Fosroc solution for research facility

Concrete repairs are not only required in the refurbishment of old, degraded structures but also to make good new build concrete.

The Integrated Civil & Infrastructure Research Centre (ICAIR) is a new state- of-the-art research facility and international centre of engineering research for the University of Sheffield. It is split into two sections, a ‘wet’ side and a ‘dry’ side for carrying out test work.

The wet side includes two large tanks holding 250,000 litres of water that will be used to simulate river conditions. During construction the concrete to form the tanks had been poured to the wrong measurements and, in order to correct the situation, a product was required that could withstand the pressure and load from the stored water and gain a compressive strength similar to the parent concrete.

Fosroc proposed a solution using Renderoc LA60 to fill the formwork. This high performance, free-flowing micro-concrete, is suitable for the reinstatement of reinforced concrete where low permeability characteristics are required and where high compressive strength is a consideration. Renderoc HBS high performance, fibre-reinforced, medium weight concrete reinstatement mortar was used on cold joints. Any imperfections in the concrete were made good using Renderoc Patch a fast-setting, smooth, multi-purpose cementitious-based repair compound.

The work was successfully carried out with a quick turnaround. The concrete walls are now constructed to the measurements of the original plans and meet the required level of performance and appearance.