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Degree of Hydration

While the permeability and diffusivity tests were being conducted, companion specimens were stored continuously in lime water. Small (approximately 2 grams for paste and 4 grams for mortar) samples were taken daily for the first three days and thereafter every second or third day. They were placed in iso-propyl alcohol to stop hydration by removal of the free water. Later they were removed from the alcohol and placed in dried and weighed porcelain crucibles and dried at 105ºC for 24 hours. They were then transferred to a desiccator for 30 minutes, after which they were weighed. They were then placed in a 1050ºC furnace for three hours. They were cooled in a desiccator and weighed again. The degree of hydration was determined by the nonevaporable water content. For the mortar specimens the correction used by Bellander [4] was employed.