Types of repairs:

• Structural Lifting and Supporting

• Shotcreting

• Concrete Patch Repair

• Epoxy Injections for Structural Cracks

Structural Lifting and Supporting

Mechanical lifting of settled grade slabs or in some cases, even a part or whole of the main structure
itself and supporting them in the lifted position by means of piles or pressure grouting.

Equipments for lifting:

1. A set of hydraulic jacks with pumps and

accessories.

2. Lifting frames and accessories.

3. Dywidag bars with anchoring systems.

Procedure:

1. Drill holes and construct the piles to suite the design load.

2. Support the lifting frames on the constructed piles using temporary stools.

3. Anchor the Dywidag bars to the slab to be lifted and connected the Dywidag bars to the lifting
frame.

4. Lift the frame against the constructed piles by means of hydraulic jacks in between them.

5. The lifting of the frame will enable the slab also to be lifted, adjust the slab to the required level.

6. Remove the jacks and lifting frame one by one, by connecting the lifted slab to the pile permanently.

Advantages:

1. No excavation is required.

2. Grade slab's capacities are upgraded with

minimum disruption.

3. Disruption to floor finishes is minimal.

4. Fast operation when compared with all other

available methods.

5. Cost effective in saving the structure.

 Shotcreting

The process of repairing the concrete affected by reinforcement corrosion or other deterioration and to
strengthen any structural elements by a mixture of cement, aggregate and water, with or without
admixtures, which are projected at high velocity from a nozzle in to place as a continuous stream
without interruption. Compaction to produce a dense homogenous mass is achieved by the mixture's
own velocity.
Dry Process:

• In this method, the cement and aggregate are batched and mixed without added water, and
fed into the delivery gun. The machine feeds a continuous and even amount of mixed material
under high air pressure into a high velocity stream of dry air in the flexible delivery hose. Water
is introduced as a spray at a special nozzle at the discharge end.

Wet Process:

• In this method, conventional concrete or grout pumping equipment is generally used. A suitable
mix is pumped to the discharge nozzle along a flexible delivery hose. An additional air supply is
introduced at the discharge nozzle, to speed up the flow and impart sufficient velocity so that
the material is compacted on impact.

• Fields of Application:

• 1. Repair of large areas of concrete deteriorated due to reinforcement corrosion or other

reasons.
 • 2. Strengthening of existing concrete columns, beams and slabs by increasing the concrete
sectional area by the application of shotcreting and by increasing the steel.

• 3. Construction of structures with complex shapes, where the preparation of shuttering is

PATCHING IN CONCRETE

the technique for patching cracks will depend on the size of the crack.

Narrow Cracks
 Remove any loose debris from the crack and surrounding area with a wire brush and broom.
 Narrow cracks can be filled with a masonry crack filler that comes in a cartridge designed to be used
in a caulking gun. Or you can fill the cracks with a vinyl concrete patching compound applied and
smoothed with a putty knife.
Wide Cracks
 Use a small sledge hammer and chisel to undercut the edges of the crack. Undercutting the crack
makes it wider at the base than at the surface, providing a mechanical method of "keying" the patch
in place for a more secure and permanent repair.
 Clean the area in and around the crack with a wire brush and broom. Wash the area with a stream of
water.
 Mix vinyl patching compound and trowel the compound into the cracks. Tamp the mixture to remove
air pockets. If you use patching mortar instead of vinyl patching compound, either mix it with bonding
agent instead of water or coat the edges of the surface to be repaired with bonding agent.
 Smooth the mixture with the trowel.
 When the patch has set smooth or brush the surface to match the surrounding area.
Epoxy Injections for Structural Cracks
The best way to repair a concrete crack in a foundation wall is
by injecting it from the inside. The repair is quick and is
therefore inexpensive. Injection ports are attached to the
surface and a paste is applied over the crack surface. This
cures and forms a strong seal to hold the injected epoxy in
place. Then the liquid epoxy or polyurethane resin is injected
into the crack. Once inside the crack, the soil on the exterior
and the surface paste on the interior holds the liquids in place
as they react. And then the repair is complete
Causes of FAILURE IN CONCRETE
Overloading
The cross section of concrete is designed with both calculated and estimated loads, determined from
building codes. Design includes such factors as the strength of the concrete, the number, sizing, and
placement of reinforcing bars, and size and shape of the concrete cross section. When a structure is
overloaded to the extent not covered in safety factors, concrete may be damaged or fail. Overloading may
be in shear, flexure, or tension, or may be a result of fatigue or cyclic loading

Corrosion
Corrosion of the reinforcing steel in concrete can be a major structural issue. Under normal conditions,
the pH level of concrete is high (above 12.5). The high pH of concrete allows an inactive layer of ferric
oxide to form around the reinforcement, preventing rust (Khan 2006, p. 14).
There are two major causes of corrosion in the reinforcing steel: chloride penetration and carbonation.
 Process of carbonation [Image Credit: Robert Pirro]

: Process of chloride penetration [Image Credit: Robert Pirro]

Corrosion is not the only source of failure. Many other sources cause
deterioration on reinforced concrete structures; this must be kept in mind
and understood well when an inspection is undertaken. These sources of
failure include:

• Unsuitable materials

• Unsound aggregate

• Reactive aggregate

• Contaminated aggregate

• Using the wrong type of cement

• Cement manufacturer error

• Wrong type of admixture

• Substandard admixture

• Contaminated admixture

• Organically contaminated water

• Chemically contaminated water

• Wrong kind of reinforcement

• Size error of steel bars

• Improper workmanship

• Faulty design

• Incorrect concrete mixture (low or high cement content and incorrect

admixture dosage)

• Unstable formwork

• Misplaced reinforcement

• Error in handling and placing concrete (segregation, bad placing, and

inadequate compacting)

• curing incomplete

• Environmental factors

• Soil alkali

• Seawater or sewage

• Acid industry

• freezing and thawing

 • Structural factors

• Load exceeding design

• Accident as ballast load or dropped object

• Earthquake load

pressure grouting
pressure grouting involves injecting a grout material into generally isolated pore or void space of
which neither the configuration or volume are known, and is often referred to simply as grouting

The purpose of grouting can be either to strengthen or reduce water flow through a formation. It is
also used to correct faults in concrete and masonry structures

Grouting is a method of filling up and repair of cracks in concrete.

Grouting Procedure for Repair of Cracks in Concrete

Structures:
 Holes are drilled in structure along cracks and in an around hollow spots.
 G.I. pieces (12 to 20mm dia x 200mm) with one end threaded or PVC
nozzles are fixed in the holes with rich cement mortar.
 All the cracks are cut open to a ‘V’ shaped groove, cleaned & sealed with rich
cement mortar around G.I pipes.
 All the grout holes should be sluiced with water using the same
equipment a day before grouting as per following sequence; so as to
saturate the masonry.

All holes are first plugged with proper wooden plugs or locked in the
case of PVC nozzles. The bottom most plug and the two adjacent
plugs are removed and water injected in the bottom most hole
under pressure.

When the clear water comes out through the adjacent holes the
injection of water is stopped and the plugs in the
bottom most hole and the one immediately above are restored.
The process of grouting of concrete cracks
is repeated with other holes till all the holes are
covered. On the day of grouting all the plugs are removed to drain
out excess water and restored before commencing grouting.

After grouting, curing should be done for14 days. Tell tales are provided for
checking the effectiveness of grouting.

Fig: Grouting Procedure for Concrete Cracks Repair