A parks and recreation department used EdenCrete® in a new skateboard park to improve the rheology and finish, and the resistance to cracking, freeze/thaw, and abrasion.
The project required both ready—mix concrete and shotcrete due to the unique placement areas, inside and outside radii, coping, etc. Metro-Mix recommended two of their performance mixes containing EdenCrete® because the improved rheology would help with placement, finishing, and carving, reduce permeability, and to improve the concrete’s resistance to abrasion against friction from rolling wheels. Reduced permeability minimizes the ingress and freezing of water, and the presence of EdenCrete® makes a more robust mix that is less susceptible to cracking.
Skate(ramp) parks are essentially large pools designed with the intention of being regularly abused by the wheels of bicycles, skateboards, rollerblades, scooters, etc. They are not intended to store water, however, melting snow and water collect at the bottom and remain until it evaporates. During winter, if concrete is too permeable and water can enter the pore spaces and freeze, the expansion in volume will damage the concrete from the inside out. The challenge is durability, but not only against abrasion from wheels. It is also cracking from the ingress of moisture mixed with freezing temperatures that will shorten the service life for skateparks.
Shotcrete Containing EdenCrete® at ¼ gal/yd3
The ready-mix concrete was used to place the flatwork and shotcrete was used for the rounded sections and the coping. The carving of the rounded sections and the transition between the ready-mix and the shotcrete placements are seamless. The shotcrete was hard steel troweled after carving to produce an interesting finish.
A return visit to the site after several months revealed one crack to have developed in an area with a “challenging” outer-radius is located. The crack is not in an area where water could pool in freezing temperatures and seems to be caused by the joint detail. The concrete is performing well with no abrasion or cracking from freeze/thaw, and 99.9% of the park uncracked.
The project included 30 cubic yards of shotcrete dosed with EdenCrete® at ¼ gal/yd3, and 25 cubic yards of Liquid Carbon Fiber concrete dosed with EdenCrete at ½ gal/yd3.
