Ardnacrusha Dam, Ireland

THE PROJECT

Since its commissioning in 1929, the Ardnacrusha Hydroelectric Power Plant has been constantly producing 332,000 MWh of electricity annually for over 90 years. This well constructed structure which houses four turbines is now however showing some signs of wear and tear requiring repair and refurbishment. Since production of electricity could not be interrupted, a very detailed and well planned repair schedule of works was required to accommodate production and repairs simultaneously.

THE SOLUTION

Specialist repair contractor SCB Services, carried out a wide range of repairs to the concrete structure utilising in most cases, a series of abseiling techniques in strict accordance with very stringent health and safety regulations. The existing substrate was prepared with defective concrete removed using hydro demolition and the cleaned, exposed steel reinforcement was primed with Nitoprime Zincrich Plus. The substrate was then primed with Renderoc Primer before Renderoc HB45 high performance, hand applied, fibre reinforced medium density concrete reinstatement mortar was applied in areas where smaller repairs were required. Renderoc LA, high performance free flowing low alkali micro concrete specifically developed for the repair of large areas of concrete where access is restricted, was used for the reinstatement of the larger areas where the concrete had failed.

THE BENEFIT

Access, health & safety and time constraints were all significant factors on this complex project. The Fosroc repair products were well suited to the necessary repair work providing a BS EN 1504 compliant solution compatible with the host concrete. The consistency of the Fosroc bagged products ensured an excellent quality to all of the repairs carried out.