Design and Construction of Liquid-

Tight Concrete Structures

Improving Performance
A
By Jeff Barenberg, P.E.,
Jeff Quaratino, P.E.,
and Don Allison, P.E.
Designing concrete structures that are required
to hold water or other liquids is critical to the
operation of many facilities. This requirement is
most commonly found in the design of water
and wastewater treatment facilities. However,
concrete containment areas subject to acid or
other chemical spills also need to be liquid-tight.
Following is an examination of some of the
inherent problems with concrete and some sug-
gestions and guidance on how to improve the
performance of concrete specified for use in liq-
uid-tight structures.
It is commonly heard and a well-known fact that
"concrete cracks." While true, there are numer-
ous measures that may be taken to reduce the
formation of cracks so the concrete used in
structures is essentially liquid-tight. Through
careful attention to detail, concrete cracks and
subsequent leakage can be minimized. Structures
intended to be "liquid-tight" should be designed
using ACI 350, Code Requirements for
Environmental Engineering Concrete Structures,
rather than ACI 318, which is typically used for
produce rapid evaporation of moisture from the
concrete surface. Typical concrete specifications
call for proper placement, vibration and curing
of the concrete. If these items are performed cor-
rectly, paying particular attention to proper cur-
ing, plastic shrinkage cracks can usually be
avoided.
Structural cracks are the result of the concrete
being subjected to loads in excess of the design
loads, provided that deflections have been
checked in the design. Most structural cracks
can be avoided by following the code require-
ments for deflection and reinforcement.
Drying shrinkage cracks occur over time as the
concrete cures. As drying takes place, concrete
near the surface dries and shrinks faster than the
inner concrete, causing a build-up of tensile
stress and eventual cracks. These cracks account
for the majority of cracks in concrete structures,
and hence, leakage of the structure. This is
where careful design and specifications can
make the difference between structures that leak
and structures that perform well.
Mix Composition 1400
Drying shrinkage in mils

buildings and other structures. ACI 350 provides Typical concrete specifica- 1200
guidance in designing dense, durable, nearly tions usually indicate the 1000
impermeable concrete and minimizing crack concrete compressive
800
widths through the use of properly spaced joints, strength, minimum cement
content, air content, slump 600
limiting the water/cement ratio and providing
minimum shrinkage reinforcement. However, in and water/cement ratio. An 400
practice, merely following the code does not often overlooked step is to 200
necessarily result in good performance. limit the drying shrinkage of 0
Fortunately, there are several additional mea- the design mix. Simple 25 30 35 40 45 50 55
sures that may be taken to improve concrete per- changes in the mix design to Water, gallons per cubic yard
formance and minimize loss of product or infil- produce low-shrink concrete
tration. can significantly reduce
shrinkage compared to typical concrete mixes. Figure 1 - Relationship
Causes of Cracking Several factors in the mix design have an effect of total water content
The formation of cracks in concrete results from on the drying shrinkage of concrete. These fac- and drying shrinkage.
several sources: plastic shrinkage, structural tors include the water/cement ratio, size and type A large number of mix-
cracks, and drying shrinkage. Plastic shrinkage of the coarse aggregate, and the proportion of tures with various
fine aggregate to coarse aggregate. proportions is repre-
cracks develop almost immediately after placing
sented within the area
the concrete while it is still in its fresh, or "plas- of the band curves.
tic," state. Plastic shrinkage cracks are usually As stated previously, drying shrinkage occurs Drying shrinkage
the result of improper placement and/or curing when water is released from the concrete mix increases with
and are often associated with hot weather place- during the curing process. The higher the total increasing water
ment. However, it can occur any time conditions water content in the mix, the more drying content.

