University of Wisconsin-Madison

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Interdisciplinary Professional Programs

Course Overview

This course will show you how to evaluate the condition of your concrete and how to protect your existing concrete with the right repair materials and techniques. Specifically, you’ll come away with honed repair methods for structural concrete, floor slabs, and slabs on grade, along with strategies for reinforcing and post-tensioning.

Who Should Attend?

  • Contractors
  • Engineers
  • Architects
  • Project managers
  • Facility managers

Course Outline

Welcome and Introductions

Achieving Durable Concrete in Your Repair Projects

  • Concrete materials
    • Cements
    • Aggregates
    • Admixtures
  • Quality design, materials, and workmanship
  • Placement, consolidating, and finishing
  • Concrete curing
  • Common forms of concrete deterioration
  • Examples of field problems
  • Repair approach
    • Consideration of many parameters

Evaluating Concrete Condition 

  • Types of damage
    • Cracking, water leakage, and staining
    • Corrosion-related damage
    • Structural deficiencies and distress
    • Fire damage
  • Strength and durability considerations
  • Assessing the risk of failure
  • Methods of damage assessment 

Fundamentals of Concrete Repair 

  • Recent history of concrete repair; evolution
  • Materials
  • Surface preparation and removal techniques
    • Conventional methods 
    • Hydro-demolition 
    • Hydraulic nibblers
    • Diamond cutting
    • Mechanical scarification
    • Abrasive blasting 
  • Reinforcing steel
  • Achieving bond
  • Material delivery (packaging) to site
  • Placement techniques
  • Fundamentals of application of concrete repair materials 

Understanding the Corrosion Process

  • Steel bar installed in an elevated energy state 
  • Factors affecting concrete chemistry
  • What is passivation of steel? 
  • How the protected layer is formed
  • Corrosion chemistry
  • How to disrupt the corrosion process
  • Treatments to slow corrosion process

Structural Repairs 

  • Post-tensioning repairs
  • External post-tensioning
  • Shear collars
  • Supplemental shear reinforcement
  • Overlays
  • Using appropriate repair methods for different structure types
  • Case studies 

Protection Methods for Concrete Structures 

  • Paints
  • Membranes
  • Sealers
  • Overlays
  • Cathodic protection

Concrete Repair Specifications 

  • Writing a specification for quality repair
  • Monitoring repairs for conformance to specifications 

Shotcrete

  • A versatile repair approach 
  • Wet mix or dry mix? 
  • Skill of nozzleman and entire crew
  • Short examples of shotcrete use 

Repair of Floor Slabs

  • Crack repair
    • Epoxy injection
    • Route and seal
    • Stitching/Pinning
  • Joint stabilization 
    • Sub-sealing
    • Load transfer devices
  • Overlays and coatings
    • Latex modified concrete
    • Thin polymer
    • Self-leveling

Pavement and Slab-on-grade Evaluation Methods

  • Objectives of comprehensive evaluation 
  • References and standards
  • Manual assessments 
  • Laboratory evaluation of materials 
  • Developing a restoration strategy 

Repair of Pavement, Sidewalks, and Exterior Slabs on Grade

  • Full-depth repairs
  • Partial-depth repairs
  • Load transfer restoration 
  • Slab stabilization 
  • Diamond grinding 
  • Joint and crack sealing
  • Bonded and unbounded overlays

Testimonials

"Absolutely great! I can't believe you were able to cover so many different areas in so much depth in 3 days. Way better than the paper brochure indicated."
— Travis, DGR Engineering, Rock Rapids, IA

"I am walking away feeling a lot more confident than when I got here...Don't know any other way I could have learned so much so quick."
— Brian, Concrete Repair & Restoration, Indian Trail, NC

Instructors

Mike Ayers

Michael E. Ayers, PhD, is the founder and president of Global Pavement Consultants, Inc. Ayers has more than 30 years of experience in research, design, construction, materials, rehabilitation, and training, focusing on concrete pavements. He has served the industry in academia, private consulting, and as an industry spokesperson with a national trade organization. Ayers has served as an instructor at World of Concrete for over a decade.

George Seegebrecht

George W. Seegebrecht, PE, FACI, is the founder and principal of Concrete Consulting Engineers, LLC, Westchester, Illinois. Seegebrecht has more than 35 years of experience in concrete research, evaluation, and repair of distressed concrete. His responsibilities have included recommending repair methods for buildings, parking facilities, bridges, pavements, and other structures. He is a member of ACI committees including Specifications for Structural Concrete, Pervious Concrete, and numerous certification committees. He is also an associate member of the ACI Shotcrete Committee. Seegebrecht serves as Examiner of Record for the ACI-Illinois Certification Program.

Brent Anderson

Brent D. Anderson, PE, is principal at BDA Associates, LLC, heading a company that offers numerous services in construction and repair of buildings, with an emphasis on waterproofing. His projects include Los Angeles Subway; Pink Palace Museum, Memphis, Tennessee; United Airlines Terminal, Chicago; and First Hawaii Center, Honolulu. Anderson is the author of a book on waterproofing and has written articles on the subject for Concrete Construction, Architecture Minnesota, and The Construction Specifier. He has lectured at more than 300 events nationwide for groups such as The World of Concrete and the National Association of Homebuilders.

Mark Malkin

Mark P. Malkin, PE, is a program director in the Office of Interdisciplinary Professional Programs in the College of Engineering at UW-Madison. He is a registered Professional Engineer with over 25 years of experience in university facilities project management and HVAC systems design. His course offerings include HVAC, plumbing and fire protection fundamentals, building code reviews, and design and operation of science labs, data centers, museums and libraries. Mark received his bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University, and his MS in Mechanical Engineering from UW–Madison.

Brian Pulver

Brian E. Pulver, PE is an Associate Principal at Wiss Janney Elstner Associates (WJE) in Northbrook Illinois, where he manages large and multi-phased garage repair projects.  Brian has significant experience in the assessment of parking structures, plazas, buildings and facades, and specializes in the investigation and repair of structures.  He is an expert in developing repair specifications and drawings, and performing construction observation and administration for concrete repair projects.  Brian earned a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Purdue University, a Master of Civil Engineering from the University of Minnesota, and is a member of the American Concrete Institute (ACI) and the Post-Tensioning Institute (PTI).

Upcoming dates