer paragraphs agree with each other, and that every embedded item the tolerances name is specified somewhere.
Assemble the review package
Gather the general plan, the dam or mass structure plan, profile, and maximum section with the zoning of RCC, facing concrete, bedding, and conventional concrete, the upstream and downstream face details, the contraction joint layout with waterstop and drain details, the gallery plan, sections, and entrance details with bulkheads and doors, the spillway, ogee, chute, training wall, and stilling basin drawings, the foundation and abutment excavation drawings with dental concrete areas, the drawings that show the plant area, borrow or quarry sites, and exploration logs if aggregate is Government-furnished, the concrete materials design memorandum, thermal study, and climatological data, and the issued Section 03 37 23 with Sections 03 30 00, the precast section the facing or gallery uses, 01 20 00 if it carries the pay items, 01 33 00, and the earthwork and foundation preparation sections. Follow one maximum section from foundation to crest, then one contraction joint and the gallery, before assuming the rest matches.
WBDG publishes UFGS 03 37 23: Roller-Compacted Concrete for Mass Concrete Construction as a public guide-specification reference (accessed November 13, 2026). Use your project’s issued specification and amendments for the actual comparison; the guide specification does not automatically govern your project. The checklist below is an original suggested review workflow, not a reproduction of the UFGS requirements.
Eight checks to run against the issued set
Use one record per location or system. The CSV contains the same eight prompts plus fields for source revisions, observed evidence, the review owner, the decision, and closure references.
| Check | Sources to compare | Question to resolve |
|---|---|---|
| What the drawings must show | RCC Measurement (pay lines indicated on the drawings) + Location (plant in the general area indicated) + Government-Furnished Concrete Aggregate Source (sites, explorations, and logs shown in the drawings) + Procedures bracket (contract drawing of depositing, spreading, and remixing) + Bedding Mortar and Bedding Concrete (as shown) + Vertical Facings (as shown and specified) + Contraction Joints (locations as shown) + Gallery (size, shape, slope, and gutter as shown) + Spillway Chute (as shown) + RCC Surfaces tolerances + dam plans and sections | Do the drawings show the pay lines the RCC is measured within, the area set aside for the concrete plant, and, if the aggregate is Government-furnished, the quarry or pit sites with the exploration locations and logs, is the bracketed contract drawing of depositing and spreading either issued or deleted from the text, and do the plans and sections show every item the section places “as shown”: bedding locations, the facing system, contraction joints, the gallery with its slope and gutter, and the spillway? |
| Mixtures, zones, and aggregate sizes | Mixture Proportions and Studies (one primary RCC mixture for the mass; bracketed secondary mixtures for named features; bedding mortar and bedding concrete; facing and other conventional mixtures; slipformed facing proportioned by the Contractor in a bracket) + Nominal Maximum Size of Aggregate table (features in brackets; bedding mortar given a size different from the one in Mixture Proportions) + Proportioning Responsibility (Government furnishes and changes proportions) + design memorandum + dam sections with zoning | Does each zone drawn on the maximum section, such as the interior mass, the richer zones near the faces, foundation, or crest, the upstream facing concrete, and the bedding, match a mixture and a row of the aggregate size table in the issued section, are the blanks filled from the design memorandum, and since the bedding mortar’s aggregate size in Mixture Proportions and Studies differs from the size the table gives it, has the specifier stated which one governs? |
| Cementitious materials and the slag question | General Requirements (cementitious material portland cement, or portland cement with pozzolan) + Portland Cement brackets (low alkali, heat of hydration, false set; a pozzolan or GGBFS combination in lieu of low-alkali cement) + Pozzolan + Ground Granulated Blast-Furnace Slag + Composition ASR bracket (slag or Class F fly ash) + Concrete Plant Control report (pozzolan or slag) + pay items for cement and pozzolan only + thermal study | Since General Requirements allows only portland cement alone or with pozzolan while other paragraphs specify slag and let it replace low-alkali cement, has the specifier said whether slag may be used in the RCC, the bedding, or the facing concrete, and if it may, how slag is measured and paid, since only cement and pozzolan have pay items, and does the cement type and any heat of hydration limit kept match the thermal study for the mass? |
