Specialty Repair

Industry: Infrastructure

Solution: Concrete Repairs with Composites

ID: SPR-12-00115

Project summary:

Two concrete beams adjacent to a cooling tower on the federal courthouse building in Houston were cracked and badly degraded from water and wind. A structural engineer determined the correct thickness of carbon fiber to provide the required strength to withstand the bending moment of the beam. A seven-layer system using a unidirectional carbon fiber composite was applied to the bottom face of the beam. This was then followed by two layers of bi-directional fabric applied in bands around the beam.