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Waterproofing System for Train Unloading pit in Florida

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Berniedog

Structural
Dec 19, 2005
200
I need help. We are designing a train unloading pit in Florida with a high water table. What would you recommend as a waterproofing system for the walls of the pit? We don't need a cadillac but we should have something better than just tarring the walls.
 
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Berniedog:
Cadillacs leak too. But, if you want it to be waterproof, is should be a real water barrier, not just some damp proofing on the walls. It should span and move with conc. wall cracks, construction joints, etc. You might also include water stops and the like in construction joints. You probably need to dewater the site for construction.

You start with the soil base under the floor slab on grade, put a few inches of clean sand on it and lay down rubber sheet material, by a number of different manufacturers. All joints btwn. sheets are sealed, and this goes under the slab and wall footings, and wraps up the outer walls some distance. A few inches of sand atop the rubber membrane, maybe some insulation board, protects it during construction. It is adhered to the wall above the footing. Maybe there is a drain tile system at the bot. of footing elevation if the water table isn’t too high and/or constant in existence and high elevation, as in your case. Then, the walls are covered with the rubber sheeting too. Again, all joints btwn. sheets are sealed, shingle style or otherwise, and this material is adhered to the vert. wall plane, with a proper termination detail at the top, above grade. This membrane is usually protected with an outer layer of some sort which protects during backfilling and during its life. Watch out for buoyancy when the outside water level is high on the tank wall.
 
Thanks dhengr. Any Manufacturer's names and model number?
 
At a new electric generating station, we constructed an 80' deep coal rail car unloading pit. Year round groundwater level just below the surface of the soil. Waterproofed the outside walls of the concrete structure with bentonite panels.

Used good practice for water resistant concrete such as waterstops, as dhengr mentioned.

[idea]
[r2d2]
 
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