2/12/95

EPOXY INJECTION FOR CRACKED CONCRETE AND SPALL REPAIR

Part One - General
1.01 Description:

A. This specification is intended as a generic guideline for use in defining the requirements of Epoxy Adhesive Injection utilizing the pressure injection process and concrete spall repair.

1.02 Pre-Qualification:
A. All concrete repairs shall be performed by an trained applicator and experienced workmen. They shall have satisfactorily completed a program of instruction in the methods of restoring concrete structures utilizing the specific epoxy injection process indicated. The curriculum shall include theory on the nature and causes of cracking in concrete structures, the technical aspects of correct material selection and use, and the operation, maintenance and trouble shooting of equipment. B. The applicator shall submit for review by the Engineer, at least seven days prior to proceeding, a written description of the proposed epoxy materials, their acceptable approvals and the injection procedure. The list shall include the repair work proposed for each item. C. The work shall utilize an epoxy injection system approved in writing by the Engineer of Record. This approval shall be kept with the approved set of plans for the project. D. All preparation work shall be monitored by a Special/Deputy Inspector, approved by the Engineer and in the employ of the Owner or the Engineer as the Owners representative, but not the Contractor or any other persons or parties responsible for the work. All phases and stages must be approved by the Engineer and the Special/Deputy Inspector of Record before work may proceed.

I.03 Product Performance Criteria:

A. A notarized certificate of compliance from an approved independent testing laboratory that the proposed product meets or exceeds the Engineers specified performance criteria, tested in accordance with the specified test standard.

B. Documented proof that the proposed product has a five year proven record of performance of pressure injection grouting of cracks, confirmed by actual field tests and five successful installation that the Engineer can investigate.

Part Two - Materials and Equipment

2.01 Material for Surface sealing and Spall Repair:
A. Description - The surface seal material is that material used to confine the injection adhesive in the fissure during injection and cure. B. Properties - The surface seal material used shall have adequate strength to hold injection fittings firmly in place and to resist injection pressures adequately to prevent leakage during injection. C. Patching - Spall repair material approved by the Engineer shall be applied over the prepared surface per the manufacturers requirements.

2.02 Material for Injection:

A. Viscosity of injection epoxy shall be measured in centipoise units. One centipoise is equal to the viscosity of fresh water at 72F. at sea level. here structural cracks in existing concrete beams, columns, walls, or slabs are found and are less than 1/16 in or 20 mils width, the epoxy used shall be of a viscosity equal or lower than 200 centipoise. Follow Manufacturers preparation procedures and specifications at all times. B. Where access to structural cracks in existing concrete construction is limited to the injection face, use a higher viscosity epoxy gel as the crack filler. Follow manufacturers installation procedures and specifications at all times.

2.03 Surface Sealing and Porting Procedure:

A. Surface preparation and port installation procedures shall be performed in strict accordance with the manufacturers recommendations. B. Cracks, surfaces adjacent to cracks, or other areas of application shall be clean and sound. Remove dirt, dust, disintegrated materials,, grease, oil, efflorescence or other foreign matter detrimental to bond of epoxy by sand blasting or other approved mechanical means. Acids and corrosives shall not be permitted for cleaning. C. Injection ports shall be provided along the crack at intervals spaced at approximately the thickness of the concrete at that location. If both faces of the crack are accessible,

ports shall be spaced on the far side at half the spacing for members up to 10" in thickness. Members over 10" in thickness shall have ports at equal spacing on each face. D. Surface seal material shall be applied to the face of the crack between the entry ports. For through cracks, surface seal shall be applied to both faces if accessable. E. Enough time for the surface seal material to gain adequate strength shall pass before proceeding with the injection. Avoid unnecessary delays to maintain the competance of the cap seal.

