Due to its numerous benefits, shotcrete has recently captured the hearts of concrete contractors everywhere. Concrete contractors currently use the shotcrete technique to finish all such projects, whether they involve retaining walls, foundation walls, swimming pools, or tunnels.
Shotcrete is a fantastic tool for quick structural stabilization and support as well as for concrete applications without the need for moulds. Man, machine, and concrete come together to create shotcrete, often known as “sprayed concrete.”
With space at a premium and mobility expanding quickly, underground infrastructure is becoming increasingly necessary. Shotcrete that is acquired by professional concrete contractors play a crucial role in meeting standards. This blog post describes the applications of shotcrete, its fundamental benefits over conventional concreting processes, and its uses.
The Applications Of Shotcrete
Shotcrete technology is used to expedite and simplify operations in areas where adjustments may be necessary or where improved architectural effects are desired. Moreover, they are used to make infrastructure and aesthetically pleasing structures such as swimming pools.
Also read: Perks Of Building And Repairing Swimming Pools With Concrete
Early-aged shotcrete technical characteristics, such as its compressive strength and elastic modulus, had a significant impact. They affected the safety of tunnel construction, canal lining, and building construction during the construction phase.
In a variety of applications, shotcrete excels where conventional concrete fails because of its high workability, compressive strength, and bonding.
Repair: Because shotcrete offers a better surface finish, it can be used to repair damaged steel, wood, or concrete surfaces. There are a few instances that show how shotcrete is used in repair work:
Bridges: Although shotcrete can be quite expensive for full-thickness restoration, it is likely to be employed for bridge deck rehabilitation. From a technical standpoint, it is suitable for beam repairs of varying depths, caps, columns, abutments, wing walls, and beneath decks.
Buildings: Shotcrete is frequently used to reinforce walls, encase structural steel for fireproofing, and restore damage to structures caused by fire, earthquakes, and other degradation.
Marine: The majority of damages to marine constructions were caused by the deterioration of the concrete and reinforcing. Damages are mostly caused by steel corrosion, freezing and thawing action, abrasion, impact loading, structural distress, abrasion from wave action, gravel, sand, and floating ice, as well as chemical attacks in the presence of sulfates. Shotcrete treatment is frequently employed for these damages’ brief outages.
Spillways: The surface of spillways is exposed to high-velocity flows, which cause cavitation, erosion, or abrasion.
The Benefits Of Shotcrete
The following are some of the benefits of shotcreting over traditional concreting that show why this method should be employed in concrete construction:
- In limited locations that are some distance from the access point, sprayed concrete, also known as shotcreting, is simply applied. Concrete mix can be carried up to a great distance from the production site using this procedure.
- The shotcrete that is being used is a durable, structurally robust material that can form a great bond with steel, concrete, masonry, and other materials. In comparison to other concrete, the water-cement ratio used in the shotcrete process typically ranges from 0.35 to 0.5 by mass. According to reports, the compressive strength is between 20 and 50 N/mm2.
- Shotcrete typically shrinks between 6 and 10% when dried. Shotcrete offers excellent durability in testing facilities and outdoor conditions.
- The primary benefit of shotcrete over other types of ordinary concrete is that it can be used for both new building and repair operations.
- It reduces the need for manpower.
- Economically powerful as compared to conventional concrete.
- Cost-effective for rehabilitation and repair work.
- While shotcrete isn’t always the quickest way to pour concrete, it does speed up the process if there are thin portions and huge regions. It can be used to make structures like
- tanks and a pool
- Shotcrete walls and floors
- shotcrete domes
About SprayForce Concrete
SprayForce Concrete is a COR-certified and BBB – A+ accredited concrete contractor company. We have many years of experience in the field. We at SprayForce Concrete have a team of ACI-certified nozzlemen with more than ten years of experience in the shotcrete industry. Our experienced team provides structural shotcrete, architectural, soil retention, and infrastructure services. Contact us today for more information.