As part of a major £16 million upgrade of Eastbourne Wastewater Treatment Works being carried out on behalf of Southern Water, AkzoNobel’s range of Intercrete concrete repair materials were chosen to refurbish an underground inlet chamber at the plant.

An Intercrete system was devised for the project comprising a dry spray application of Intercrete 4801 repair mortar followed by a final coat of Intercrete 4840 cementitious coating. Almost 140 tons of Intercrete 4801 was applied over a six month period by specialist asset maintenance contractor Concrete Repairs Limited.

The work was carried out on behalf of CMDP, a joint venture between Costain and MWH and one of Southern Water’s three business partners delivering AMP6 improvements until 2020. The Intercrete range has been expanded following AkzoNobel’s acquisition of Flexcrete Technologies Ltd in July 2017 with Flexcrete products becoming known as Intercrete, part of the International brand.

Dating back to 1997, Eastbourne Wastewater Treatment Works is located on a prime site on the seafront at Langney Point in East Sussex. Serving a population of circa 140,000 people across the Eastbourne area, the vast majority of the works is located underground, beneath a fortress-style building. Up to 74 million liters of wastewater is pumped in and treated every day almost entirely out of sight.

The concrete repair work was carried out by Concrete Repairs Limited (CRL) beneath ground level in extremely arduous conditions. The project involved the refurbishment of the underground inlet channel that receives wastewater flows, as the concrete had deteriorated due to attack from hydrogen sulfide (H2S) gas and sulphuric acid. The Intercrete application was carried out at night when flows were low.

In order to remove the defective concrete first, CRL used hydro demolition methods before a dry spray application of Intercrete 4801 - a high strength, waterproof, shrinkage compensated, class R4 mortar which exhibits extremely low rebound when applied either by dry or wet spray techniques for the structural repair, rendering and profiling of vertical, overhead and horizontal surfaces. With excellent resistance to abrasion and the physical demands of general trafficking, Intercrete 4801 is a single component cementitious repair mortar which incorporates the most advanced cement chemistry, microsilica, fiber and styrene-acrylic copolymer technology. The product only requires the addition of clean water on-site.

Following the application of Intercrete 4801, Intercrete 4840 was applied. Intercrete 4840 is an innovative, two component, water-based cementitious coating that benefits from modification with both a thermoplastic polymer as well as an epoxy resin to provide a hard wearing surface with greatly enhanced chemical and abrasion resistance.

This combined Intercrete 4801/4840 system was also specified for another Southern Water project carried out by CRL at Ford Wastewater Treatment Works in Arundel. For both projects, it was chosen on the basis of the rapid curing properties and speed of reinstatement between application of the mortar and coating as there is no need for a skim coat due to the high-quality finish of the mortar. The system also minimizes environmental impact due to the fact that both products are water-based, ultra-low odor and solvent-free, making them safe to apply even whilst facilities are in operation.

The £16 million overhaul of Eastbourne Wastewater Treatment Works will bring many long-term benefits and ensure wastewater leaving the site is of the highest quality. As well as the concrete repair work, other upgrades include updating the biological filter, improving lighting, ventilation and odor controls and replacing pumps and other equipment. The refurbishment is due to be fully completed during early 2020.