Cooling Tower Basin Lining
Spalled, cracking cooling tower basin rebuilt and lined as one watertight barrier without tearing out the slab.
What was failing
A cooling tower cold-water basin holds the circulating water before it heads back to the plant, so the floor and walls have to stay sound and tight. Over time the concrete spalled and cracked at the floor and at the base of the walls, and the treated water started working into the slab and seeping out through the cracks. That loss of water and treatment chemistry matters because it undercuts the slab, carries the corrosion path deeper into the concrete, and means the basin can no longer be trusted to hold what it is supposed to hold. The owner needed the basin sealed and back in service without tearing out and recasting the structure.
How AAS approaches it
We start by chipping out the unsound and delaminated concrete down to a solid base so the repair has something to grab. We rebuild the spalled floor and wall sections with a Belzona 4000 Series repair mortar that cures in a damp basin, which lets us work the surface without fighting to get it bone dry first. We reprofile the floor and walls back flat and even, then line the whole basin with a Belzona 5000 Series coating that holds back the circulating water and the treatment chemistry. By taking the cracks, the rebuilt areas, and the sound concrete under one continuous lining, we close off the leak path the basin had developed and give the owner a single barrier across the floor and walls.
Assess and chip out
We sound the floor and walls to find the spalled and delaminated concrete and the active cracks, then chip the unsound material back to a solid base.
Surface prep
We clean and profile the exposed concrete so both the rebuild mortar and the lining bond to a sound surface.
Rebuild floor and walls
We rebuild the spalled floor and wall sections with a damp-cure repair mortar that takes in the basin without needing the concrete fully dried out.
Reprofile and line
We reprofile the surface flat, then line the basin floor and walls with a coating that seals the cracks and holds back the circulating water and treatment chemistry.
Inspect and return to service
We check the lining for continuity over the repairs and the cracks, then turn the basin back over to the plant.
The result
From the job
Repair and protection work of this kind, performed by AAS crews across Louisiana.
Capabilities used here
Where this work happens
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