The January 30th inauguration of the Costanera Shopping Center in San Antonio, Chile, highlights how the crystalline technology of PENETRON ADMIX provides a dry and durable solution for underground structures.
Directly adjacent to the town’s central seaport on the Pacific Ocean, the Costanera Shopping Center features four floors of retail space and underground parking for 300 vehicles. The $11 million project covers over 21,000 m2 (226,000 square feet), occupying an entire city block next to the Claudio Vicuña Hospital in the center of San Antonio; it includes a home improvement store, a supermarket and various specialty grocers, and other retail outlets.
“Initially, we specified an asphaltic membrane to seal the foundation and below-grade parking structure from the high groundwater at the construction site,” explains Antonio Ordoñez, Chief Technical Officer of Tecsa Construction Company. “However, we had great success with PENETRON ADMIX for the Lider Express in Puerto Montt in the south of Chile. This project also had concrete exposed to a marine environment and high humidity, so we redefined the specifications for the Costanera Shopping Center and switched from a membrane to the PENETRON ADMIX system. Fortunately, this move had the added benefit of accelerating our schedule and reducing construction costs.”
Water and waterborne contaminants penetrate concrete mainly through capillary absorption and hydrostatic pressure. Concrete durability in such critical environments is a result of low permeability, low shrinkage, self-healing capabilities and resistance to chemical attack.
“Because the shopping center is located so close to the ocean, and given the depth of the foundation and the parking garage, a solution was needed to secure a waterproof concrete structure, even with the high hydrostatic pressure at the site,” says Domingo Lema, General Manager of Penetron Chile SPA.
PENETRON ADMIX reduces the permeability of concrete by permanently sealing microcracks, pores and capillaries, effectively protecting the structure against water penetration and the effects of deterioration, even under high hydrostatic pressure. Ready Mix Centro, the ready-mix supplier, treated over 3,000 m3 of concrete with PENETRON ADMIX, which was used to treat all below grade concrete structures, including the two-level parking garage, foundation slab and perimeter walls.
“Now, PENETRON ADMIX is an integral part of the concrete foundation of the shopping center, ensuring low permeability and a self-healing capability over the useful life of the concrete,” concludes Domingo Lema.
PENETRON is the solution: Due to the depth of the foundation and parking garage and the hydrostatic pressure at the site in San Antonio, a solution was needed to secure a waterproof structure.
