Concrete having reduced surface drying time and cementitious compositions and methods for manufacturing same

A concrete composition comprising the mixture products of:

• a hydraulic cement;
• an aggregate;
• one or more water soluble alkali metal salts having a cation to anion molar ratio of at least 1 and a concentration in a range of about 5 pounds per cubic yard (pcy) to about 60 pcy of the concrete composition based on a sodium nitrite equivalent;
• and
• water,
• wherein the hydraulic cement, aggregate, one or more water soluble alkali metal salts, and water are selected and proportioned so that the concrete composition, when freshly prepared, has a water to cementitious binder ratio (w/cm) in a range of 0.2 to 0.7, and, after hardening to form hardened concrete, the one or more water soluble alkali metal salts reduce internal relative humidity (IRH) of the hardened concrete.

A cementitious composition comprising:

• a hydraulic cement;
• an aggregate;
• one or more water soluble alkali metal salts having a cation to anion molar ratio of at least 1 and a concentration in a range of about 0.2% to about 4% by weight of the cementitious composition based on a sodium chloride equivalent;
• and
• water,
• wherein the hydraulic cement, aggregate, one or more water soluble alkali metal salts, and water are selected and proportioned so that the cementitious composition has a water to cementitious binder ratio (w/cm) in a range of 0.2 to 0.7, and
• wherein the one or more water soluble alkali metal salts reduce internal relative humidity (IRH) of hardened concrete made from the cementitious composition.

A concrete composition comprising the mixture products of:

• a hydraulic cement;
• an aggregate;
• one or more water soluble alkali metal salts having a cation to anion molar ratio of at least 1 and a concentration in a range of about 0.2% to about 4% by weight of the concrete composition based on a sodium chloride equivalent;
• and
• water,
• wherein the hydraulic cement, aggregate, one or more water soluble alkali metal salts, and water are selected and proportioned so that the concrete composition, when freshly prepared, has a water to cementitious binder ratio (w/cm) in a range of 0.2 to 0.7, and, after hardening to form hardened concrete, the one or more water soluble alkali metal salts reduce internal relative humidity (IRH) of the hardened concrete.