How long must a cylinder be cured before being transported?

Curing concrete cylinders is a crucial step that impacts the quality and integrity of the concrete. The standard practice for curing involves keeping the concrete in a controlled environment to ensure proper hydration and strength development.

A curing period of at least 8 hours is generally recommended before transporting concrete cylinders. This timeframe allows the concrete to set adequately, ensuring it has attained sufficient strength to prevent damage during handling. If the transport occurs too soon, the cylinders may fracture or exhibit poor performance characteristics in subsequent tests.

Although other timeframes are provided in the choices, they do not align with the standard curing practices, which establish 8 hours as the minimum duration needed to provide stability and maintain the integrity of the sample for accurate testing later on.