2.04 Equipment for Injection:

A. Type - The equipment used to meter and mix the two injection adhesive components and inject the mixed adhesive into the crack shall be portable with interlock to provide positive ratio control of exact proportions of the two components at the nozzle. The pumps shall be electric or air powered and shall provide in-line metering and mixing. B. If bulk type pumps, using site mixed epoxies, are approved for use by the Engineer of Record, careful monitoring of the batch time is required to avoid premature gel. The manufacturers specifications shall be adhered to regarding gel times and temperatures. C. Discharge Pressure - The injection equipment shall have automatic pressure control capable of discharging the mixed adhesive at any pre-set pressure up to 160 5psi and shall be equipped with a manual pressure control override. D. Ratio Tolerance - The equipment, with the exception of bulk type pumps, shall have the capability of maintaining the volume ratio for the injection adhesive prescribed by the manufacturer of the adhesive within a tolerance of 5% by volume at any discharge pressure up to 160 psi. E. Automatic Shut-Off Control - The injection equipment shall be equipped with sensors on both the component A and B reservoirs that will automatically stop the machine when only one component is being pumped to the mixing head.

Part Three - Execution of Work

3.01 Preparation:

A. Enough time for the surface seal material to cure for adequate bond shall pass before proceeding with the injection..

B. So that an adequate number of Special/Deputy Inspectors be present, the Contractor shall notify the Engineer, 24 hours in advance, the number of injection crews scheduled for repair work. C. No pressure injection work shall proceed if the temperature of the existing concrete being repaired is less than 40 degree Fahrenheit.

3.02 Injection Inspection Procedures:

A. Gel Time Monitoring - At the start of each pumping procedure, a sample of the material shall be taken from the end of the injection nozzle of not less than 3 oz. The gel time shall be monitored. The material must begin to gel within the time proscribed by the material manufacturer. Work shall be halted if the gel time is exceeded and the Engineer of Record shall be notified before proceeding. B. Ratio Assurance- The Special/Deputy Inspector shall check the material ratios prior to the start of work each day, whenever additional materials are added and at any time the pump is shut off for cleaning before pumping again. This shall be done by removing the material lines and pumping a predetermined amount of not less than 2 oz. of the catalyst. The two samples shall be examined for conformance to the ratio specified by the manufacturer. Injection shall not proceed until the Special/Deputy Inspector approves the ratio. Proceduresi. For gear drive type pumps: 1.) Open caps on both A and B reservoirs to prevent vacuum collapse of the reservoirs. 2.) Inspect A and B reservoirs to assure they contain sufficient epoxy components. 3.) Visually inspect the pump unit for any epoxy leakage. 4.) Check to make sure the pumps shear keys are not broken. 5.) After purging the solvents from the static diffusion chamber, pump to 150 psi (against a closed nozzle control valve), or 75% of pump capacity, which ever is greater, and hold for 10 minutes. This checks to make sure that the pump is holding pressure. If pressure loss occurs, injection cannot proceed until leak is corrected. For piston type pumps the ratio check is a three stage procedure: 1.) With cabinet switch in the off position and resin supply under pressure, open the dispense line shut off cock and observe for ten minutes. If any flow occurs do not dispense. 2.) With cabinet switch in ON position, resin supply under pressure, and 0 pressure at cylinder pressure guage, open the dispense line shut off cock and observe for ten minutes. If any flow occurs do not dispense. 3.) With cabinet switch in the ON position and cylinder pressure guage at 0, disconnect material supply lines and insert male and female connectors for bypss of inlet quick connect check valves. With dispense line shut off cock closed, increase cylinder air pressure to 75 ii. C.

psi and watch for any resin flow back through the supply lines for 10 minutes. If any flow is present, do not dispense. On continuing projects, it is adequate to conduct the above tests once a week unless the equipment has been adjusted or any repairs affected, in which case the three stage testing shall be performed before work is re-started whenever mechanical adjustments or repairs have been completed. Nozzle or hose replacements shall not be considered criteria for requiring a three stage test.

D. The Special/Deputy Inspector of Record shall be present for continuous inspection of all epoxy injection. The Special/Deputy Inspector shall monitor the work and shall record the work procedure and materials to achieve the maximum results.

