North Portsea Island Phase 4b Update - Week 11

Concrete is like goldilocks’ porridge – conditions can’t be too hot or too cold – they need to be just right!

The walls at Portsea Phase 4 are being formed using a textured wall (mould) which is designed to retain water on the wall, which provides shelter for marine life to colonise. 

The texture is intricate and presents challenges.  The moulds need to be looked after to ensure consistency of the finish (any bangs or notches will show in the finish).  The concrete mix needs to be right to ensure the intricate texture of the mould is achieved. Plus the textured walls need to be prepared to ensure they will come away from the concrete without breaking off the textured pieces.

Recently, the hot weather has presented an additional challenge: concrete sets (hardens) more quickly in the heat and is more prone to cracking – not ideal when we are after an intricate high-quality finish, and a consistent finish across the whole scheme regardless of the weather! (Incidentally too cold, and the concrete takes longer to set, which is not ideal either, hence the likening of concrete with goldilocks’ porridge!).

This is managed by monitoring the weather and adjusting the finishing accordingly: when it is hot a curing agent is used over the top of the finished concrete to slow down the concrete setting­. This enables us to continually achieve a high quality finish.