| Lift joints, bedding mortar, and cold joints | Procedures (placement abutment to abutment and downstream to upstream; time from mixing to final compaction by lift thickness) + Lift Thickness bracket and note + Bedding Mortar (between hardened conventional concrete and RCC, at cold joints, and as shown) + Bedding Concrete (abutment interface and formed surfaces) + Regular Lift-Joint Treatment (bedding mortar over the entire surface before the next lift) + Cold Joints and Vertical Joints (tapered ends; offsets between cold joints) + bedding pay item brackets + dam sections and joint details | Is bedding mortar intended on every lift joint, as Regular Lift-Joint Treatment requires, or only at cold joints and against hardened conventional concrete, as the Bedding Mortar paragraph lists, and do the joint details and the pay items follow the same answer, does the lift thickness kept agree with the lift lines or notes on the sections, and do the abutment and foundation details show bedding concrete where the section requires it? |
| Facings, downstream face, and spillway | Vertical Facings brackets (form and cast-in-place conventional concrete, slipformed elements, or precast panels) and note + Precast Reinforced Panels (designed under 03 41 33, 03 45 00, or 03 45 33; panel thickness in inch-pound units only; panel joints matched with pier noses, spillway cap, intake, and transverse joints) + Downstream Face brackets (sacrificial RCC trimmed to tolerance, or conventional concrete) + Spillway Chute and Training Walls + RCC Surfaces tolerances + face, spillway, and training wall details | Does the issued section keep only the facing system the upstream and downstream face details show, where precast panels are used, has the specifier named one precast section and stated the panel thickness in both unit systems, do the panel joints on the elevations line up with the pier noses, spillway cap, intake, and transverse contraction joints, and does the downstream face option kept match the slope and finish drawn on the maximum section and the spillway? |
| Contraction joints, embedded items, and the gallery | Contraction Joints (plates inserted in uncompacted RCC at locations shown; plate material blank; waterstops, drains, and joints in conventional concrete per Section 03 30 00) + RCC Surfaces tolerances (anchor bars, waterstops, contraction joints, drain holes, and reinforcing bars in the RCC) + Gallery brackets (precast segments, temporary forms, or noncementing fill; designed for the roller load; RCC cover before stripping or excavating stated with matching metric but different inch-pound values) + Submittals (Contraction Joints and Gallery without a G) + joint, drain, and gallery details | Has the specifier named the contraction joint plate material, are the waterstops, foundation drains, anchor bars, and any reinforcement in the RCC that the tolerances name specified in some section, since this one covers them only in conventional concrete, does the gallery scheme kept suit the gallery shape and entrance details drawn, is the cover of RCC required above the gallery stated in one consistent value, and should the contraction joint and gallery submittals carry a G, since both paragraphs ask for designs or details? |
| Plant, mixers, and transport | Concrete Plant (capacity blank) and note + Location + Batch Plant and Continuous Mixing Plant (submit plant details) + Laboratory Areas + Mixers note (truck mixers allowed for RCC and for low-slump or large-aggregate concrete) + Truck Mixers and Trucks (truck mixers prohibited for that concrete) + Pugmill Mixers + Transporting and Conveying (conveyor, end-dump truck, front-end loader) + Compaction Equipment (site drawings or sketches of equipment locations) + site and plant layout drawings | Does the plant capacity filled in match the placing schedule and lift areas on the drawings, is there room in the plant area and along the haul or conveyor route the drawings allow for the plant, laboratory, and stockpiles, and since the Mixers note and the Truck Mixers and Trucks paragraphs disagree about using truck mixers for RCC and low-slump concrete, has the specifier removed or corrected the note? |
