NEW YORK STATE'S EXPERIENCE IN USE OF SILICONES

THE WATER SOLUBLE SILICONE WAS SELECTED FOR MONTHS OF TESTING WITH VARIOUS TYPES OF CONCRETE MIXES. THIS WAS NECESSARY AS THE USE OF SILICONES PRIOR TO THIS TIME HAD BEEN LIMITED PRIMARILY TO BUILDING MATERIALS. TESTING METHODS WERE DEVELOPED THAT WOULD APPROXIMATE FIELD CONDITIONS APPLICABLE TO BRIDGE CONSTRUCTION. PARTICULAR ATTENTION WAS GIVEN TO RATE OF ABSORPTION OF WATER, FREEZING AND THAWING, RESISTANCE TO ACTION OF SODIUM CHLORIDE AND LIGHT REFLECTANCE. IN 1954, FIELD TEST EXPERIMENTS WERE MADE ON 13 PANELS OF THE NEW YORK STATE THRUWAY. SILICONE TREATMENT OF VARYING CONCENTRATIONS FROM ONE-HALF OF 1 PERCENT TO 5 PERCENT WERE PLACED ON FIVE PANELS. SIX PANELS HAD NO TREATMENT AND WERE USED FOR CONTROL AND TWO PANELS WERE TREATED WITH A PETROLEUM DISTILLATE. A RETREATMENT OF THE PANELS WITH A 2 PERCENT SILICONE WAS MADE IN NOVEMBER OF 1956. THE RATE OF APPLICATION VARIED WITH THE PERCENTAGE OF CONCENTRATION IN THE ORIGINAL TREATMENT, INDICATING A DEFENSE IN DEPTH AFTER TWO YEARS USE. THE FASCIA AND PIER FACINGS IN THE APPROACHING LANE OF ONE STRUCTURE OVER THE NEW YORK STATE THRUWAY WERE TREATED FOR STUDY OF LIGHT REFLECTANCE ON SILICONE TREATED CONCRETE. IN JUNE 1955 AN INTERIM SPECIFICATION WAS DRAWN FOR THE USE OF WATER SOLUBLE SILICONE ON ALL EXPOSED CONCRETE IN NEW STRUCTURES. THIS SPECIFICATION IS NOW INCORPORATED IN THE LATEST EDITION OF THE PUBLIC WORKS SPECIFICATIONS ADOPTED JANUARY 2, 1957. THERE ARE TEN STRUCTURES THAT HAVE BEEN COMPLETED UTILIZING WATER SOLUBLE SILICONE WHICH HAVE BEEN OPENED TO TRAFFIC FOR AT LEAST ONE WINTER SEASON. INSPECTION OF THESE STRUCTURES IN OCTOBER OF 1957 SHOWS NO DETERIORATION OR SPALLING OF THE CONCRETE. /AUTHOR/

• Record URL:
  • http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrbbulletin/197/197-002.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • No 197, pp 13-23, 13 FIG Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
• Authors:
  • Britton, H B
• Publication Date: 1958

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Pagination: 11p
• Monograph Title: Improving the water repellency of hardened concrete
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Board Bulletin
  • Issue Number: 197
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Absorption; Admixtures; Concentration (Chemistry); Concrete; Concrete bridges; Durability; Field tests; Freeze thaw durability; Light; Performance based specifications; Reflectivity; Silicones; Sodium chloride; Specifications; Test procedures; Water
• Uncontrolled Terms: Concentration; Reflectance
• Old TRIS Terms: Concrete bridge structures; Freezing thawing effects
• Subject Areas: Geotechnology; Highways; Materials;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00213234
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Aug 19 1994 12:00AM