Kryton International Provides ‘Smart Concrete’ Solutions
A Canadian company with more than 50 years in business is seeking to bring its concrete waterproofing and durability enhancing products to the river industry.
Kryton International is based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and has been in business since 1973, with about 70 percent of its work focused on commercial new construction, said Kevin Yuers, vice president-product development. The company offers a variety of “smart concrete solutions.”
Kryton’s Krystol Internal Membrane is a powder that is mixed with concrete to form crystals that resist water penetration. It was originally introduced for use in residential basements. The company then expanded its use to include commercial projects, including water reservoirs, sewage treatment sites, dams and tunnels.
Normally, concrete is reinforced with steel, which creates problems when water penetrates it.
“If water penetrates, it’s going to corrode,” Yuers said. “It’s going to rust.”
That creates cracks that allow more water to get in.
“And it’s even much worse in a marine environment, especially saltwater,” Yuers said.
While traditional construction methods call for using a greater percentage of cement to create more durable concrete, “In this day, adding more and more cement is not the answer,” Yuers said. “You’re greatly increasing the carbon footprint of your venture.”
Instead, Krystol technology reacts with moisture to form insoluble needle-shaped crystals that fill capillary pores and tiny cracks in the concrete. These block the pathways for water and waterborne contaminants.
Krystol Internal Membrane chemically reacts with water and cement particles so that any moisture introduced over the lifespan of the concrete will initiate crystallization, helping to ensure permanent waterproofing and watertightness protection.
Kryton International also has launched a product line intended to increase concrete durability. When mixed into concrete, Hard-Cem fortifies existing cement paste to increase the concrete’s resistance to abrasion and erosion.
Yuers said Hard-Cem has been shown to “at least double the life of concrete that is exposed to harsh abrasion or erosion.”
It has been effectively used as an industrial flooring as well as in commercial mining operations, he said.
Yuers sees potential for products like Hard-Cem to be useful in building concrete infrastructure.
“You expect the stuff you build today to last much longer than you did in the past,” he said.
Hard-Cem, Yuers said, can help achieve long-lasting results while only adding about 10 percent to a project’s concrete cost, much less than some other products.
“By using these new technologies, you can greatly extend the life of all these structures,” Yuers said.
For those seeking to waterproof existing concrete, such as at ports and lock and dam facilities, Kryton International also offers surface-applied waterproofing and concrete repair technologies.
“Any kind of polymer coating or tar or petroleum-based coating is going to be at best on day one and then get worse over time until it fails, whereas our product is really kind of at its worst on day one and then grows and matures and gets better with time, so it’s going to be the only strategy that’s going to give concrete structures a really, really strong service life,” Yuers said.
Some of Kryton International’s products have already been used in marine environments, including dam spillways and bridge abutments in high-flowing water, Yuers said. He also pointed out examples of jetty construction at a naval base in Victoria, Canada, and in waterproofing at another naval base in Halifax. Additionally, Yuers said, Kryton International products were used in dam projects in northern British Columbia, on the White River in Ontario and at a dam near Guadalajara, Mexico.
Kryton International also has been recognized within the United States, winning “most innovative product” awards at the World of Concrete Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, in multiple years.
For more information about Kryton International, visit www.kryton.com.