A recent addition of high-tech concrete equipment and enhanced processes at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Site is producing more durable and level flooring during construction, enhancing safety for U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management (EM) construction crews.
Office of Environmental Management
April 23, 2024
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Construction workers with U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management contractor Idaho Environmental Coalition employ advanced concrete equipment and processes to construct a new storage facility at the Idaho National Laboratory Site’s Integrated Waste Treatment Unit. These advancements have resulted in more protections for worker safety.
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho — A recent addition of high-tech concrete equipment and enhanced processes at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Site is producing more durable and level flooring during construction, enhancing safety for U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management (EM) construction crews.
Allen Nellesen, a manager for EM contractor Idaho Environmental Coalition (IEC), oversees radiation protection, safety and health at the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU) at the INL Site.
Nellesen said traditional concrete finishing methods are difficult and physically demanding. For example, workers were once required to tie rebar by hand, which increased the chance of back injuries, puncture wounds and other injuries caused by repetitive motions.
IEC now uses a remote-controlled soil compactor to prepare the ground surface; an automated rebar tier, which automatically connects the long, steel rods in the floor with wire; a ride-on trowel, which is a machine to evenly spread the poured concrete; and an automated laser leveling screed machine that smooths the freshly laid concrete floor. Some of this equipment employs the use of lasers to produce an extremely flat surface.
“Worker ergonomics and safety are always a concern,” Nellesen said. “But this new equipment is significantly reducing the amount of time it takes to get the work done and removing workers from potentially hazardous situations.”
In early 2023, IEC began construction on a second 20,000-square-foot storage building at the IWTU, which will be used to house dozens of concrete vaults containing stainless steel canisters of treated sodium-bearing waste. This new storage building is being built from steel and reinforced concrete, like the first storage building constructed, and requires adherence to strict design requirements.
Nellesen said the new advanced equipment has saved considerable time in tying more than 60 tons of rebar and pouring nearly 2,000 yards of concrete required in the floor for strength.
“The concrete pad has to hold up to the weight of full storage vaults, which can weigh more than 320,000 pounds each,” Nellesen said. “Also, precision is necessary to get the flatness and final finish required by the design.”
Construction is expected to be completed in 2025.
With the experience gained by using this high-tech equipment for the IWTU’s product storage building, EM will deploy crews in the future to pour a level concrete pad to be used by the Spent Nuclear Fuel Program for repackaging work.
-Contributor: Carter Harrison
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