Waterproofing of Civil Engineering Structures

Waterproofing of civil engineering structures involves the waterproofing and sealing of all types of non-building structures. Traveter carries out waterproofing works on bridges, tunnels, viaducts, wind turbines, shafts, and wells. We install SBS roll membranes as well as epoxy and polyurethane-based surface coatings.

Over the years, we have also undertaken many interesting, exciting, and highly challenging construction projects on various engineering structures, some of which we will describe below.

Estonia Mine

One of the most interesting structures we have helped reconstruct and waterproof is the main receiving bunker of the Enefit Power AS Estonia Mine, located 70 meters underground, specifically the restoration of its reinforced concrete walls. The client scheduled just 5 working days for the project, from Thursday morning to Monday evening. If the main bunker stops, the entire mine stops, which is why the execution time was so strict. However, the Traveter Group team managed to apply 60 tons of shotcrete, along with the installation of reinforcement mesh, in just four days. This meant that a total of 10 men worked around the clock in two 12-hour shifts for four consecutive days. The scope of work involved adding reinforcement mesh to the worn walls of the concrete main bunker and building up the wall with shotcrete by 200 mm to 500 mm to achieve a perfectly straight surface. The bunker walls wear down because the main bunker receives all the excavated rock mass, and due to the constant friction against the concrete walls, they become too thin over the years. Therefore, every 10+ years, the bunker walls need to be renewed by adding a new layer of concrete.

Wind Farms

Wind farms have also provided us with interesting and challenging projects, such as the sealing and repair of wind turbine towers for Nelja Energia AS (Vanaküla, Viru-Nigula, and Aseriaru wind farms) and Eesti Energia AS (Aulepa wind farm). These works had to be carried out from mobile elevating work platforms at a height of approximately 50 meters. All of these wind farms featured similar turbines, meaning the first 50 meters from the ground is a concrete tower and the next 50 meters is a steel tower. And all the turbines suffered from the same problem: rainwater was leaking into the turbines through the joint between the concrete and steel sections. Consequently, when Eesti Energia AS was the first to approach us with this issue, we recommended using a liquid plastic membrane to seal this connection detail. Due to its excellent properties, liquid plastic has thoroughly proven itself in such joints around the world.

Our main material suppliers are Primostar OÜ and Soprema.