Abstract
M.Ing.
Maintaining and repairing building stock, repair and replacement of the infrastructure,
has been a facet of the European building industry for more than 50 years.
Deterioration of structures to a level that renders them unusable is a more recent
occurrence in South Africa. World-wide changes in the proportion of construction expenditure on new construction and repair and refurbishing of existing structures has occurred only the last two decades. Today, nearly 50 % of such expenditure is on repair and renovation in comparison to proportions of 30 % of previous years. Projections indicate that this trend will continue at least to the next coming century. 1171 Such a substantial proportion of construction expenditure must be expected to influence the market for repair materials, specialized techniques and services. Therefore, a good understanding of the all range of modern concrete repair materials, associated techniques and services as well as latest developments in concrete rehabilitation technology is a prerequisite for designers and users of concrete structures.
The following pages attempt to present the basic background of modern concrete
repair approaches with regard to the intended use of building structures. They will
also deal with the management of a repair project with realkalisation as a remediation
strategy. The present condition of the Rand Afrikaans University main campus
buildings will serve as a case study model.