Living and working on water and under water with UHPC as construction material

Since than 30 years, UHPC Ultra High
Performance Concrete has been used
worldwide in the offshore sector as
a foundation, repair and construction material.
In offshore wind power technology, UHPC
is used as a floating foundation construction.

Deep sea constructions with UHPC have
also been successfully tested down to a
depth of 3500 m / 11480ft. Together with a  
German university, we tested dome 
constructions with different concrete 
qualities and UHPC. Only UHPC was able 
to withstand the enormous water pressure.

Likewise, energy storage systems for

offshore wind turbines are currently being
developed, which consist of hollow concrete
balls measuring over 30 m in diameter,
which are sunk to a depth of 300 m. These
energy storage systems would also be ideal
for supplying energy to floating cities.

Living and working on water and under water
can be realized sustainably and without an
problems with UHPC Ultra High Performance
Concrete materials.

The first serious projects are already planned
and are about to be realized. International
architect groups are already working on
self-sufficient cities above and under water.
UHPC is an important building construction
material for the designs, which are designed for
extreme longevity with very little to no
maintenance.

The advantages are

• Absolute seawater resistance
• Extreme corrosion resistance
• Extreme compressive strength
• Extreme tensile strengths
• Almost any design geometry can be made
• Material combinations of all kinds are easily possible
• Installation methode same as standard concrete

New construction and repair of Jetties with UHPC concrete

For modern jetty constructions, UHPC concrete

offers many advantages compared to standard

concrete, steel or wooden constructions.

- All jetty elements can be prefabricated or cast
   on site in a short time.
- UHPC concrete has no or only extremely low
   pore volume and is thus absolutely seawater
   and corrosion resistant.
- UHPC concrete hardens under water. It can
   therefore be processed in and under water.
- UHPC concrete has a standard strength
   between 120 MPa/17400 psi and
   250 MPa/36250 psi.
- UHPC prefabricated elements can be made
   considerably thinner due to the very high
   strength and the absence of porosity, and
   thus with significantly less weight.

Due to the properties of UHPC concrete listed
above, such constructions do not require further
inspection. It can be assumed that the service
life is almost 100+ years.

Since UHPC concrete has very good wear and
impact resistance, harsh harbor conditions and
extreme environmental conditions such as ice
are no problem.

Installation

UHPC concrete can be produced by us as mortar,
casting compound or shotcrete mass. For processing,
a compulsory or pan pot mixer is needed. Our
shotcrete and castable UHPC material can also be
pumped over longer distances.

Repairs of damaged standard concrete, steel or 
wooden constructions

Jetties can be severely damaged by impact, corrosion,
rotting or faulty concrete processing. The repair
with UHPC concrete is simple and requires little
effort.

For preparation, remove any loose particles and
buildup such as clams, algae and the like.
A mold should be installed around the columns.
The water does not have to be removed from the mold.
The UHPC concrete is poured directly in the water.
The concrete displaces the seawater from the mold.
The mold can be removed after less than 48 hours.

This type of repair has been used for more than 20
years as a standard repair method on offshore platforms.

UHPC Supervisor projects worldwide

Today we completed our 100th Supervisor project

Since the first customer request more than 20 years ago, we have meanwhile completed projects with UHPC materials in more than 35 countries around the world. We looked after offshore, corrosion, wear protection, concrete rehabilitation, architecture, hydraulic engineering, road construction, etc.
On behalf of our customers, we have carried out assembly projects, trained fitters on site, carried out complete assemblies independently, assessed damage, worked out repair solutions, etc.
Our current project was the rehabilitation of 10 km of lanes at Europe's largest flower auctioneer.

Here some impressions of our worldwide jobs

www.hhbc-consulting.de
info@hhbc-consulting.de

Repair and new construction of concrete structures at coastal areas with UHPC

The splash zone is without doubt one of the more 

aggressive environment for wood, concrete and/or 

steel. Here you have the movement of the water 
inducing wear on the structures, high level of 

oxygen inducing a perfect corrosive environment. 

In salt water chlorides are present all over but 

combined with good access of oxygen this zone is 
where the problem is.
 In icy regions ice sliding by 

a structure will tear and wear the structure. 

UHPC Ultra High Performance Concrete is here 

an ideal construction material or protection layer.

Sea level rise
It is likely to lead to greater flooding, 
salinisation and erosion in coastal areas, 
affecting millions of people worldwide and 
costing billions of dollars of damage.
Today, a lot of big cities are right on the 
coast or at estuaries. Changes in sea level 
or in severe storms or torrential floods 
directly hit these cities. Most cities have
not yet realized this danger and have not 
yet taken any protective measures. Such 
safeguards include raising defenses, 
implementing flood storage and construction 
of new river barrier systems.

Many important industries are located 
particularly in Asia directly on the coast. 
Without future active coastal protection, 
this industry will be a major problem for the 
respective country.

Prefabricated concrete elements made of 
special UHPC concrete are ideal for effective, 
long-lasting coastal protection.
The elements can be made slim and light due 
to the enormous strength. They are easy to 
transport and assemble. They are extremely 
corrosion resistant and virtually repair-free. 
The expected lifetime far exceeds that of 
standard concrete elements.

Areas of application are

• Marine structures
• Coastal protection
• Quay construction
• Weir, dock and wharf construction
• Jetty construction

In many coastal industries seawater is used for 
process cooling. In steel or concrete pipes, the 
water is pumped directly from the sea into the 
corresponding production.

To ensure the necessary process cooling 
permanently, it is extremely important that the 
water supply is always constant. A reduction 
by the flow rate, for example, a reduction in the 
conveying cross section of the pipeline can 
result in the worst case to a stop in the production 
or cause damage to the system due to overheating.

In most cases, standard concrete qualities is used 
in the manufacture of concrete pipes.

These tubes have a rough and porous surface. 
Shells of all kinds can be very firmly and 
permanently anchor on the basis of porosity in the 
concrete structure. Especially pipes in cooling 
water or cooling water channels must regularly 
notify the mussel case be removed.

In the removal the firmly anchored mussel beds a 
part of the concrete surface is also always removed, 
which can cause the concrete reinforcement may 
corrode. The result is a time consuming and costly 
repairs to the existing concrete structure.

UHPC concrete has a compared to standard concrete 
extremely low porosity and a very high wear resistance. 
These characteristics make it is not possible to 
permanently anchor the shells in concrete. Removal of 
the mussel beds is quick and does not damage the 
concrete surface.

Standard concretes can effectively protected with a 
10 - 20 mm UHPC layer for a very long time.


www.hhbc-consulting.de
info@hhbc-consulting.de