SDMCET DHARWAD
UNDERWATER CONCRETING
ANUP SHIRHATTI SHIVARANJAN PATIL
LOGO
LOGO
Introduction
Placing concrete under water and also in
very deep foundations, such as caissons,
requires different methods than ordinarily
employed for placing in air. Competent
supervision is of primary importance.
Failures, especially of concrete in
seawater, are sometimes traceable to lack
of such bad supervision and to violation of
the proper procedures.
LOGO
Different techniques
Placing Under Water, the following
methods have been used for placing
concrete under water:
1. Tremie
2. Bucket
3. Grouted aggregate
4. Sacked concrete
5. Concrete pump
LOGO
Tremie
The tremie consists of a watertight pipe,
often 10 in. in diameter, long enough to
reach from a working platform above water
level to the lowest point of deposit. A
receiving hopper is provided at the top of
the pipe and the lower end is sometimes
equipped with a valve. By far the largest
volume of concrete placed under water
has been done with tremies.
LOGO
TREMIE
LOGO
LOGO
TREMIE
Concrete should not be placed in water having a
temperature below 35 deg. F. because it will harden very
slowly, and when the water temperature is below 45 deg.
F., the temperature of the concrete when deposited
should be between 60 and 80 deg. F. Care should be
exercised not to have the initial temperature of the
concrete too high because tests show that the strength
of concrete is impaired if made much above 80 deg. For
placing with a tremie, the concrete should be workable
and cohesive but should have good flow-ability. This
requires a fairly high slump, usually 6 or 7 in
LOGO
TREMIE
Specifications usually require that
cofferdams or forms be sufficiently tight to
reduce the flow or current of water to less
than 10 ft. per minute through the space to
be concreted with tremies. Pumping of
water is not permitted while concrete is
being placed, nor until 24 hours thereafter.
LOGO
TREMIE
A richer mix than generally used for placing
under normal conditions is required; usually
the he activities of the Portland Cement
Association are limited to Scientific
research, the development of new or
improved products and methods, technical
service, promotion and educational effort
(including safety work), and are primarily
designed to improve and extend the uses of
Portland cement and concrete.
LOGO
TREMIE
Tremie concrete
aggregate : size 1.5 inches to 0.375 inch
ROUNDED aggregates are
preferred.
Fine aggregate: 42-45% fine sand
Cement-7-8 sacks/cu yard
Wc ratio -0.45 or less
pozzolons-15% of cement
LOGO
precautions
Every precaution must be taken both in handling and
placing the concrete to reduce to a minimum the tendency
to segregate.
During the placing operation the previously placed concrete
should be disturbed as little as possible and the top surface
of the concrete should be kept as near level as practicable.
Once concreting has been started, the tremie should not be
moved laterally through the deposited concrete as this will
disturb it. When necessary to shift the position of the
tremie, it should be lifted out of the concrete and moved to
the new position.
When large quantities of concrete are required to be placed
over an extensive area, it is advisable to use a number of
tremies.
LOGO
LOGO
LOGO
Bucket
The bucket for placing concrete under water is an open-
top rectangular or cylindrical bucket with the concrete for
placing by bucket should be much the same as that for
tremie placing although a slightly stiffer mix can be used.
The bucket should be completely filled and the top
covered with a canvas flap. The bucket should be lowered
gently into the water until it is completely submerged so
that eddy currents will not displace the canvas or wash the
top surface of concrete as it is being lowered. Care must
be taken also to prevent discharging the bucket before it
has reached the surface on which the concrete is to be
deposited, thereby avoiding dropping it through water.
Soundings at frequent intervals are desirable to assist in
placing so that the top surface of the concrete is kept level.
LOGO
Grouted concrete
A third method is the placing of coarse
aggregate in the forms, then injecting cement
grout through pipes which extend to the bottom
of the forms. The pipes are withdrawn as
grouting proceeds. The grout forces the water
out of the forms and fills interstices in the
aggregate. This method has been used very
little but would seem to have considerable
promise. The grout can be mixed and placed in
much the same manner as used in grouting rock
formations except that, in general, a somewhat
thicker grout is desirable.
LOGO
Sacked concrete
In the sacked-concrete method a stiff mix of con
crete is placed in jute or other coarse cloth
sacks. The sacks have at least 1-cu.ft. capacity
and are filled about two-thirds full with concrete
and securely tied. They are then placed carefully
in header-and-stretcher courses so that the
whole mass is interlocked. Sacks used for this
purpose should be free from deleterious
materials. This method has given way to the
tremie and bucket methods or to placing within
dewatered caissons
LOGO
UNDERWATER SETTING CEMENT
A NUMBER OF PROPRIETARY
CEMENTS HAVE BEEN SPECIALIZED
TO SET RAPIDLY IN WATER.THESE
ARE MIXED IN SMALL BATCHES AND
ARE KEPT INTO THE POSITION BY
DIVERS.
LOGO
CONCLUSION
High quality concrete can be constructed
underwater, provided the required
engineering and construction techniques
are exactly followed .With care, the
resultant concrete structures. Can have
strengths and durability equal to those
obtained in the dry conditions if
carelessness in concreting and placement
techniques are violated it may lead to
damages whose cost will be excessive.
LOGO
