UK structural resilience specialist company, C-Probe, is proud to announce that they have won their biggest impressed current cathodic protection (ICCP) contract to date with the award of the sub-contract to design, supply, support, test, commission and operate the system to restore and protect the podium structures at Concourse Village Plaza, located in The Bronx in New York City.
This multi-million dollar contract involves C-Probe providing its low carbon corrosion protection anode, monitoring and management system products to protect the reinforced concrete decks, beams, walls, and columns of the structure from corrosion as well as remotely control and monitor this for years to come.
They will be working with specialty restoration contractors Infrastructure Repair Services, Inc (IRS) who will repair and upgrade the structure as well as install the ICCP system, and the owner’s structural engineering firm, Simpson, Gumpertz and Heger (SGH) who will oversee the project. Mott MacDonald – Materials and Corrosion Technology Division – is on board with C-Probe for the design of the protection system.
Concourse Village Plaza houses apartment blocks, retail shops, a multiplex cinema and underground parking. Environmental impact of chloride ingress and weathering has taken its toll on the structure with cracking and spalling of the concrete cover from reinforcement corrosion necessitating significant concrete repair in conjunction with futureproofing with ICCP.
(Above: Concourse Village Plaza in the Bronx, NYC)
An effective corrosion protection and repair strategy is designed to protect the structure for decades to come and preserve its embodied carbon as an extension to its service life without needing repetitive repairs over time.
C-Probe’s low carbon alkali-activated cementitious material (AACM geopolymer) innovation, LoCem®, will be a key aspect of this restoration project. LoCem® is specifically formulated to act as an ICCP anode cement which, when activated forms a bonded hardened mortar allows a small dc electrical current to pass through the concrete cover to the steel reinforcement, providing whole life control of corrosion.
LoCem® binders as repair, protection and build materials are a sustainable alternative to traditional cements, as it is manufactured from industrial waste by-products with no heat blending production offering over 90% CO2e saving compared to CEM I. LoCem® will be used at Concourse in the form of +chase®, specifically used for reinforced concrete structures, where the ICCP anode mortar operates within slots cut and holes drilled strategically into the reinforced concrete structural elements.
Embeddable corrosion rate probes will also be installed for ongoing monitoring and data provision to make control decisions remotely (AchillesICP), meaning the client will receive transparent data of corrosion activity, proof of performance of the installed system and service life tracking of the structure. C-Probe has also committed to monitoring the structure through their online management and reporting facility, AiMS, for at least the next 10 years, which will be invaluable for retaining asset value and making proactive maintenance decisions when needed.
(Left: LoCem® +chase® installed in a popular retail parking structure in Edinburgh, Scotland.)
With the design of the Central podium completed, construction will begin in 2023 before moving to the West and East podiums. The project and is expected to go on for the next 2.5 years.
The result of the project will be an Environmental Social Governance (ESG) compliant strategy that will create a more resilient structure, utilising low carbon build materials that can control the impact of corrosion.
LoCem® is an award-winning product has been used previously in restoration projects such as 230 Park Avenue (The Helmsley Building) in NYC (Lucy G Moses Preservation award with
Thornton Tomasetti), Terry’s Chocolate Factory in York, UK (Research, Innovation, Sustainability and Engineering – RISE award), The Commerce Bank in Kansas City (ICRI Sustainability Award and Fiatech CETI with Mott MacDonald) as well as The Best Use of Emerging Technology at the Building Innovation Awards.
(Right: Example of the structural corrosion within The Helmsley Building in NYC, which C-Probe protected in 2019.)
The technology has also been used in heritage steelframe buildings as LoCem® +point® repointing mortar with LoCem® HLM (heritage lime mortar) infill and various bridges, mining and parking structures as C-Puck® galvanic anodes with LoCem® CPM (conductive packing mortar), +chase® and +shot® products, all of which are protected successfully and sustainably.
If you’re interested in learning more about our restoration offerings and how LoCem® could benefit your project, please contact cwalker@c-probe.com or fill out the contact box below.
