CONCRETE Advice
CONCRETE ADVICE No. 26
Reinforced concrete bund
structures
Deryk Simpson, BSc CEng MICE
Bund structures around storage tanks are often required at industrial premises
to contain the contents of the tanks in case they leak or rupture. In many cases
these bunds will be constructed of insitu reinforced concrete. This document
provides guidance on the design of bund structures in in-situ reinforced concrete.
1 Definition
The term bund structure in this document
refers the walls and floor around and under
a tank or tanks, which form an open box
structure to contain the accidental emptying
of the tank or tanks. Bund structures should
as a minimum be designed to have volume
of 110% of that of the maximum of the
storage tank(s) within the bund. The bund
structure must contain the spilled liquid
until such time as the liquid can be safely
removed.
2 Design considerations
Designers should appreciate that bund
structures are generally provided to deal
with catastrophic events only, e.g. the tank
bursting, and so in normal service, the bund
structure is effectively redundant and it will
never actually be subject to its full design
conditions. The limit state of design could,
therefore, be regarded as accidental or
catastrophic loading, not long term normal
service loading. If a tank does burst and the
bund structure is filled, the liquid will
normally be quickly removed, especially if
it is hazardous to health or the environment.
The nature of the stored liquid should be
provided by the client, as the designer will
need to know if the stored liquid is aggressive
to concrete or if it is hazardous to health
and/or the environment. In either case it is
very important that the bund structure
contains the liquid and that leakage through
the bund structure and/or through any
drainage system is prevented.
The main factor in the bund structure design
will be accidental leakage or rupture of the
tank(s), but the designer also needs to assess
the risk of spillage within the bund structure.
The presence of pipe-work, pumps or filling
points around the tank increases the risk of
spillage. The risk of frequent spillages affects
the design of any drainage and the possible
protection of the concrete from stored
aggressive chemicals.
3 Design
Ideally bund structures should be of
monolithic construction with all joints being
construction joints and fully tied with the
reinforcement passing through them. Move-
ment joints should be avoided wherever
possible due to a potential risk of leakage.
However, if the individual bund structure is large or is a
multi-cellular bund structure some movement joints may
be unavoidable. Where they are provided considerable
care will be needed in their design, the materials used for
filling the joint and execution. If the bund is to be coated,
a bridging detail will be necessary to enable the movement
to be accommodated without damage to the coating.
Theoretically, bund structures should be designed as
liquid retaining structures to the requirements of BS
8007(1). However the design recommendations in BS
8007 are intended for structures that contain (or exclude)
liquid in their normal service conditions, where leakage
has to be kept to an absolute minimum. As a bund
structure does not retain liquids in its normal service
condition, it could be argued that design to BS 8007 is
not necessary or economic, i.e. a design crack width of
0.2mm is not required for bund structures. Bund structures
could be designed using the provisions of BS 8110(2), and
designed for a design crack width of 0.3mm. Although a
0.3mm crack width could possibly allow seepage in the
long term, short term seepage is unlikely given the
limited time the liquid will be retained.
Designing bund structures to the provisions of BS 8110,
rather than BS 8007 could give construction economies.
Generally the elements should be adequately reinforced
to give a maximum design crack width of 0.3mm, but
there may be a few cases where a narrower design crack
width is required to reduce further the risk of even very
minor seepage through the structure, particularly where
the stored liquid is very detrimental to the environment.
CIRIA Report 91(3) should be used for the calculations
for cracking due to restrained contraction, rather than BS
8007, as the structure will not be wet and there is adequate
provision in the calculations for drying shrinkage strains.
Structurally the bund should be designed in accordance
with the recommendations of BS 8110. Notwithstanding
the results of any structural or crack control calculations
it is suggested that bund elements contain a minimum
reinforcement percentage of 0.25% of the gross concrete
cross sectional area in two directions at right angles in
each face.
The bund structure should be ‘buildable’’, with elements
that are straightforward in shape and easy to construct.
Very thin walls should be avoided as they can be difficult
to construct.
4 Drainage
The drainage of the bund structure will need to be
addressed. If external, it will fill up with rainwater, and a
way of removing the build up of rainwater should be
provided. The capacity of the bund structure will be
reduced if it is partly full of rainwater. How, when and
where the bund structure is drained will depend on the
nature of the stored liquids and the drainage system
employed.
5 Concrete
The durability requirements given in BS 8500(4) should
be used for the specification of the concrete and the
detailing of the reinforcement cover. It is suggested that
as a minimum the specification for the concrete should
be: C28/35 strength class; a maximum water cement
ratio 0.55; and a minimum cement content of 325 kg/m3.
The nominal cover to reinforcement should also be at
least 35mm. Lower water cement ratios and higher
minimum cement contents may be required to meet
particular exposure conditions.
6 Aggressive chemicals
In some cases the stored liquid may be aggressive (e.g.
an acid) and could attack the surface of unprotected
concrete. However in many of these cases it will not be
necessary to protect all or part of the concrete surfaces
from the aggressive liquid due to the limited time
contained within the bund structure.
As the filling of the bund by the aggressive liquid is not
the normal service condition, but an exceptional accidental
condition, there is generally no need to protect all the
internal concrete faces from the aggressive liquid.
The type of any protective coating required will depend
on the nature of the stored liquid. Any coating used will
also need to be suitable for application to concrete and,
where necessary, be able to bridge joints and fine cracks
and be compatible with the bund structure exposure
conditions. If no overall protective coating (render, liquid
applied, tiles) is provided it may be prudent to provide
additional reinforcement cover on the internal faces to
allow for the (albeit small) probability of surface damage
or erosion if the tank(s) were to leak or rupture. The
omission of complete internal protection can give
significant cost savings.
Below filling points, vents and valves and in sumps it
may be prudent to provide localised protection to the
concrete against dripping chemical or condensate. This
may take the form of steel plate, localised area of coating
or an allocated area where the concrete can be replaced
as on-going maintenance.
7 Thermal shock
Some stored liquids are either above or below ambient
temperature. In the event of a tank rupture or venting, the
surrounding concrete needs to be capable of resisting
thermal shock.

FURTHER READING AND ADVICE

References
1. BRITISH STANDARDS INSTITUTION, BS 8007, Code of practice for the design and installation for
retaining aqueous liquids, BSI, London.
2. BRITISH STANDARDS INSTITUTION, BS 8110, Structural use of concrete, Part 1: Code of practice for
design and construction, BSI, London, 1997.
3. CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY RESEARCH AND INFORMATION ASSOCIATION, Early-age thermal crack
control in concrete, Report 91, CIRIA, London.
4. BRITISH STANDARDS INSTITUTION, BS 8500, Concrete – Complementary British Standard to BS EN 206,
BSI, London.
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Issued December 2006

CONCRETE Advice Sheets are produced and published by The Concrete Society. The information and advice contained in the
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