RepairQ I am working on a restoration of a small 1870s train station constructed of serpentine stone in the Philadelphia, PA, area. In many areas the stone has deteriorated, leaving deep “divets” in the exterior wall faces and, in some cases, there is no stone at all. Our intent is to build (infill) the walls back to a flush face for stucco treatment for the lower portions of the wall and to repair or replace stone above that point. Is there a minimum amount of treatment recommended for a shotcrete application? If it can be used for such an application, is reinforcement required? The stone is rather friable and I don’t want to attach too much to it for fear of further damaging the stone.
This is a great application for shotcrete placement of high-quality concrete without formwork. If you are merely adding shotcrete to fill out to a uniform surface profile without any structural requirements you may not need reinforcement. However, it may still be advisable to include fibers in the shotcrete mixture to help control plastic shrinkage cracking. Generally, you would want to keep a minimum thickness of 1 in. (25 mm) to provide enough thickness for finishing. If you need the shotcreted sections to be self-supporting and carry loads as structural concrete, you should consult with a structural engineer to determine the appropriate thickness and reinforcement for the expected loads. Shotcrete is a placement method for concrete, so standard reinforced concrete design is appropriate for shotcreted sections.