Developments in shot-
crete for repairs and
rehabilitation
BY DUDLEY R. MORGAN
n the 80 years since the shot-
I crete process was developed,
shotcrete has played a valuable
role in repair and rehabilitation
projects. One of its major attributes
is excellent bond to the substrate,
usually superior to the bond
achieved with cast-in-place con-
crete. This has made shotcrete par-
ticularly well-suited for repair of
vertical and overhead surfaces.
Many developments in shotcrete
technology during the 1980s have
enhanced shotcreting capabilities.
These include advances in shotcret-
ing materials technology and im-
proved methods for batching, mix-
ing, supply, and application. The
developments have stemmed large-
ly from the desire of engineers and
contractors to improve the quality
and durability of inplace shotcrete,
increase shotcreting productivity
and economy, and expand the range
of shotcrete applications. Following
are some highlights of these ad-
vances as they pertain to shotcrete
for remedial work.
ADVANCES IN SHOTCRETE MA-
TERIALS
Before the 1980s, most shotcrete
used for repair and rehabilitation in
North America was made of con-
ventional portland cement and
sand mixtures applied by the dry-
mix shotcrete process. Some poly-
mer-modified shotcrete was used
for remedial work in aggressive ex-
posure conditions. There also was
limited use of wet-mix shotcrete,
primarily for large-volume projects.
Today, both dry- and wet-mix
shotcretes often contain supple-
mentary cementing materials, such
Using wet-mix
shotcrete reinforced
with high volumes of
polypropylene fibers,
worker stabilizes a
ravelling highway
rock cut. The
shotcrete also
contains silica fume.
as fly ash and silica fume, as addi-
tions or partial cement replace-
ments. These materials improve
shotcrete workability and perfor-
mance.
Fly ash
Fly ash is used in shotcrete for
many of the same reasons it’s used
in concrete. It:
• Improves the workability and
pumpability of wet-mix shot-
crete made with harsh aggre-
gates
• Reduces the heat of hyd ra t i o n
and, consequently, the potential
for thermal cracking in thick
sections
• Improves sulfate resistance
• Controls alkali-aggregate reac-
tions
• Produces a more economical
mixture
A recent development is high-vol-
ume fly ash, wet-mix shotcrete. The
mixture contains 40% to 60% fly ash
by mass along with water reducers
and high dosages of superplasticizers
to produce a low water-cement ratio.
The resulting shotcrete has good vol-
ume stability (low drying shrinkage
capacity), good freeze-thaw durabili-
ty, and very low chloride permeabili-
ty compared with conventional wet-
mix, portland-cement shotcrete.
These are desirable characteristics
for repair and rehabilitation applica-
tions, but further research is needed
to assess high-volume fly ash shot-
crete performance. To date, the shot-
crete has mainly been used for cap-
ping and sealing exposed rock slopes
and bedrock.
Silica fume
Scandinavian countries pio-
neered the use of silica fume in wet-
mix shotcrete in the late 1970s and
early 1980s. Researchers found that
substituting between 7% to 15% by
mass of cement with silica fume of-
fered several benefits:
• Improved adhesion and cohe-
sion of plastic shotcrete
• Ability to build up greater thick-
nesses of shotcrete with little or
no accelerator added
• Improved properties in hard-
ened shotcrete, particularly
c o m p re s s i ve and flexural
 Since these in-
vestigations, tens
of thousands of
tons of dry-mix,
silica-fume shot-
crete have been
used in va ri o u s
i n f ra s t ru c t u re re-
pair projects in
North America.
Accelerators
Shotcrete ac-
celerators allow
build-up of thick-
Figure 1. An extreme example of shotcrete improperly
applied to mesh reinforcement shows build-up of shotcrete er layers of shot-
on the face of the mesh and shadowing and voids behind. c rete in a single
pass, enhancing
productivity.
strengths
They also reduce the time of initial
When using silica fume in wet- set and increase early (8 to 24 hours)
mix shotcrete, it’s necessary to add strength development. Despite
both a water-reducer and super- these benefits, accelerators can ad-
plasticizer to control the water de- versely affect shotcrete perfor-
mand of the mix. Otherwise, the use mance and should not be used un-
of silica fume will require excess wa- less considered essential to the job.