3.03 Injection Procedures:

A. For crack injection on horizontal orientation, injection shall begin at the ports located in the widest part of the crack and shall continue towards the smallest part of the crack. Work should not be halted on any crack until it is filled unless approved by the Special/Deputy Inspector. B. The Engineer shall be immediately notified if leakage or blowouts occur during the injection procedure. Re-occurring incidents shall cause the work to be stopped until released by the Engineer. C. Flow shall be maintained from port to port at a pressure and a speed that is consistent with proper filling of the crack. D. On beginning the procedure the initial ports shall be the injection port at the widest section of the crack with the successive ports capped off as the flow continues. Injection port location shall be changed because the epoxy in the crack has ceased migration as indicated by the crack refusal to accept for a minimum of 4 minutes or because the size of the crack has changed, necessitating a material alteration. E. On horizontal, overhead or slab cracks, the injection shall begin at the widest part of the crack as noted by the Special/Deputy Inspector during the monitoring of the preparation work. Lateral movement of the epoxy shall be followed or chased to the end of the particular crack being addressed with care taken not to allow the epoxy at the other end of the crack being injected to begin to gel. The injection ports being addressed at any one time may be multiples with the use of a manifold. These shall be carefully monitored. Injection on any one port shall continue until, a) the material has not cycled or pumped in no less than 4 minutes or, b) the lateral or vertical flow of the material is of such a distance and number of ports to warrant the repositioning of the injection location as determined by the Special Inspector. F. If port to port travel of epoxy adhesive is not indicated, the work shall immediately be stopped and the Engineer of Record be notified.

3.04 CMU Wall Cracks:

A. Remove all loose and/or spalled CMU face shells to expose the grout core and remove loose material in the grout core. B. C. Inject any cracks in the grout core. Repair the face shell using Spall Repair techniques re: Section 3.06.

3.05 Crack Repair Criteria:

A. cord. All cracks shall be repaired by epoxy injection as directed by the Engineer of Re-

3.06 Testing (Core testing shall only be with the approval of the Engineer of Record.
Note that coring may not be advisable under certain conditions and the requirement may be waived.) A. Cores shall be taken at locations designated by the Engineer or the Special/Deputy Inspector but not the Contractor or any other person responsible for the work. A core shall be defined as a 2 x member thickness core for samples in members 12 or less. Members greater than 12 in thickness shall be 12 or as required by the Engineer of Record in length. B. Three cores shall be taken for the first 100 linear ft. of crack repaired. These cores shall be reviewed by the Special/Deputy Inspector and the results submitted to the Engineer and the Owner for approval before continuing injection. C. During the course of the epoxy repair there shall be taken a minimum of one 2 core per 100 linear feet of repaired crack with a minimum of 1 per day. These cores shall be reviewed by the Special/Deputy Inspector and the results submitted to the Engineer and the Owner for approval before continuing injection. D. It is imperative that no reinforcing steel or tendons are cut when drilling cores. If rebar is encountered, abort the drilling procedure, remove the short core and relocate the coring procedure. E. The cores shall be handled carefully to avoid breakage and stored and transported in suitable containers. F. These cores shall be examined by the Special/Deputy Inspector for epoxy penetration of the cracks. If visual inspection shows that the minimum penetration requirements have been met and the results approved by the Engineer of Record and the Owner the core is considered to be satisfactory. If the penetration is considered inadequate, the core is considered a failure.

G. Satisfactory cores shall be demolished for further inspection. If no fracture occurs on a glue line, the core is acceptable. If a break occurs on a glue line, the core fragments shall be further inspected and/or tested to determine if the failure is attributable to improper metering or mixing of the resin. If so, the core shall be considered unsatisfactory and injection work shall be halted. H. The Engineer shall consider the failed cores and is required to develop a remedial injection procedure, the results of which shall be re-cored for re-examination. I. The core holes shall also be examined by the Special/Deputy Inspector and the core holes repacked with the continuous inspection of the Special/Deputy Inspector. The interior of the core hole shall be roughened by appropriate means to obtain a minimum surface profile of +/- 1/16 of exposed aggregate and packed with an approved non-shrink grout per manufacturers instructions and appropriate Research Report.

3.07 Spall Repair

A. All concrete spall repairs shall be performed by a trained applicator with proven experience with continuous inspection by a Special/Deputy Inspector approved by the Engineer. B. Manufacturers installation procedures and specifications must be adhered to at all times. Surface preparation shall be as recommended by the material manufacturer.