What's the best technical book on Concrete?

If you are looking for the definitive book on Concrete, I would recommend "Properties of Concrete" by A.M.Neville. This very technical book summarizes most of what we know about concrete.

Having poured more than my fair share of concrete and having listened to more than my fair share of field superintendents who took an 8 hour book-training class on concrete try to tell me how to pour concrete, all I can say is that experience is the best teacher.

Concrete is an unusual beast. No two loads are ever 'exactly' the same, and then there is temperature, humidity, direct sun or shade, and impending weather conditions to consider. Throw in the technical aspects of slump tests, additives (or lack thereof), and temperature of the concrete and you're off to the races!

In addition to studying 'book knowledge', the best thing you could do would be work on a concrete crew for a couple of weeks to get a feel for what you need to understand. I often tell superintendents that they should be able to fill in on any crew of any trade on any day to be truly effective at their jobs.

My college textbooks were "Reinforced Concrete" by MacGregor and "Design of Concrete Structures" by Nilson & Winter, but a book I've had even longer, and have found much more useful, is "Concrete, Masonry and Brickwork--A Practical Handbook for the Homeowner and Small Builder," by the U.S. Dept. of the Army. It's got theory, technique, tables, and drawings. Mine was published in 1975, don't know if it's still in print.