Wet shotcreting machine gives

nozzleman total control

Concrete counterweight
repair shows machine’s advantages
et-mix shotcrete is
bleeds off air pressure. This safety
The nozzleman has complete
control of the gunning operation
( Fi g u re 2). An instant on-off valve
lets him start or stop shooting with-
out turning off the pressure vessel.
This permits shooting in short
bursts to repair small spalls. The
nozzleman also can control accel-

W more commonly used

for high-production
shotcreting applica-
tions than for repair jobs. But a
Chicago-area contractor has de-
feature prevents accidental opening
of a pressurized tank.
Constantly turning agitators mix
the concrete or mortar and keep it
in motion during gunning. Each ag-
erator addition from an optional
tank that meters accelerator to the
nozzle.

Bascule bridge repairs

signed and produced a wet method
shotcrete machine specifically for
repair work. Materials are mixed at
the jobsite only as needed. There’s
no ready mix truck waiting and no
waiting for ready mix trucks.
The machine mixing chamber al-
so is a pressure vessel connected to
a small (85 cfm) air compressor.
Compressed air pushes mortar or
pea gravel concrete through a hose
and nozzle at a steady rate. Because
there’s no pulsing it’s much easier
for the nozzleman to control the
nozzle. Instead of wrestling a jerking
hose he can concentrate on shoot-
ing the right amount of material at
the right spot. There’s also less re-
bound. Even with a zero-slump mix,
rebound is less than 5%.
itator is shaped differently to con-
form to the tank shape. Rubber
wipers on the agitator blades wipe
the inside of the tank clean and di-
rect all material to the outlet. After a
batch has been shot there’s little
more than a handful of material left
in the tank.
Power for the agitators is supplied
by a gasoline engine. For work in ar-
eas with poor ventilation, other
power options are available: diesel,
LP gas, natural gas, and air or elec-
tric motors.
The unit has been used for repair
of bridges, tunnels, the underside of
parking decks, and concrete curbs
and gutters. One of the more chal-
lenging jobs was repairing huge
concrete counterweights for an Illi-
nois Central Gulf railroad bridge
over the Chicago River (see photo).
Built in the early 1900s, the bascule
bridge raises and lowers to permit
boats to pass under it. Freezing and
thawing cycles had caused edges of
the counterweights to crack and
c ru m b l e. This affected the delicate

Simple operation and cleaning

Capacity of the mixing/pressure
tank is 7 cubic feet. An operator
charges it by emptying bagged ce-
ment (usually 2 bags per batch) and
shoveling aggregate into the charg-
ing hopper. He either measures the
water by volume or uses an option-
al water meter furnished with the
machine. He also can add different
admixtures or fibers during the
batching sequence. An air piston
(Figure 1) closes the thick metal lid
to form an air seal. After the tank is Figure 1. Agitators in the shotcrete mixing/pressure tank conform to the tank
p re s s u ri zed, the air piston won’t shape. Rubber wipers on the blades direct all material to the outlet and wipe the
open the lid until the operator inside of the tank clean.
balance needed for the bridge to
raise and lower smoothly.
Each counterweight is about 52
feet high and 61⁄2 feet thick, with
width varying from 22 to 35 feet.
Most deterioration was on the south
and west faces.
To correct the problem, a shot-
creting crew restored the edges by
building up several layers of shot-
c re t e. Job specifications re q u i re d
them to carefully match the planes
of repaired surface to the original
one. The bridge was never shut
down so work was occasionally de-
layed when it lowered to permit a
train to cross.
Workers first chipped away sec-
tions of crumbling concrete (Figure
3). In some sections they removed
up to a 12-inch depth of concrete,
but were careful to avoid chipping
so much that the bridge balance
was affected. They found that 3 or 4
cubic yards could be taken off be-
fore the bridge operator noticed a
difference in the braking force
needed as the bridge rose or de-
scended. Then the crew shotcreted
the prepared area before resuming
chipping.
Workers sandblasted exposed
steel and added epoxy-coated bars,
Figure 3. Workers chip off no more than 3 or 4 cubic yards of concrete at a time
to avoid unbalancing the bridge.
Figure 2. The nozzleman can start or
stop shooting by turning a valve (see
arrow) on the nozzle. Also on the
nozzle are valves for compressed air
and adding an accelerator.
tying them to drilled-in, 5/8-inch-
diameter anchors. No mesh was
used. The contractor said mesh may
cause an inexperienced nozzleman
to shoot layers that are too thick.
Thick layers won’t
bond properly but mesh may
hold the material in place. If the
nozzleman doesn’t notice that bond
has been lost, voids in the finished
repair are likely.
Workers cleaned existing surfaces
with compressed air and wetted
them before shooting. No bonding
agent was used. During shooting,
enough passes were made to leave
the surface about 1⁄2 inch high. Then
finishers cut material to the desired
g ra d e. Final finishing included
putting a chamfer on the edges.
Optional equipment
increases production rates
A five-man crew using the ma-
chine typically shoots and finishes
3 to 4 cubic yards of repair shotcrete
daily. For high-volume jobs, a large
hopper and sand conveyor can be
added to speed production. The
company also has made custom-
built machines with two pressure
vessels and a valve that lets one ves-
sel feed the nozzle while the other
vessel is being charged with fresh
materials. The result is a continuous
flow of shotcrete to the nozzle and
production rates of 3 to 4 cubic
yards of shotcrete per hour.
PUBLICATION#C880330
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