Placing Shotcrete Expertly and Cost-effectively

At The Conco Companies, our shotcrete services provide an excellent alternative to traditional cast-in-place walls.  Since shotcrete is pneumatically placed, it virtually eliminates the forming process, saving time and money, while still offering the same structural characteristics as traditional concrete methods.  It is used for a wide range of applications including retaining walls, shear walls, and architectural walls as well as soil nailing and slope pavement.    

An example of a project that Conco provided cost-effective shotcrete solutions for was the Mark, a 48-story high-rise tower in Seattle, WA.  The 528,000 sq. ft. building consists of Class A+ office space and the luxurious 189-room SLS Hotel and Spa.  In addition to the 5,000 cubic yard mat foundation pour we did that required almost 500 truckloads of concrete, the project included a sub-level parking structure with shotcrete perimeter walls and a concrete elevator core.   

A few years ago we also served as the General Contractor on a design-build parking structure for the Brio apartment complex in Walnut Creek, CA.  The project included the construction of a five-story; cast-in-place parking structure with stalls for 471 vehicles and chargers for electric vehicles.  To complete the project we placed 159,028 square feet of concrete, 750,000 lbs. of reinforced steel, and 1,500 cubic yards of shotcrete. 

Another type of shotcrete project we worked on was the Enfrente Pathway, a 0.6-mile, multi-use trail that provided a critical link to central and south Novato.  Soil nails were installed to retain the hillside and we applied sculpted shotcrete as a finish over the walls.   

Depending on the type of application, a shotcrete mix can be customized with additives or admixtures.  For instance when silica fume is added, it reduces permeability, increases the compressive and flexural strength, and offers better resistance to alkali and chemical attacks.  To improved pumpability and adhesion in wet-process shotcrete and for freeze-thaw durability, air-entraining admixtures can be added to the shotcrete.  To control cracking and improve impact resistance, different fibers are used or accelerators are added to improve placement characteristics in adverse conditions or increase production capabilities.   

The Conco Companies’ mission is to be the best supplier of concrete services in the Western United States and to bring expertise, experience and quality to each project.  We continue to upgrade and expand facilities to better serve the growing market for public works projects, commercial, parking structures, educational, and other construction development. We serve California, Washington State, Oregon, Colorado and Nevada.