Western Australia, Australia SRCP has sold another role of Zinc Layer Anode (ZLA) to Duratec Pty Ltd for the corrosion protection at cracks in a structure where super-saline conditions put reinforcement crossing cracks in a shaft wall at risk.

The shaft walls were heavily reinforced to control cracking and his client was pleased with the outcome as very few leaking cracks occurred even at high groundwater pressures. In accordance with the designers original plan the few cracks that did leak had to be sealed to prevent saline water running over internal surfaces and mechanical and electrical equipment. In view of the high saline contents ZLA was applied to the concrete adjacent to the crack to cathodically protect the reinforcement. The system was employed after successful earlier usage of the system.

ZLA was developed over 10 years ago as a simple and cost effective method of applying cathodic protection. It comprises a zinc sheet with self adhesive backing. Peel off the protective backing, push the zinc sheet onto the cleaned concrete surface and make an electrical connection to the reinforcement. Instant cathodic protection. What makes the system very clever is the adhesive which has been formulated to also act as a zinc activator, and essential part of using zinc in concrete as an anode.

In many situation corrosion of reinforcement at relatively small cracks is not considered an issue but where the cracks are flushed with saline water corrosion is initiated and simply sealing the crack may not be sufficient to stop corrosion at the crack. Cathodic protection of the reinforcement crossing the crack by any mean removes the risk but ZLA is the lowest cost CP system available.

About the company:

SRCP is an Australian and New Zealand supplier of impressed current and sacrificial anode cathodic protection systems for reinforced concrete and masonry structures. Our Principle target is concrete repair.