×
INTELLIGENT WORK FORUMS
FOR ENGINEERING PROFESSIONALS

Log In

Come Join Us!

Are you an
Engineering professional?
Join Eng-Tips Forums!
  • Talk With Other Members
  • Be Notified Of Responses
    To Your Posts
  • Keyword Search
  • One-Click Access To Your
    Favorite Forums
  • Automated Signatures
    On Your Posts
  • Best Of All, It's Free!
  • Students Click Here

*Eng-Tips's functionality depends on members receiving e-mail. By joining you are opting in to receive e-mail.

Posting Guidelines

Promoting, selling, recruiting, coursework and thesis posting is forbidden.

Students Click Here

Jobs

Orange Concrete Efflorescence

Orange Concrete Efflorescence

Orange Concrete Efflorescence

(OP)
Hello All,

Does anybody know why a concrete parking garage beam may be leaching orange efflorescence? I found that multiple of the main framing beams have an orange dust on them, and there are orange drip marks on the ground surface below.




I have a couple theories:

-The project is a LEED Certified project and the original designer may have specified an odd admixture that would be causing the problem.

-Contamination from the form work debonding chemical.

-Thanks for your help
Shane

RE: Orange Concrete Efflorescence

From the color it could be from steel oxidation. Is that prescast or cast-in-place?

RE: Orange Concrete Efflorescence

I thought rust, too. Can you have a sample analyzed?

RE: Orange Concrete Efflorescence

(OP)
That's what I thought at first, however there are no pipes around to stain the beams and the coloring/pattern doesn't seem to match reinforcing leaching (to me anyway). It was a very fine dust almost.

Its just for a proposal at this point. I'm probably going to add in a line item for testing.

RE: Orange Concrete Efflorescence

I wonder if there are steel fibers in the mix. Also if steel forms or form nails were used this might be a source for trace oxidation.

RE: Orange Concrete Efflorescence

It looks like rust from steel forms. How old is the structure and in what kind of climate is it located?

Red Flag This Post

Please let us know here why this post is inappropriate. Reasons such as off-topic, duplicates, flames, illegal, vulgar, or students posting their homework.

Red Flag Submitted

Thank you for helping keep Eng-Tips Forums free from inappropriate posts.
The Eng-Tips staff will check this out and take appropriate action.

Reply To This Thread

Posting in the Eng-Tips forums is a member-only feature.

Click Here to join Eng-Tips and talk with other members!


Resources