Dams

The choice of materials and mix designs are important in the construction of dams. Thermal stress resulting from the pouring of mass concrete, hydrostatic water pressure, and seismic forces are all elements that need to be carefully studied. Holderchem offers a comprehensive range of products to achieve highly durable concrete with extended workability, increased setting time, reduced permeability, and high performance for successfully constructing dams and other performance-critical projects. Solutions offered include admixtures for High-Performance Concrete (HPC), Roller Compacted Concrete (RCC), and Shotcrete as well as silica fume, waterproofing, concrete-protection and repair, sealing, bonding and steel protection, flooring, and roofing products.

RCC dams are made of composite construction materials with no-slump consistency in their unhardened state. RCC is made from a mix of cement/fly ash/silica fume/slag, water, sand, coarse aggregate, and common additives, but contains much less water compared to conventional concrete. This kind of dry concrete is able to support a vibratory roller, in its unhardened state, during the compaction. The usage of low cement content and pozzolanic material causes less heat generation while curing compared to conventional concrete. RCC dams are usually built-in thin, horizontal lifts resulting in rapid construction.

BATIMIX Concrete admixtures include high and medium-range water reducers and water-reducing and plasticizing chemicals, air-entrainers to increase frost and freeze/thaw resistance particularly for dams exposed to extreme and fluctuating climates, and curing agents to enhance durability. It also includes viscosity modifiers to achieve highly workable shotcrete with improved rheology and pumpability, and corrosion inhibiting admixtures to prevent the corrosion of steel reinforcements.

Silica fume, which reacts with the free lime in concrete to form calcium-silicate hydrates (CSH) is often used in dam mass concrete projects to achieve strength, yielding a reduced cement content and thus lower heat of hydration. The pozzolanic reaction begins once the reaction between the cement and water has started achieving a stronger and denser matrix exhibiting increased properties of resistance against chlorides, sulfates, acids, abrasion, frost attack, and destructive alkali-silica reactions than standard concrete.

Concrete dams are usually built in large blocks divided by transverse joints perpendicular to the dam axis that are grouted after the concrete has cooled, to make the construction more convenient and reduce thermal stress. Waterstops and grouting products are used in joint solutions as well as for grouting applications around foundations, to fill voids and cavities in the hardened concrete, and for embedding drainage pipes. Epoxy adhesives as used to very effectively bond concrete elements together and provide a watertight seal. Concrete constructions of spillways and intake structures include in addition to various types of water reducers, special polypropylene fibers to reduce shrinkage cracking and improve concrete performance and durability.

Holderchem construction solutions of interest include the following:

• Mass Concrete with Reduced Heat of Hydration[Visit: https://holderchem.net/solution/sln-mass-concrete-with-reduced-heat-of-hydration]
• Roller Compacted Concrete[Visit: https://holderchem.net/solution/sln-roller-compacted-concrete]
• Watertight Concrete[Visit: https://holderchem.net/solution/sln-watertight-concrete]
• Concrete and Metal Protection[Visit: https://holderchem.net/solution/sln-concrete-and-metal-protection]
• Repair and Protection[Visit: https://holderchem.net/solution/sln-concrete-repair-and-protection]
• Joint Sealing[Visit: https://holderchem.net/solution/sln-joint-sealing]
• Industrial Floors[Visit: https://holderchem.net/solution/sln-industrial-floors]
• Waterproofing[Visit: https://holderchem.net/solution/sln-waterproofing]