Axim Develops SCC Mix for Cleveland's Water Treatment Holding Tank

Project:
Cleveland's Morgan Water  Treatment Facility, $47 million expansion

Structural Engineer: 
URS Consultants

Site Project Manager: 
Montgomery Watson Harza

General Contractor: 
Great Lakes Construction Co.

Concrete Producer: 
Collinwood Shale Brick & Supply Co.

Products:
CATEXOL A.E. 260
DURAFLUX 33
STOP-SET L

Situation:
A city's water system is critical for its stability and growth. That's why Cleveland's (OH) Division of Water embarked upon a Plant Enhancement Program to modernize its water works plants. Construction of a new finished water pumping station on the shore of Lake Erie was planned to replace outdated facilities.

A five-million gallon filtered water reservoir was demolished to construct the new pumping station within the same footprint. The project included demolition of the existing high service pumping station and construction of a new 15-million gallon, reservoir to occupy the location of the demolished pumping station.

Challenge:
The challenge was to design and build a 15-million gallon pour-in-place concrete reservoir on the mucky and unstable ground adjacent to Lake Erie. The design called for incredibly durable concrete that needed to be placed in a complex and dense web of steel rebar. The engineer and general contractor turned to Axim and Collinwood Concrete to develop a SCC mix design that met their project's high specifications.

Solution:
Collinwood's approved mix for the tanks was optimized using Axim's SCCZone.com—an online mix design software—and included 648 lbs. of Portland cement, 1,374 lbs. of natural sand, a blend of (778 lbs. of No. 8 and 733 lbs. of No. 57) coarse aggregate and 4 to 7 percent entrained air, per cubic yard.  The highly flowable, yet very cohesive, concrete mix was fluidized to a slump flow of 26 inches using Axim's DURAFLUX 33.

With 27,000 total yards delivered to the job site, every truck was tested for spread and every second truck was tested for air content.  During the over year-long project, not one truck was rejected for being out side of the job specifications. Axim and Collinwood were also able to obtain the specified 28-day strengths in just seven days.

Highlights:
Use of the SCC almost eliminated need for vibrators on this project and it reduced the amount of rubbing after form stripping by almost 100 percent.  By installing sensors in the forms during their assembly, the contractor was able to monitor head pressures during concrete placement, so they can fill the forms quickly, but safely.

Click here to view a video of the project.

Download Windows Media Player to view Axim Concrete videos.