Shotcrete

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A building worker is spraying shotcrete on welded wire mesh

Shotcrete nozzle with 75 mmconcrete hose from line pump and 20 mm compressed air line.

Shotcrete swimming pool under construction in Northern Australia.

A 76 mm borehole in fibre reinforced shotcrete on a tunnel wall

A shotcrete curvelinear wall at theMuseum of the History of Polish Jews inWarsaw, Poland

Shotcrete-stabilizedcliff above amotorway in New Zealand

Shotcrete is concrete (or sometimes mortar) conveyed through a hose

and pneumatically projected at high velocity onto a surface, as a construction technique. It is
reinforced by conventional steel rods, steel mesh, and/or fibers. Fiber reinforcement (steel or
synthetic) is also used for stabilization in applications such as slopes or tunneling
Shotcrete is usually an all-inclusive term for both the wet-mix and dry-mix versions. In pool
construction, however, the term "shotcrete" refers to wet-mix and "gunite" to dry-mix. In this
context, these terms are not interchangeable (see "Shotcrete vs. gunite" discussion below).
Shotcrete is placed and compacted at the same time, due to the force with which it leaves the
nozzle. It can be sprayed onto any type or shape of surface, including vertical or overhead
areas.
Contents
[hide]

1 History

2 Dry mix vs. wet mix

3 Shotcrete machines

4 Shotcrete vs. gunite

5 Reinforcement

6 See also

7 Notes

8 External links

History[edit]
Shotcrete, then known as gunite (/gnt/), was invented in 1907 by American taxidermist Carl
Akeley to repair the crumbling facade of the Field Columbian Museum in Chicago (the old
Palace of Fine Arts from the World's Columbian Exposition).[1] He used the method of blowing
dry material out of a hose with compressed air, injecting water at the nozzle as it was released.
In 1911, he was granted a patent for his inventions, the "cement gun", the equipment used, and
"gunite", the material that was produced. There is no evidence that Akeley ever used sprayable
concrete in his taxidermy work, as is sometimes suggested. F. Trubee Davison covered this
and other Akeley inventions in a special issue of Natural History magazine[2]
Until the 1950s when the wet-mix process was devised, only the dry-mix process was used. In
the 1960s, the alternative method for gunning by the dry method was devised with the
development of the rotary gun, with an open hopper that could be fed continuously. Shotcrete
is also a viable means and method for placing structural concrete.
The nozzleman is the person controlling the nozzle that delivers the concrete to the surface.
The nozzle is controlled by hand on small jobs, for example the construction of small swimming
pools. On larger work the nozzle can sometimes be held by mechanical arms where the
nozzleman controls the operation by a hand-held remote control.

Dry mix vs. wet mix[edit]

The dry mix method involves placing the dry ingredients into a hopper and then conveying
them pneumatically through a hose to the nozzle. The nozzleman controls the addition of water
at the nozzle. The water and the dry mixture is not completely mixed, but is completed as the
mixture hits the receiving surface. This requires a skilled nozzleman, especially in the case of
thick or heavily reinforced sections. Advantages of the dry mix process are that the water
content can be adjusted instantaneously by the nozzleman, allowing more effective placement
in overhead and vertical applications without using accelerators. The dry mix process is useful
in repair applications when it is necessary to stop frequently, as the dry material is easily
discharged from the hose.
Wet-mix shotcrete involves pumping of a previously prepared concrete, typically ready-mixed
concrete, to the nozzle. Compressed air is introduced at the nozzle to impel the mixture onto
the receiving surface. The wet-process procedure generally produces less rebound, waste
(when material falls to the floor), and dust compared to the (dry-mix process). The greatest
advantage of the wet-mix process is all the ingredients are mixed with the water and additives
required, also larger volumes can be placed in less time than the (Dry- P).

Shotcrete machines[edit]
Shotcrete machines are available which control complete process and made it very fast and
easy. 'Manual and mechanical methods are used for the wet spraying process, but wet sprayed
concrete is traditionally applied by machine. The high spray outputs and large cross-sections
require the work to be mechanised. Concrete spraying systems with duplex pumps are mainly
used for working with wet mixes. Unlike conventional concrete pumps, these systems have to

meet the additional requirement of delivering a concrete flow that is as constant as possible,
and therefore continuous, to guarantee homogeneous spray application'. [3]

Shotcrete vs. gunite[edit]

Shotcrete is an all-inclusive term that describes spraying concrete or mortar with either a dry or
wet mix process. However, shotcrete may also sometimes be used (incorrectly) to distinguish
wet-mix from the dry-mix method. The term shotcrete was first defined by the American
Railway Engineers Association (AREA) in the early 1930s.[4] By 1951, shotcrete had become
the official generic name of the sprayed concrete processwhether it utilizes the wet or dry
process.[4]
Gunite was, at one time, a trademarked name that specifically refers to the dry-mix shotcrete
process. In the dry-mix process, the dry sand and cement mixture is blown through a hose
using compressed air, with water being injected at the nozzle to hydrate the mixture,
immediately before it is discharged onto the receiving surface. Gunite was the original term
coined by Akeley, trad