Concrete Strength for Sidewalk

[John McGaw]

I'm going to be having a small local contractor install an extension to an existing sidewalk to wrap around to the side of my house -- approximately

65' long and 3' 4" wide so that I can add a handicapped ramp for access by a disabled relative at the side door. All of the other entrances to the house are in the incredibly-difficult-to-impossible-to-retrofit category so that is the only option. I got three estimates, all from small local contractors, and all of them came in within a 5% spread so I decided to go with the one who seemed most businesslike and experienced. Only one of the contractors asked any questions about what strength of concrete I preferred and I had never really thought about it in regards to a sidewalk. The options given were 3,000 psi or 10,000 psi. It would seem that the cheaper material would do for a seldom-used walk on a solid base in a no-frost area but I don't know much about concrete except that it is damned heavy going in and coming out so it seemed a good idea to ask. Any reason to go for the more expensive grade in a project like this? TIA

[jim]

PSI... stuff, the 10,000 PSI stuff is probably for driving dump trucks across the concrete... when they built my home about 30 yrs. ago the slab was 2500 PSI and its still there and with a car on the same slab. the garage is attached to the house.. i dont think you need a 10,000 PSI concrete.. maybe the guy who told you this does not know so much about concrete and was trying to impress you.... like a young nephew was going to buy a jack so he could take a transmission out of his car.... he told me that he was gonna buy 10 ton jack.... i told him the transmission probably weights about 100 lbs... what you need the other 9.5 tons for???

[the_plumber]

3000 is the residential norm and strong enough for anything you'll ever use it for.

[Robert Allison]

like a young nephew was going

Actually, that should be: "what you need the other 9.95 tons for?"

;-)