norman
country-financial
March 29, 2024 2:59 am
Your hometown Newspaper since 1987.
Search
Close this search box.

Delicious Moapa Valley…Concrete?

By Matthew Noto


“Delicious Concrete?” Perhaps not to you or to me, but clearly “something” finds our Southern Nevada concrete to be quite palatable. If this were not so, our beautiful driveways, sidewalks, patios, and foundations might appear nearly as pristine as the day that they were finished.

Concrete damage is taking place in Southern Nevada and Utah in as few as three years after being placed, while any cementations product including pavers, cinder block, and retaining wall block are also being affected.

The secondary cause of this damage is the sodium in our water and that while uninformed, we continue to pour “normal” concrete on some of the most abnormal and chemically active soil on the planet. The primary culprits are Salts and Alkali left behind from the evaporation of the ocean that once existed in The Great Basin (which we call home).

Discovering the presence of alkali (white powder) on the concrete around your home or business is never good news as this would indicate that the damage has already begun and that your options are few.

You may consider having a professional overlay company resurface the top layer of your concrete. Remember that unless treated completely, the concrete below the repair is still permeated with active alkali which will eventually cause the new surface to delaminate while your concrete continues to decreasing in density.

There is a solution. Dr. Rusinoff (Inventor or Kalmatron Products) has had much success with concrete mix designs used in conditions world-wide that are much worse than ours. He has recently visited our fair valley and has collected samples of our soil, water, and alkali for testing. Said Dr. Rusinoff, “Although the Kalmatron Cement matrix will withstand your soil and water conditions, we want to be certain that there are no issues with the aggregates becoming dissolved.”

The Kalmatron® concept was discovered by Dr. Alex V. Rusinoff in 1982. The Kalmatron® theory created different mechanisms of cement grain decay, which gives numerous technologies for repair and building of new structures with highest performance of durability to include exposure to aggressive media such as alkali and acids.

Experimental approval of the Kalmatron® theory “Rusinoff’s Osmotic Oscillator” was published in Dundee University, Scotland, in 1990. Patents issued for conceptual products are registered in the United States of America #5,728,208; #5,728,428. The trademark Kalmatron® is registered in the USA #2,724,832. The unique admixtures provide the highest performance of given functions and economical advantages.

Some of the finest examples of long-lasting concrete can be found at The Pantheon (31 B.C.) and The Coliseum in Rome, Italy (80 A.D.) both of which were built without steel reinforcement. Even the Hoover Dam appears to be holding up very well in our local alkali water after 75 years of exposure. The technology existed at the time of their construction and it has greatly been improved upon since that time.

John Lamping of Moapa Valley Concrete, Matt Noto of Wall-Worx, LLC, and Brent Thompson of RMI have recently had the opportunity to participate in a demonstration where decorative concrete acid stain was applied to samples of Kalmatron concrete taken from one of their jobs. They found that the stain did not effect a color change when applied to the Kalmatron samples as it would otherwise have done when applied to “normal” concrete.

Kalmatron is considered a Green building material as there is a 14% reduction in the use of water in the mix while no water is used for the curing process. Since Kalmatron concrete is non-porous, it is much easier to clean, saving even more water over the course of its useful life. Noteworthy is the fact that The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has approved the use of Kalmatron concrete in their potable water systems because of its extremely low maintenance requirements and absence of harmful chemicals.

Thanks to Dr. Rusinoff’s Kalmatron development, we Nevadans can now choose to affordably protect our concrete investments while reducing or completely eliminating the need for concrete repair, replacement, and maintenance.

Matthew Noto is an owner of Wallworks LLC a local concrete company providing special services in concrete repair, decorative concrete and more.

Print This Article:

Share This Article:

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Screen Shot 2023-02-05 at 10.55.46 PM
2-21-2024-fullpagefair
4 Youth Service WEB
2-28-2024 WEB Hole Foods St Patricks
No data was found
2023 WEB BANNER 2 DEFAULT AD whitneyswater
Mesquite Works Web Ad 10-2020
Scroll to Top
Receive the latest news

Subscribe To Our Weekly Newsletter

Get notified about new articles