Pavements could soon be saved from some of the ravages of the winter chill thanks to a new type of low-cost concrete that absorbs significantly less of the salt that gets spread on it annually.
Every year, salt – also known as sodium chloride – gets spread in vast quantities on roads and pavements to stop them freezing. Most of this salt is ultimately washed away, but large quantities are absorbed as salty water, which causes the concrete to deteriorate and steel within to rust and corrode.
Now, researchers from Brunel University London have devised a new concrete mix that absorbs 64% less water and 90% less salt than normal concrete, whilst being up to 42% stronger. It’s hoped the new mix could lead to pavements that are best placed to withstand their annual dousing of salt.
“Incorporation of a sodium acetate compound into concrete, at the mixing stage, works on absorbing some of the water to form crystals that line the walls of the pores in the concrete,” said Mazen Al-Kheetan, a PhD student at the Brunel’s department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, who is leading the project.
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