UHPC Liquid-tight constructions

Liquid-tight constructions are becoming increasingly important for the economy and insurance companies worldwide. 

In the past, industries such as refineries, seawater desalination plants, sewage treatment plants,
hydroelectric power plants, offshore industries, etc. were particularly interested. There is a huge range of sealing systems for concrete structures. Most systems are expensive, complex to install and do not have the same life expectancy as you would expect from the structure. So the sealants have to be applied several times, which in turn leads to problems and enormous
costs. For a few years now, there has been an increasing demand for coastal protection and especially flood protection structures that have to withstand the constant attack of moving seawater caused by high and low tides, but also by enormous wave movements.

Another growing problem is the rapid change in the climate and the ever-increasing amounts of rainfall that lead to inland flooding and, among other things, also flood residential buildings worldwide, which then have to be repaired in a time-consuming and costly manner. Concrete sealants are of limited or no help here.

One solution is concrete structures made of HPC or UHPC concrete. Here, waterproofing can already be achieved with a wall thickness of 10 - 15 mm. This concrete layer can be subsequently applied to any substrate in industry as well as in residential buildings. This is also possible in countries with predominantly natural material constructions.  
If the ground floor is completely built of HPC or UHPC or provided with a protective layer, no flood water, which is usually also dirty water, can penetrate into the building structure. 

After the floodwater has disappeared, the walls and floor can be cleaned with locally available cleaning machines such as high-pressure water jets, after which this area is immediately habitable again.

In industry, a UHPC layer can completely prevent or hold back breakthroughs for a very long time in the event of liquid attack from the outside, i.e. from floodwater masses, or from the inside in the event of ruptures or leaks in liquid tanks.

Sewage treatment plants can be constructed directly from HPC or UHPC, or they can be retrofitted after prior inspection of the building structure. The same applies to biotank systems for the production of biogas.

WPE DK International

Phone: 0049 176 601 73146
E-mail: info@wpe-dk.dk
Homepage: www.wpe-dk.com

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