As the Australian civil engineering industry continues to expand, relationships between businesses will be key to ensuring projects are finished on time and to budget.
There are few companies that understand this process better than Willcen Australia. Predominately involved in water and wastewaster concrete assets, Willcen Australia appreciates the value of establishing good connections in the industry.
One example of this is with Bluey Technologies. For the last six years, Bluey and Willcen have shared resources and insight into the sewer environment, with Willcen taking advantage of the BluSeal AKS product in particular. According to Willcen, Bluey provides an effective alternative to some of the oldfashioned players in the market and is part of their unabating progress.
Clear benefits of BluSeal AKS
BluSeal AKS is a cast-in high density polyethylene sheet that becomes a chemically resistant, durable concrete protection membrane once welded. Depending on the performance application, the sheets come in various thicknesses – making it perfect for both new and existing concrete structures.
As the Engineering Manager at Willcen Australia for the past six years, Adrian Willingham has worked with the BluSeal AKS product across many projects up and down the country. His commitment to this particular product is unmistakable and is testament to how BluSeal AKS performs in the toughest sewer environments. Here are just three of its premium benefits.
- 100 year design life
One of the significant benefits of the BluSeal AKS product is that it has a guaranteed 100 year design life. Mr Willingham said the main alternatives of productive coatings to AKS are liquid applied – either printed or sprayed on – and will only realistically last five to 10 years before needing maintenance.
“Most projects are designed to last at least 100 years and the BluSeal AKS product is one of the only products that can achieve this,” he said.
“As the BluSeal AKS doesn’t need maintenance, routine inspections are not required.”
- High acid resistance
Like with many super coating products on the market, the hydrogen sulfate gas eats away at the concrete in the sewer environment. This essentially means that anywhere above the wet zone in the sewer, there could be dew or dust floating around which can corrode the infrastructure.
Mr Willingham said the BluSeal AKS and its properties resist this gas well and add real value to their projects.
Willcen has used AKS in a number of industrial applications, including factories and desalination plant tanks. These situations involve high acid and alkaline environments and AKS has performed very resiliently in every example.
- Abrasion resistance
Traditionally, to solve problems below the water line in sewers and drainage channels in industrial applications, there was one option for civil engineering businesses – 100mm to 400mm of sacrificial concrete that wears away during the life of the pipeline.
“Strangely, being a plastic which people consider softer than concrete, the BluSeal AKS performs well in the concrete abrasion and resistance tests,” Mr Willingham explained.
For example, in the situation of an aqueduct, less concrete is required. As such, the weight is reduced and there is less structural strength needed for the overall asset.
BluSeal AKS performance
Willcen understands the limitations of the sewer environment, yet has nothing but praise for the BluSeal AKS. The business has not had any callbacks on sewer applications and hasn’t seen any degradation or change in the pipelines.
“Sewers are incredibly harsh, both in relation to the chemicals and what is flushed down in the pipelines, but full marks to how the BluSeal AKS is performing,” Mr Willingham said.
Mr Willingham would recommend this product to any business working in tough environments such as the sewers. He noted that the ongoing support and technical expertise from Bluey means that companies can trust they are using the best products on the market.
If you wish to learn more about the BluSeal AKS product or any other available offering, contact the helpful team at Bluey today.
