Located about five miles southeast of Texas’ capital city, on the site of what was once Bergstrom Air Force Base, Austin-Bergstrom International Airport serves the greater Austin metropolitan area. It has two runways and three helipads. The commercial airport has been experiencing record passenger growth and has undertaken expansion projects as a result.

One such project is a new four-story parking structure. However, during construction, many imperfections were found in the concrete at three of the four levels. The imperfections were caused by the wood formwork used around the perimeter of the three floors. There were also elevation problems, in which the floor was left low when the topping was applied.

Querrey Concrete, the contractor who poured the majority of the concrete for this project, was able to fix the issue by returning to the site to roughen up the portions of concrete that were too smooth, cleaning those areas and prewetting them with clean water, and then applying the repair material in thicknesses greater than half inch. Rapid Set® Cement All® was used for thicknesses up to 4 inches and Rapid Set® Mortar Mix was used for thicker applications.

The Rapid Set® products were chosen because specifications for the repair work called for a fast-setting and high-strength material. The material was mixed via mechanical mixer and the topping was applied manually, with hand trowels. The surface was then water cured and broom finished.