Expertise
Reinforced concrete repair
Concrete never cracks by accident. Before you patch, you must understand why the steel expanded — otherwise the repair fails within eighteen months.
The real problem is not the concrete. It is the steel.
In sound concrete, steel does not rust: a pH of 13 forms a passive layer around it. Concrete is not merely a load-bearing material — it is a chemical environment.
Two phenomena destroy that protection. Carbonation: CO₂ from the air penetrates slowly, drives the pH below 9, and the passive layer disappears. Chlorides: near the sea, or on a salted structure, they puncture the passivation at discrete points, even at high pH.
Either way, the steel rusts. And rust occupies up to six times the volume of sound steel. It bursts the concrete from within — that is the spalling you can see. The crack is not the disease. It is the symptom.
Hence the rule that governs everything we do: patching without treating the cause simply seals the problem in. Fresh mortar covers corroding steel, corrosion continues in silence, and the structure bursts again — often right beside the repair.
Method
Our method, in five stages
Diagnosis
Damage survey, carbonation depth measurement (phenolphthalein), chloride content, rebar location, half-cell corrosion potential mapping, pull-off tests. We specify nothing before we know.
Breakout
Removal of all degraded concrete — and of anything that sounds hollow, however sound it looks. Full exposure of corroded bars around their entire circumference, with 20 mm clearance behind.
Steel treatment
Blast-cleaning to bright metal (Sa 2½). Replacement of any bar whose section is reduced by more than 20%. Application of a cementitious or epoxy passivating coating.
Reinstatement
Structural repair mortar, class R3 or R4 to EN 1504-3, compatible with the substrate in shrinkage, modulus and thermal expansion. Trowel-applied or dry-sprayed depending on volume.
Protection
This is the stage that gets cut, and the one that costs. Anti-carbonation coating, surface impregnation or cathodic protection, depending on the aggressiveness of the environment. Without it, you repair again in ten years.
When to call us
When to call us
- Spalling concrete exposing the reinforcement
- Rust staining on a façade, a column, a balcony
- Coastal structures showing premature deterioration
- Industrial structures exposed to effluents or acids
- A durability observation raised by an inspection body
- Section loss in a load-bearing element requiring strengthening
- Civil structures to rehabilitate: bridges, quays, tanks, silos
- Pre-works: assessment of actual condition and costing
Track record
What we have already repaired
Projects delivered by Jawad Izallalen under the PROJET-TS name, or in the course of his successive roles at SPTS, BASF and ADROC.
- Cooling structures at Tahaddart power station — structural repair and cathodic protection
- Concrete structures at Maroc Phosphore, Safi and Jorf Lasfar — severe acid environment
- Submerged caisson at Jorf Lasfar port, following a collision
- Crushers at the Zouérate iron ore mine, Mauritania
- Carbon plate strengthening of the fertiliser grinding unit, Jorf Lasfar
- Reinstatement of the reinforced concrete structure at the Alsa site, Bouskoura
Frequently asked
What we are asked most often
Do we really have to break out all the damaged concrete? It doubles the quote.
Yes — and this is precisely where a thirty-year repair diverges from a two-year one. Carbonated concrete left in place continues to depassivate the steel. Saving on breakout means funding a second intervention.
Can you repair without stopping production?
Usually yes, through phasing. We have worked on live phosphoric acid lines and on operating food-processing plants. It is planned in advance, with you.
How long does a proper repair last?
With a complete system — breakout, passivation, R4 mortar, surface protection — we target 25 to 30 years in a normal environment. In aggressive chemical conditions the surface protection must be periodically renewed; that is maintenance, not failure.
Does carbon fibre strengthening replace repair?
No. Carbon carries load; it does not cure corrosion. Bonding a plate over concrete whose steel is rusting simply hides the problem. Repair first, strengthen second.
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