not a disaster (yet), but certainly a rework failure 2

[djhurayt]

Clemson University student apartments at 114 Earle which opened in August 2017 has experienced first floor concrete cracking and settlement.

Apparently they attempted to repair the cracks via expanding foam. However the crack seem to have effected more than just the floor. It looks like the sewer system may have been compromised also.

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Oooopsy

 

[JG2828]

Missing Links:

https://www.independentmail.com/sto...tructural-issues-sinking-downtown/2766491002/

https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/state/south-carolina/article225540810.html

 

[TehMightyEngineer]

Hahahah. That's amazing; talk about making a bad problem worse.

Ian Riley, PE, SE
Professional Engineer (ME, NH, VT, CT, MA, FL) Structural Engineer (IL, HI)
American Concrete Industries

https://americanconcrete.com/

 

[dgallup]

And Clemson is an Engineering school ...

I think we need to put a hold on hiring from them.

----------------------------------------

The Help for this program was created in Windows Help format, which depends on a feature that isn't included in this version of Windows.

 

[BridgeSmith]

Whoever was doing the deep-injection foam (Uretek?) probably feels pretty stupid about now...

 

[TehMightyEngineer]

What's the removal process for expanding foam in an inaccessible area like the plumbing? I've never found a solvent that worked to remove solidified expanding foam. Methylene chloride? MEK?

Ian Riley, PE, SE
Professional Engineer (ME, NH, VT, CT, MA, FL) Structural Engineer (IL, HI)
American Concrete Industries

https://americanconcrete.com/

 

[IRstuff]

Loose MEK is not exactly a safe and sane thing.

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKorP55Aqvg

faq731-376 forum1529 Entire Forum list

http://www.eng-tips.com/forumlist.cfm

 

[BridgeSmith]

Assuming PVC piping was used, there's likely nothing that will work on the foam that won't dissolve the pipes also. Most likely all of that sewer line will have to be replaced or abandoned, and new lines run.

 

[Compositepro]

A roto-rooter will do it.

 

[oldestguy]

Foam guys probably were paid by the cubic yard injected. However let's wait for an engineering report by a non-university company.

 

[epoxybot]

A look at google street view and the History (street view) shows a lot of soil work, spread out over time, during the course of construction.

Larger Photos:
Link
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[pmover]

Um, must of hired a bunch of freshman engineering students . . .

 

[ornerynorsk]

Roto-Rooter might be able to mechanically remove some or most of the foam, but the inside of the pipes are going to be rough as a cob and will create nothing but problems in the future. Vents would need to be done, as well. Best bet is to tear out and replace.

It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.

 

[BridgeSmith]

Somewhere the foam had to get into the lines, which means there's at least one hole in the sewer line. If it's similar to the system we've specified in the past, the injection probe had to have broken into the sewer line and the pressure near the injection site likely burst a significant length of the line.

 

[charliealphabravo]

...or perhaps a broken sewer line and loss of soil explains the original cracking and settlement of the slab.

 

[Spartan5]

This looks like a job for the worlds smallest tunnel boring machine.

 

[itsmoked]

I'm confused. Isn't the concrete part of the structure's.. support? How do you fix concrete cracks with some foam, especially cracks so big foam is even considered as some sort of wholesale jumbo crack-filler?

Keith Cress
kcress -

http://www.flaminsystems.com

 

[hokie66]

Keith,
I think the foam would have been intended to arrest settlement, not fix cracks in the concrete. The cracks could have partly been the result of the settlement.

This is going to involve some substantial demolition. I would start at that toilet, especially if it is the only one. The broken plumbing line/connection hopefully is not far away.

 

[Spartan5]

All I have to say, having gotten some of that stuff on my fingers before, is thank god someone wasn't on the can when that stuff erupted [flush]

 

[racookpe1978]

How much additional concrete cracking was "caused" by the expanding foam in confined spaces?