Hydraulic cement composition

A hydraulic cement composition comprising hydraulic cement and 0.05 to 1% by weight of a water soluble copolymer of 65 to 80 mole percent of maleic anhydride or acid and 35 to 20 mole percent of a C.sub.5 aliphatic olefin or C.sub.5 cycloolefin or water soluble salt thereof, said copolymer having a number average molecular weight of 1000 to 8000 and containing not more than 10% by weight of a high molecular weight polymer having a molecular weight of at least 20,000.

A hydraulic cement composition comprising hydraulic cement and a water soluble salt of a copolymer having more than 60 up to 85 mole percent of an alpha, beta-unsaturated dicarboxylic acid and less than 40 down to 15 mole percent of an olefin, said copolymer having a number average molecular weight of 300 to 10,000 and containing not more than 10 percent by weight of a high molecular weight polymer having a molecular weight of at least 20,000.

A hydraulic cement admixture composed of a water soluble copolymer selected from the group consisting of (1) water soluble copolymer and (2) water soluble salts of copolymers, said copolymer having more than 60 up to 85 mole percent of an alpha, beta-unsaturated dicarboxylic acid and less than 40 down to 15 mole percent of an olefin, and said copolymer having a number average molecular weight of from 300 to 10,000 and containing not more than 10 percent by weight of a high molecular weight polymer having a molecular weight of at least 20,000.