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Hycrete Applications
Infrastructure
Benefits:
- Increased durability
- Reduce water ingress AND protect against corrosion
- Increase the life of your structure
- Less corrosion and water damage, longer structural life
- Green construction
- Longer-lasting structures are more sustainable – reduce the environmental cost of repairs and replacement
- Concrete with Hycrete admixtures can easily be recycled – Hycrete admixtures are Cradle-to-Cradle™ Certified
- Reduce the cost of waterproofing
- Tunnels and other structures needing waterproofing can be protected for less – save 30% for most projects
- Protect against stray electrical currents
- Hycrete products increase the resistivity of concrete, and help protect against stray electrical currents and corrosion caused by electrical currents in concrete.
Hycrete products help improve the durability of concrete in infrastructure, leading to infrastructure that lasts longer and is both easier and less expensive to maintain.
Corrosion Inhibition in Infrastructure
Concrete in bridges, roads, Jersey barriers / traffic dividers, sidewalks, airport runways, rail systems, power, telecom, military installations and other infrastructure is often exposed to harsh environments that lead to a rapid onset of corrosion. Infrastructure durability is important to decrease infrastructure life cycle costs. There are a number of traditional protection systems. Coated rebar systems, including epoxy-coated rebar and galvanized reinforcing steel, protects the reinforcing steel, but these systems are vulnerable in the places where scratches and other damage from transportation and installation compromise the protective coating. Integral corrosion inhibitors such as calcium nitrite (Grace DCI®, BASF Rheocrete®, etc) surround structural steel to protect against rusting. Coating systems and penetrating sealers such as silanes and siloxanes and organofunctional inhibitors (Evonik | Degussa Protectosil®) reduce permeability but do not directly protect against corrosion. Permeability reducers such as high-performance concrete and crystalline waterproofing admixtures reduce the amount of water and corrosive salts that can enter the concrete but do not protect the steel itself.
Hycrete X1000 corrosion inhibition admixture both protects against corrosion and reduces the permeability of concrete as well as healing minor cracks. The reinforcing steel is coated with a protective barrier, and the amount of water absorbed into the concrete is significantly reduced. Hycrete solutions do not need to be reapplied – they are protected inside the concrete and will not wash away. For this reason, Hycrete X1000 can replace multiple protection systems, or be used in conjunction with other protection methods for enhanced corrosion protection. Hycrete admixtures form a chemically bonded barrier against water and corrosive salts that makes infrastructure concrete last longer and need less frequent repair.
Contact us to find more about increasing the durability of bridges, roads, traffic dividers, sidewalks, airport runways, and other infrastructure.
Waterproofing in Infrastructure
Waterproofing needs for buildings in infrastructure are discussed separately in applications.
Tunnels tend to leak, and years of water infiltration corrodes rebar, leading to rusting, spalling and continual repairs. Tunnel corrosion can shorten the life of the structure. Cast-in-place, shotcrete, and precast tunnel linings pose a variety of challenges in construction. For cast-in-place and shotcrete, the reinforcing bar has to be held in place, which involves controlled punctures of membranes for anchors using waterproofing details that are notorious for leaking. Cast-in-place concrete also needs to have formwork held in place, and the spuds / protective plastic disks that prevent the formwork from puncturing membranes require perfect workmanship and conditions. For all lining types, preparation can be extensive. For example, uneven surfaces and rock bolts have to be covered before membranes can be applied, usually with a separate shotcrete application, which requires increased excavation so a fully smooth surface can be prepared before the rebar and concrete are installed. These added steps increase cost, schedule length, and risk of delays.
Hycrete waterproofing systems can help increase the life cycle of your new tunnels by reducing the absorption of water, increasing durability, and protecting against corrosion. Hycrete waterproofing solutions can be used on their own for membrane-free construction for tunnel waterproofing:
- No need to overexcavate for surface preparation and membrane application
- Lower preparation, material, and labor costs
- No need for expensive and risky membrane protection systems
- Fewer processes – reduced risk of delays, less materials, fewer storage issues
Alternatively, Hycrete waterproofing products can be used with a membrane in high risk applications for a belt-and-suspender system. This combination is the ultimate in internal and external protection systems to protect against leaks and corrosion.
Contact us to learn more about using Hycrete waterproofing solutions for tunnels.
Increased Resistivity
Where there is a risk of electricity being conducted through concrete, Hycrete admixtures can protect against this. With less water absorbed into the concrete, conductivity goes down and resistivity increases. Hycrete products help protect against stray electrical currents, and corrosion caused by electrical currents in concrete, in addition to waterproofing and protecting against corrosion.
Contact us to learn more about protecting against electrical damage in concrete
Hycrete products for Infrastructure:
Corrosion Inhibition
Waterproofing and corrosion inhibition
Hycrete products can be used to extend the useful life of bridges. The New England Transportation Consortium commissioned extensive testing of corrosion inhibitors, carried out at the University of Massachusetts. Hycrete X1000 was shown to provide the best protection against corrosion, in uncracked or slightly cracked concrete – it outperformed calcium nitrate and high-performance concrete.
Hycrete X1000 was used with epoxy coated rebar to provide additional protection against corrosion in this bridge in Kansas.
The South Lake Union Trolley light rail system in Seattle saved over $1 million by using Hycrete products. Services under the street did not have to be relocated to protect them from electrical corrosion.
