Development and Field Placement of an Expansive Salt-Saturated Concrete (ESC) for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP).
Abstract
An expansive salt-saturated concrete (ESC) was proportioned for placement underground in halite rock at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) site, near Carlsbad, New Mexico. Requirements for this concrete were: (1) to be chemically compatible with the host rock; (2) to remain pumpable for four hours: (3) to give net volume increase beginning at an early age, and continuing until creep closure of the salt assures sealing at the rock interface; and (4) to cure to a solid with extremely low permeability and fairly high strength. ESC was proportioned and placed underground at the WIPP in two successful field tests during FY 85 and FY 86. This report is the first of three reports about this concrete. It describes (1) the development of ESC in the laboratory, and (2) the mixture properties prior to final set. It summarizes field placement activities in July 1985 and February 1986, when ESC was placed in test holes underground at the WIPP for two series of Small-Scale Seal Performance Tests (SSSPT). It gives data from tests of expansive behavior of the concrete at early ages and under simulated repository conditions. The second report will describe expansive behavior of ESC relative to several variables that could have an impact on its field performance and long-term stability, as determined during laboratory testing. It also will discuss possible explanations of the rather extraordinary suite of properties exhibited by ESC, as controlled by its chemical composition. The third report will describe laboratory studies of the mechanism of set retardation in a grout derived from this concrete. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 1986
- Accession Number
- ADA175199
Entities
People
- Donald M. Walley
- Lillian D. Wakeley