ter, which can be detrimental to Accelerators usually reduce shot-
overall shotcrete quality and lead to crete strength at later ages. The ex-
excessive shrinkage cracking. tent of strength reduction depends
In 1983, researchers in British Co- on various factors, including the
lumbia, Canada, conducted exten- type of accelerator used and its
sive lab and field investigations into
dosage rate. Ge n e ra l l y, later-age
the potential use of silica fume in strength reductions are most pro-
dry-mix shotcrete. They found the nounced with accelerator types and
benefits to be even more pro- dosage rates that promote flash set-
nounced than for wet-mix, silica- ting.
fume shotcrete. These include: Most accelerators also signifi-
• Substantial improvement in ad- cantly increase the drying shrinkage
hesion and cohesion of plastic of portland-cement concrete. Field
shotcrete observations have verified this ef-
• Ability to build up overhead lay- fect in shotcrete. In an examination
ers as thick as 16 inches in a sin- of 60 shotcrete-repaired bridges in
gle pass with little or no acceler- Canada, the widest shrinkage cracks
ator were found in shotcrete repairs that
• Improved resistance to washout used accelerators.
where freshly applied shotcrete Fo rt u n a t e l y, with the advent of
is subject to running water or silica fume, it’s no longer necessary
tidal cycling to rely only on accelerators for
• Improved economy through re- achieving thick layers of shotcrete
ductions in rebound and in- build-up in a single pass. Silica
creases in productivity rates fume, howe ve r, does not substan-
• Improvements in the properties tially reduce initial and final set
of hardened shotcrete, including times of portland cement shotcrete.
c o m p re s s i ve and flexural T h e re f o re, it may be necessary to
strengths and freeze-thaw resis- use some accelerator in projects re-
tance quiring rapid set and high-early (8-
• Improved resistance to chemical hour) compressive strengths.
attack and penetration of deic-
ing salts
High-early-strength cements
An alternative to using shotcrete
accelerators is to use regulated-set
and high-early-strength cements.
Tests show that shotcretes contain-
ing these cements develop higher
early- and later-age strengths than
chemically accelerated shotcretes.
They also have good durability un-
der freeze-thaw conditions.
Various cements are available
having different setting times. The
most rapid-setting cements are
more suitable for use in site-
batched, wet-mix shotcrete. They
cannot be used in central-mix or
transit-mix shotcretes with long re-
tention times before discharge.
REINFORCEMENT
Before the 1980s, most shotcrete
was reinforced with conventional
concrete reinforcing steel or weld-
ed-wire mesh. Although these rein-
forcement materials are still the
most widely used in repair shot-
crete, steel and polypropylene fibers
are now increasing in use because
they offer some performance ad-
vantages.
Steel fibers
In the early 1970s, a major ad-
vance in shotcrete technology was
the development of steel-fiber-rein-
forced shotcrete (SFRS). SFRS is par-
ticularly useful for remedial applica-
tions in aggressive chemical or
marine environments because it re-
sists corrosion better than shotcrete
with conventional steel re i n f o rc e-
ment. As long as the shotcrete ma-
trix retains its inherent alkalinity
and remains uncracked, deteriora-
tion of SFRS is unlikely. Co r ro s i o n
of the discreet steel fibers occurs on-
ly to the depth of surface carbona-
tion in the shotcrete. If corrosion of
the surface fibers is aesthetically ob-
jectionable, a flash coat of plain, un-
reinforced shotcrete can be applied.
SFRS has another advantage: It’s
more user friendly and less prone to
problems caused by inadequate
workmanship. For example, it elim-
inates the shadowing and voiding
problems sometimes encountered
in conventionally reinforced shot-
crete repairs (Figure 1). Such defects
usually occur as a result of one or
more of the following factors:
• Air pressure is too low at the
nozzle.
• Nozzle is too far away from the
receiving surface.
• Shotcrete is applied at an incor-
rect angle to the receiving sur-
face.
• Fresh or hardened overspray or
rebound isn’t properly con-
trolled and dealt with.
