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Aluminum Slide Gates in Concrete/non shrink grout

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kbuttar

Civil/Environmental
Joined
Oct 13, 2011
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Location
US
I am working on this waste water treatment plant and we have two Aluminum Slide gates that were installed in concrete walls without any bituminous protective coating on aluminum in contact with concrete/non shrink grout.
I am trying to find out if there is anything that can be done rather than just chipping the slide gates out of the concrete wall & reinstalling them with the protective coating on?
How long will the aluminum last in concrete anyways?
Its been 25 days since concrete been poured against those alumimum slide gates & so far no cracks have appeared in concrete.
What are some of your guys recommendations?
 
The aluminum will corrode within the concrete and likely will not cause concrete cracking.

If the aluminum is anodized, it will last longer than if not, but will still corrode badly.

If the aluminum is mill finished, corrosion will start quickly as you have an aggressive environment, coupled with the aluminum/concrete contact issue.

Not a good condition!!

If the bituminous coating was specified and not applied, this is a construction defect. If not specified, it is a design defect.
 
I have seen where aluminum corrosion (embedded guardrail bases) has spalled concrete. Depending on the confinement of the concrete, you might or might not crack the concrete.
The time to fix this is now. Waiting for the corrosion to appear might allow the damage to occur beyond the warranty period with the owner on the hook.
On a side note, why aluminum gates? We design a lot of waste water treatment facilities, and I can't ever remember using aluminum gates anywhere. In waste exposure, we use coated steel, cast iron, coplastic or preferably stainless steel.
 
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