| Test section, temperature, curing, testing, and reports | Placing Schedule (start, finish, and weekly updates) + RCC Test Section (approved site; not part of the permanent structure; face methods, joints, and waterstops demonstrated) + Environmental Requirements and Hot-Weather Placement brackets (placing temperature; seasonal suspension) and notes (design memorandum) + Curing, Cold-Weather Protection, and Special Cold-Weather Insulation brackets and notes (thermal study) + Tests and Inspections (on-site laboratory, density, slump, air, vibrators, curing and protection inspections) + Reports + Conventional Concrete Slump Testing (limits sent to “PART 1”) + Submittals (SD-03 items only) | Is a site for the test section shown or described away from the permanent structure, do the placing temperature, seasonal suspension, and insulation blanks come from the thermal study and match any temperature notes on the drawings, does the submittal list name the placing schedule, test section notice, plant details, and daily and weekly reports the text requires, and has the cross-reference to Mixture Proportions and Studies been corrected to Part 2? |
Worked example: a flood-control dam with precast facing panels, a formed gallery, and slag in the mixture
Illustrative example: an RCC flood-control dam on a military installation has precast panels on the upstream face, a stepped downstream face of conventional concrete, a drainage gallery near the foundation, and a spillway over the center. The issued Section 03 37 23 keeps all three vertical facing options, both downstream face options, and all three gallery schemes, names both 03 41 33 and 03 45 33 for the panels, and leaves the contraction joint plate material blank. The concrete materials design memorandum proposes slag in the interior RCC to lower heat, but General Requirements still allows only cement and pozzolan and only those two have pay items. The maximum section shows bedding mortar only at the abutments, and the gallery sections show a foundation drain line that no section specifies.
Ask the specifier to keep only the precast panel facing, the conventional concrete downstream face, and the gallery scheme the drawings show, to name one precast section and state the panel thickness in both unit systems, to fill in the plate material, to state whether slag is allowed and how it is paid, to say whether bedding mortar goes on every lift or only at cold joints, and to correct the truck mixer note and the gallery cover values. Ask the designer to specify the foundation drains and waterstops in the RCC, to confirm that the panel joints align with the contraction joints on the elevations, and to show the test section site.
Avoid a false conflict
Section 03 37 23 covers the RCC and the conventional concrete placed with it. Waterstops, drains, and joints in conventional concrete and the conventional concrete itself follow Section 03 30 00 and the concrete guide, precast facing panels and gallery segments follow Section 03 41 33 or Section 03 45 33 and the precast structural concrete guide, or Section 03 45 00 for architectural panels, foundation and abutment excavation and backfill follow the earthwork sections and the earthwork guide, and the mixture proportions themselves come from the Government’s design memorandum, so check those before calling a requirement missing. Some of the section’s own wording needs resolving: General Requirements excludes slag that other paragraphs allow and that has no pay item, the bedding mortar aggregate size is stated two ways, the Mixers note contradicts the truck mixer paragraphs, the bedding mortar locations differ between two paragraphs, the gallery cover is stated with two inch-pound values, the tolerances name embedded items that no article specifies, the plate material is blank, the panel thickness has no metric value, and the submittal list omits items the text requires. Ask the specifier which wording the project intends before treating a difference as a design conflict.
When requirements disagree, follow the project’s document-control and clarification process. Do not assume that drawings always override specifications, or the reverse. Identify the exact sources and request an authorized decision.
Close the issue across the affected documents
Record the location or tag, drawing and specification references, issue dates, observed difference, and the decision needed. Assign an owner and keep the item open until the response identifies the governing requirement. Check the revised drawings and specification references together; a response email alone may leave the issued package inconsistent.
For the overall process, use the guide to drawing and specification conflicts. Mark an inapplicable checklist row with a reason, and distinguish a verified correction from a question that still needs design information.
Where Groundbook fits
Groundbook’s drawing and specification review helps investigate potential disagreements in the documents you supply. Include the relevant specification sections and drawing references, then verify the cited evidence with the responsible reviewers before acting on a finding.