Steel-fiber reinforcement addi-
tion rates vary from about 60 to 140
pounds per cubic yard, depending
on job requirements and fiber type
and size. Generally, higher fiber ad-
dition rates are used in stru c t u re s
subject to severe stresses and strains
imposed by:
• Impact or explosive forces
• Heavy, repeated, dynamic cyclic
loading
• Large exposed surfaces, which
are more susceptible to shrinkage
cracking
Polypropylene fibers
Initially, polypropylene fibers
(both monofilament and collated,
fibrillated) were added to shotcrete
at the same dosage rates as used for
ready mixed concrete—about 1 1/2
pounds per cubic yard. At this rate,
the benefits of polypropylene fibers
are mainly limited to enhancing re-
sistance to plastic shrinkage crack-
ing and making freshly placed shot-
crete less susceptible to sags and
tears during finishing.
Recently, extensive research has
been conducted on high-volume
polypropylene fiber dosage rates in
wet-mix shotcrete for use as a cap-
ping and sealing material. Fiber ad-
dition rates were 6 3/4 to 11 3/4
pounds per cubic yard, producing a
pseudoductile material with load
versus deformation characteristics
equal to some mesh and steel-fiber-
reinforced shotcretes. The extra
fiber reinforcement also reduced
cracking potential. Hi g h - vo l u m e
polypropylene-reinforced shotcrete
has been used in British Columbia
to rehabilitate ravelling highway
rock cuts and repair eroded bridge
abutments.
BATCHING, MIXING, AND SUP-
PLYING
Dry-mix shotcrete
Dry-mix shotcrete for remedial
applications can be batched, mixed,
and supplied by:
• Central or transit batching with
transit-mix supply
• Site batching, using volumetric
or mass batching techniques
• Dry, bagged premix supply
Site batching is the predominant
means of dry-mix shotcrete supply
in the United States. Compared with
transit-mix-supply shotcrete, site-
batched shotcrete has a shorter pe-
riod between first contact of water
with the cementing system to appli-
cation. This gives the plastic shot-
crete better adhesive and cohesive
c h a ra c t e ri s t i c s. A disadvantage of

SHOTCRETE REPAIR WITHSTANDS SEVERE MARINE ENVIRONMENT

Concrete berth faces in the Port of Saint John, New tral-mix batched and transit-mix supplied, with steel-
Brunswick, Canada, are subject to one of the most fiber reinforcement added to the transit mixer at the
severe environments in the world. With a tidal range jobsite. Accelerator was added only to the shotcrete
of 28 feet and winter tempera- used for filling deep holes in
tures as low as -22_ F, the in- the berth faces before applica-
tertidal regions of the berth tion of the structural facing
faces usually are subject to shotcrete.
more than 200 freeze-thaw cy- To apply the shotcrete, work-
cles a year. To make matters ers stood on a barge that
worse, the structures were served as a moving scaffold.
built long before the develop- As the tide fell, the barge
ment of air entrainment and dropped at a rate of about 4
much of the original aggregate feet per hour. Because of the
used in the concrete is alkali severe deterioration of the ex-
reactive. The result has been isting concrete, the shotcrete
severe deterioration and loss was anchored with 3 1/4-foot-
of concrete from the berth long grouted dowels placed ver-
faces. In some older sections, tically and horizontally at about
built in 1913, daylight could 4 1/2-foot centers. Shear rein-
be seen through concrete al- Standing on a barge that lowers with the tide, forcement connected anchor
most 20 feet thick. workers repair berth faces be applying a wet-mix, heads.
Extensive testing was under- silica-fume shotcrete reinforced with steel fibers. First applied in 1986, the
taken to satisfy the Port Au- shotcrete repair has now un-
thority that the selected repair material would be dergone more than 1,000 freeze-thaw cycles without
durable in this aggressive environment. The repair al- showing any freeze-thaw distress. Some drying
ternatives investigated included cast-in-place con- shrinkage cracking has occurred, but the cracks are
crete, preplaced aggregate concrete, and shotcrete. less than 0.004 inch wide. The Port Authority contin-
Shotcrete proved to be the most economic. ues to use the same remedial system for berth face
The wet-mix, silica-fume shotcrete used was cen- repairs every construction season.
site batching can be greater variabil-
ity in mix proportioning. But this
depends on the batching equip-
ment used. Mobile vo l u m e t ri c
batching equipment, when proper-
ly calibrated, can consistently pro-
duce shotcrete of uniform quality.
