Shotcrete is concrete that is applied with a pressure hose, which may contradict your perception that concrete is something that is always “poured” into place. It is projected at a very high velocity onto a surface. At the Kravis Center, we’ve been using shotcrete for basement walls. In the pressure hose, the concrete is placed and compacted at the same time, which is especially helpful for spraying onto vertical areas. To date we have placed approximately 10,000 Cubic Yards of concrete utilizing the shotcrete method.
Interestingly, a taxidermist, not an engineer nor construction worker, invented shotcrete in the early 1900s. The taxidermist would blow dry material out of a hose with compressed air, wetting it as it was released. The method was quickly applied to construction and was first use to “patch up” weak buildings. In 1911 a patent was made for a “cement gun.”
When working with concrete, builders chose from a concrete pump or a shotcrete pump. Shotcrete is utilized for larger jobs that demand more durability and long distances. Additionally, concrete pumps use thinner mixes than shotcrete pumps.
Seem familiar? Shotcrete is frequently used for swimming pools, so you might have seen this performed in your backyard. Shotcrete is also used for dams, tunnels, retaining walls, shear walls and seismic reinforcing.
Whether you’ve seen it before or not, you’ll enjoy watching the shotcrete video of work going on at the jobsite. With the set-up used at Kravis Center for shotcrete, we are able to place approximately 1700 Cubic Yards of shotcrete per day. Once the shotcrete is allowed to setup it is finished with a rubber float or hard trowel depending on the finished look the architect requires. The walls shown in the video took 8 hours to place the 1,500 cubic yards.