TECHBriefs 2003 No. 4 4 Burns & McDonnell

Figure 2

SHRINKAGE CAUSES WALL TO SHORTEN

CRACKS DEVELOP DUE TO MAT RESTRAINT

MAT RESISTS FURTHER SHORTENING

shrinkage will occur (Figure 1). A certain There is a point at which the costs and difficulty
amount of water is required for hydration, the of achieving less shrinkage increase dramatical-
chemical reaction with the cement. Additional ly. The engineer must set attainable shrinkage
water is added to the mix to increase the worka- limits that can be consistently achieved at a rea-
bility of the concrete. However, since the most sonable cost by the concrete supplier. A practical
important controllable factor affecting shrinkage shrinkage standard is 0.045% after 28 days. This
is the total amount of water per unit volume of limit significantly reduces shrinkage when com-
concrete, workability should be pared to typical concrete mix
increased with the use of water- designs and is relatively easy to
reducing admixtures rather than
additional water. Use of these
admixtures allows for a lower
“ achieve for most concrete suppli-
ers that have experience with
There is a point designing mixes for low shrink-
water content while still obtaining at which the age. Batch plants in remote areas,
a workable mix. which may not have experience in
costs and diffi- low-shrink mixes, should be guid-
In addition to water being con- culty of achiev- ed in developing mix designs to
sumed in the chemical reaction meet acceptable shrinkage crite-
with the cement, it is also ing less shrink- ria. Specifying low-shrinkage con-
absorbed by the aggregates (sand age increase crete with realistic criteria can
and rock) in the mix. Water dramatically improve the perfor-
absorbed into the aggregate does dramatically. mance of liquid-containing facili-
not increase the workability of the The engineer ties while having minimal impact
fresh concrete, but does increase on construction costs.
the drying shrinkage. One of the must set attain-
factors governing the amount of able shrinkage Interaction of Structural
water required is the size of aggre- Elements
gate used. Sand has a very high limits that can Though a well-designed mix can
surface area to volume ratio and be consistently minimize shrinkage of the con-
hence is able to absorb a great crete, some shrinkage will still
deal of water. Using a higher pro- achieved at a occur. Understanding the interac-
portion of large aggregate (rock) reasonable cost tion between structure elements is
to fine aggregate (sand) reduces also critical to reducing cracks in
the total surface area of the aggre- by the concrete concrete. If concrete is allowed to
gate, hence reducing the water supplier.” shrink without restraints, it simply
absorption into the aggregate. gets shorter. This is the reason

”
Burns & McDonnell 5 TECHBriefs 2003 No. 4
that many slabs on grade have minimal cracking,
provided that joints are reasonably spaced. As
the concrete shrinks, it slides on the soil below.
If the distance between joints is too large, the
drag on the soil gets to be too great and cracks
develop.
For this reason, concrete is particularly prone to
cracking where it is placed on top of existing
concrete, such as at the base of a wall placed on
a previously placed floor slab. Generally, the
floor slab has already had a chance to shrink
before the wall is placed. As the wall tries to
shorten, the bond with the hardened concrete
restrains it, creating vertical cracks in the wall
(Figure 2). It is common to see these cracks stop
several feet above the floor. This is because the
upper portion of the wall is not restrained by the
slab and simply gets shorter as the shrinkage
takes place. Limiting the length of concrete
placements by using vertical construction joints
with waterstops will help to alleviate this prob-
lem. In addition, the engineer may consider
specifying additional horizontal reinforcement
near the bottom of the wall.
Conclusion
By controlling the allowable shrinkage in the
concrete mix design through limitations set forth
in the specifications, working with concrete sup-
pliers to produce and supply well-performing
concrete, and understanding the crack develop-
ment process, liquid-tight structures will func-
tion as they have been designed to do. Through
the implementation of these procedures, the per-
formance of liquid-tight concrete structures can
be dramatically improved and the expenses asso-
ciated with coating systems and "after the fact"
crack repair minimized.
For more information on this subject please send an email to the following addresses:
Jeff Barenberg <techbriefs@burnsmcd.com>
Jeff Quaratino <techbriefs@burnsmcd.com>
Don Allison <techbriefs@burnsmcd.com>

Jeff Barenberg, P.E., is Jeff Quaratino, P.E., is Don Allison, P.E., is

a senior structural engineer
in Burns & McDonnell's Denver
office and has over 22 years
of experience. He has a bach-
elor's degree in civil engi-
neering from the University of
Colorado.
a senior structural engineer structural department man-
in Burns & McDonnell's ager in Burns & McDonnell’s
Houston office. He has a Infrastructure Group. He has
bachelor's degree in civil bachelor’s and master’s
engineering from The degrees in civil engineering
Colorado School of Mines. from Kansas State University.

TECHBriefs 2003 No. 4 6 Burns & McDonnell