The preferred system in Canada is
bagged premix. Its advantages in-
clude precision mass batching, uni-
formity, simplicity of use, and abili-
ty to be transported to remote
jobsites. All ingredients are pre-
mixed in the bag, including steel-
fiber reinforcement and, if required,
powdered accelerators.
When using transit-mix supply,
don’t allow dry-mix shotcrete to age
excessively before discharge. Gener-
ally, discharge all the shotcrete with-
in 45 minutes of batching. In hot
weather, even shorter times may be
required. Also, silica fume is less ef-
fective in increasing application
thicknesses and reducing rebound
in transit-mix-supplied, dry-mix
shotcrete than in bagged premix.
That’s because the bagged premix
allows less time between first con-
tact of water with cement and silica
fume to shotcrete application.
Wet-mix shotcrete
Any of the batching, mixing, and
supplying procedures used for con-
ventional concrete production can
be used for wet-mix shotcrete. In-
gredients such as silica fume and
steel-fiber reinforcement can be
Figure 2. Nozzleman’s helper removes overspray and
rebound using an air-water lance during top-down shotcrete
repair of a dam face.
added at the
batch plant or on-
site. Accelerators,
if used, are added
to the shotcrete at
the nozzle during
discharge.
Silica-fume ad-
mixtures are
available in liquid
slurry and dry
powder forms.
Most of the ad-
mixtures are
“n e u t ra l .” That Figure 3. An artificial rockscape made with wet-mix silica
means that the fume shotcrete creates rustic surroundings for a whale
shotcretes to pool at an aquarium in Vancouver, British Columbia,
which they are Canada.
added retain the equipment, particularly useful for
same slumps and air contents. tunnel repairs
Dry, powdered, silica-fume ad- • Improvements in wet-mix
mixture added onsite is a particular- pumps and dry-mix guns
ly efficient way to produce wet-mix, • Improvements in ancillary shot-
silica-fume shotcrete. The contrac- crete equipment, such as shotcrete
tor simply orders a standard - s i ze d nozzles and predampening units for
load of conventional plain shotcrete use with dry, premixed shotcretes
from a ready mix supplier. The sili- • Special dispensing units for
ca-fume admixture is then added adding silica-fume slurry at the noz-
directly to the transit mixer onsite zle, with or without accelerators, in
from bags in a predetermined quan- the dry-mix shotcrete process
tity. Steel fibers also can be added to Despite these advances, the qual-
the transit mixer onsite. ity of the final in-place shotcrete still
Wet-mix shotcrete to be exposed largely depends on the skills of the
to freeze-thaw conditions must be nozzleman. It’s important when ap-
adequately air-entrained. Because plying either dry- or wet-mix shot-
approximately half the air in the crete to hold the nozzle at the cor-
mixture is lost during pumping, rect distance from the receiving
shooting, and pneumatic consoli- surface. If the distance is too great,
dation, start with high air contents shotcrete can build up on the face of
(about 9% to 12%) any reinforcing steel, resulting in
in the shotcrete shadowing and voiding behind the
supplied to the reinforcing.
pump. Similarly, holding the nozzle at an
incorrect angle to the receiving sur-
SHOTCRETE
face can result in voids of incom-
APPLICATION
plete consolidation and in more re-
AND FINISHING
bound. With a few exceptions, such
as encasing large-diameter rebar,
Application
the shotcrete stream should hit the
techniques
receiving surface at right angles.
Recent equip- In the dry-mix shotcrete process,
ment advances compressed air conveys the damp
that have simpli- shotcrete materials from the gun,
fied shotcrete ap- down a hose, to the nozzle, where
plication include: the remainder of the mix water is
• Robotic shot- added. Sometimes other materials,
crete placement such as accelerators or silica-fume
slurry, are added at the nozzle. The
nozzleman must control the shot-
creting technique and the amount
of water and materials added at the
nozzle. The nozzleman also tells the
gun operator, usually by hand sig-
nals, to either increase or decrease
the volume of air and materials con-
veyed through the hose. See Refer-
ences l and 2 for guidance to dry-
mix shotcrete nozzling techniques.
