Welded Wire Fabric is often chosen for slabs for what reason?

• A. Better crack control in all types of slabs.
• B. Uniform crack control and rapid placement, especially in thinner slabs.
• C. Only for structural walls.
• D. Eliminates the need for any other reinforcement.

Answer: (B)

Welded wire fabric is used in slabs because it provides uniform crack control and allows for rapid placement, which is especially beneficial in thinner slabs. The welded grid distributes tensile stresses across the slab, helping keep shrinkage and temperature cracks narrow and evenly spaced rather than forming random, larger cracks. The fabric comes in prefabricated mats, so it’s quick to lay out and install without the time of tying individual bars, speeding up placement. It’s well-suited to thinner slabs where the main goal is controlling cracking quickly and economically, while heavier or more complex reinforcement for shear or higher moments may still be needed in other parts of a structure.