2008 ICRI Project of the Year Utilizes Ebonex® Anodes
The Restoration of Arkwright House was selected by the International Concrete Repair Institute (ICRI) as 2008 Project of the Year. This building is a historic landmark in central Manchester, UK, was saved following a unique $9 million repair project completed in 1998 after a 24-month restoration period. The project was submitted in the Longevity category.
The now 81-year-old Grade 2 listed building had been suffering from corrosion of the building’s steel frame. In 1997/8 the building received a $9M facelift to repair masonry and utilized Ebonex anodes to provide impressed current cathodic protection (ICCP) to the structural steel frame. The cathodic protection system has been continuously monitored remotely for over ten years. (read more).
FDR Drive Rehabilitation: New York Construction Magazine, Best of 2004 “Project of the Year”
Rehabilitating a major thoroughfare in New York City is not a minor event. The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Drive, also knows as East River Drive, carries up to 150,000 vehicles daily along the east side of Manhattan. Built as part of the FDR’s New Deal Program, the FDR Dr. structure from 54th to 63rd was showing signs of age including severe concrete deterioration and extensive water leakage, and was in need of seismic upgrades.
Closing this major traffic artery during rehabilitation was not an option. Therefore, to minimize disruption to the public, the $136 million project required a half-mile outboard detour to be built over the East River from 53rd to 60th streets. This temporary detour will stay in place during the duration of the rehabilitation project which is scheduled to be completed in 2007.
This project was recognized by New York Construction magazine as its Project of the Year for 2004 for ingenuity and innovative engineering.
With the major investment being made to rehabilitate the structure, the New York State DOT was searching for a long-term fix to mitigate on-going corrosion of the reinforced concrete retaining wall which was to remain in place. Their answer was Electrochemical Chloride Extraction, deemed to be one of the most promising technologies to come out of the Strategic Highway Research Program authorized by Congress in 1987. After the damaged concrete sections are repaired, approximately 9,000 ft2 of the reinforced concrete is being electrochemically treated using the Norcure® Chloride Extraction (ECE) process.
Norcure ECE is a temporary electrical treatment that addresses on-going corrosion activity and mitigates future corrosion. By applying a temporary electric field to reinforced concrete, aggressive chloride ions are drawn away from the reinforcing steel. This process also increases the alkalinity of the concrete around the steel thus rebuilding the steel’s natural corrosion-resistant barrier. The ECE process is to be followed by application of a FRP (Fiber Reinforced Polymer) strengthening system to complete the seismic retrofit of the retaining wall. By electrochemically treating the wall, corrosion activity beneath the FRP strengthening system will be minimized thus extending the life of the overall repair.
Additionally, Vector® Galvashield® XP embedded galvanic anodes were used to help mitigate corrosion in the areas surrounding all patch repairs in the roof structure and retaining wall. Galvashield XP consists of a sacrificial zinc core encapsulated in a specially formulated mortar, and is quickly and easily attached to exposed reinforcing steel. Once installed, the zinc core corrodes preferentially to the surrounding rebar, thereby providing galvanic corrosion prevention to the adjacent reinforcing steel.
Vector Receives Sustainable Development Award of Excellence, 2002
Vector Corrosion Technologies is pleased to be the recipient of the 2002 Sustainable Development Award of Excellence for Galvashield® technology in the Research & Development category. This award is in recognition of Galvashield® Embedded Anodes as an economical means to sustain the integrity of concrete structures, while maintaining the principals and guidelines of sustainable development.
The Sustainable Development Awards of Excellence Program was established in 1991 to recognize Manitobans who embrace the spirit and principles of sustainable development though various projects or ideas. The Awards recognize and honour those people, projects, and ideas that successfully translate the principles and guidelines of sustainable development into concrete and lasting achievements.
Sustainable development is an approach to daily decision-making that integrates probable consequences to the environment, the economy and human health and social well-being. The U.N. Commission described sustainable development as paths of environmental, economic, social and political progress that “…meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.