The wet-mix shotcrete process
differs from the dry-mix process in
that all shotcrete ingredients, except
accelerators, are thoroughly mixed
before discharge into the delivery
equipment. Compressed air then
conveys the premixed shotcrete
down the hose to the nozzle, where
high-pressure air is added to project
the shotcrete onto the receiving sur-
face. Liquid accelerator, if required,
is added through a separate line at
the nozzle.
Applying wet-mix shotcrete is
simpler than applying dry-mix shot-
c re t e. The nozzleman only has to
control the amount of air added at
the nozzle and the shotcreting tech-
nique. The nozzleman, howe ve r,
lacks control over the consistency of
the wet-mix shotcrete delive re d .
This must be correct before dis-
charge into the shotcrete pump.
Reference 1 discusses wet-mix shot-
crete nozzling techniques.
Reducing rebound and over-
spray
Rebound is shotcrete material
leaner than the original mixture that
ricochets off the receiving surface.
It usually consists of the coarser ag-
gregate particles in the shotcrete
mix with some adhering mortar.
Studies show that rebound not only
has a lower cementing-materials
content than the original shotcrete,
but also is highly variable. For these
reasons, never incorporate rebound
into the applied shotcrete. It can re-
sult in localized failures in shotcrete
repairs.
It’s best to remove rebound con-
tinuously during shotcrete applica-
tion using air wands, water jets,
brooming, or other means (Figure
2). Once hardened, rebound is
much harder to remove.
Wet-mix shotcrete, properly de-
signed and applied, has very little
rebound. Dry-mix shotcrete adheres
best and has the least rebound
when shot at the wettest stable con-
sistency. Adding too little water can
produce excess dust and rebound.
Using silica fume in dry-mix shot-
crete also helps minimize rebound.
O ve r s p ray is shotcrete material
deposited away from the intended
receiving surface. It’s usually carried
by nozzle air currents. Unlike re-
bound, fresh overspray can be in-
corporated into freshly applied
shotcrete without any adverse ef-
fects. Hardened ove r s p ra y, on the
other hand, should always be re-
moved. It can create porous zones
between successive layers of shot-
c re t e, which can cause delamina-
tions. Removal methods include
chipping, sandblasting, or high-
pressure waterblasting.
Finishing
A variety of surface finishes can
be achieved with shotcrete, from a
plain, sack-rubbed finish to a de-
tailed, sculpted finish simulating
natural rock (Figure 3). In repair ap-
plications where aesthetics is not a
concern, shotcrete left in its natural
gun finish usually is adequate. But
some repairs must conform to a
specific finished surface texture.
This can be achieved with appropri-
ate finishing procedures discussed
in References 1 and 2.
Wet-mix shotcrete is generally
easier to finish than dry-mix shot-
crete because it has a more work-
able consistency. Excess material is
trimmed, sliced, or scraped to grade
using a rod or trowel. This gives the
shotcrete a natural rod finish suffi-
cient for many remedial applica-
tions. Brooming, floating, or trowel-
ing the surface can produce other
textures.
Another approach to finishing is
applying a thin flash or finish coat
using a sanded mixture. Apply the
mixture at a plaster-like consistency,
then screed, float, or trowel to
achieve the required surface texture.
Dudley R. Morgan is chief materials
engineer for Hardy BBT Ltd., Burna-
by, BC, Canada. He also is a mem-
ber of American Concrete Institute
(ACI) Committee 506, Shotcre t e ,
and the Canadian representative for
the International Tunnelling Associa-
tion Shotcrete Working Group.
Acknowledgment
This article is condensed from a
paper Morgan prepared for presen-
tation at the CANMET International
Symposium on Advances in Con-
crete Technology in Athens, Greece,
May 1992.
References
1. ACI 506R-90, “Guide to Shotcrete,”
1990, American Concrete Institute,
Box 19150, Detroit, MI 48219.
2. T. R. Crom, “Dry-mix Shotcrete
Nozzling,” 1978, The Crom Corp.,
Gainesville, FL.
Publication # C910659
Copyright © 1991, The Aberdeen
Group. All rights reserved