The expansion of the North Cargo Berth 8 at the Port Canaveral cargo port on Florida’s East Coast was completed in Spring 2021. PENETRON ADMIX-treated concrete was used to protect the new marine structures against chloride ion penetration and resulting corrosion.
Primarily known as a world class cruise facility, Port Canaveral’s deep draft main channel and massive ship-to-shore cranes (including North America’s largest mobile harbor crane) can handle a wide variety of cargoes. The Port also offers container berths with 20 acres of terminal space and over 300,000 ft2 of enclosed, dry, and secure dockside warehouses to load, unload and store a variety of cargoes.
“Port Canaveral is located directly on the main shipping lines along the East Coast of the United States and offers direct access to all Florida markets, as well as the larger Southeast region of the country,” adds Christopher Chen, Director of The Penetron Group.
Strong Enough for Spacecraft Parts
The expanded North Cargo Berth 8, dredged to a depth of -35 ft (11 m), can now accommodate a wider range of cargo, including steel, boats, frozen juice concentrate, lumber, wood pulp, newsprint, perishables, automobiles, heavy equipment, and commercial spacecraft components.
The new 900-foot seawall and 100-foot pier of the expanded Cargo Berth 8 are capable of handling an 850-foot (78 m) ship. Construction work carried out by Infrastructure and Industrial Constructors SE, the project’s general contractor, included an open pile pier extension (ca. 14,200 ft2), pile foundations, concrete pile caps, precast concrete deck units, cast in place concrete topping, mooring bollards, cell fenders, fender piles, utilities, and water stations/manifolds. The berth was constructed with a 2,000 lbs. per-ft2 capacity, a necessary requirement for handling aerospace cargo and other heavy cargo.
Protection from Constant Seawater Exposure
As a marine structure constantly exposed to the Atlantic Ocean, the structural engineers at CH2M Hill required durable concrete protection for Cargo Berth 8 from the constant hydrostatic saltwater pressure and resulting corrosion of the underlying reinforcement caused by chloride ion penetration. Penetron's crystalline technology lowers the permeability of concrete and optimizes concrete durability. An added benefit is the self-healing capability that automatically self-heals any microcracks that may appear in the future.
Penetron’s permeability-reducing admixture, PENETRON ADMIX SB, was added to the concrete mix delivered by Cemex, the ready-mix concrete supplier, for the construction of the new pier extension, the concrete pile foundations and pile caps, and the marine moorings. Concrete treated with PENETRON ADMIX SB is not only waterproof, it has an extended service life due to the durability benefits of the concrete being impermeable.
