There’s a lot of concrete in New York City. Combined with glass and steel, the weight of the often-named concrete jungle is reputed to be 762 million tons (1.68 trillion pounds) according to researchers at the United States Geological Survey (USGS).So, making sure it’s up to the task of supporting everyday life in the city isa responsibility that falls to all building owners. That could mean the concrete that towers elegantly above, supports our feet on the sidewalks, braces the subway walls or anywhere in between.
At CANY, we have engineers and technicians qualified and accredited by the American Concrete Institute (ACI) and New York’s Department of Buildings (DOB) to analyze concrete, at any level and advise the best way to repair or replace it.
Concrete, defined bythe ACI as a mixture of hydraulic cement, aggregates, and water, with orwithout admixtures, fibers, or other cementitious materials, is never justconcrete. Strong, sustainable andfortifying against the elements, it usually has some form of steel reinforcement,which gives it incredible strength but can also be the source of its weakness.If water finds its way in, no matter through how small an opening, it can causethe steel to rust, expand, and create spalls and cracks that will fragment anddetach.
Concrete can also fail because it wasn’t mixed properly or poured with too much air or water. Slabs can be defeated by nature, penetrated by growing vegetative roots, or heave and crack during freeze and thaw cycles if not given proper expansion joints.
Whatever the cause, CANY has the technicalability and experience to understand how the integrity of the concrete has beencompromised, and how to resolve it. When properly managed and maintained,concrete is a wonder material, the most widely used substance on the planet,after water. We know how important it is to the safety and infrastructure ofNew York, how it underpins the very foundations of the city, and can work withyou to determine the source of an issue before it becomes a problem.
