Bruce Suprenant, Technical Director, The Voice Newsletter, September 2020

Recently two Hotline inquiries were looking for concrete repair products; one project in Iowa and one in Colorado. They were looking for products to recommend to the owner and architect/engineer for approval. There are many different repair products on the market for a variety of uses in different durability requirements. One of my favorite recommendations is to use a product approved by the Department of Transportation (DOT) in the state where the work will occur. The DOTs have an engineer review each product prior to granting approval. For concrete repair, I like to use DOT approved bridge deck repair products. For repair of parking lots, driveways and sidewalks, the bridge deck repair is overkill, but it always gets approved. Most DOTs approve multiple products from different manufacturers so you can consider a product that you are familiar with.

As an example, here is a search for concrete repair/patching products on the Colorado Department of Transportation Approved Products List (APL).

Also don’t forget to consider using the ASCC Contractor Email Forum. You can ask other contractors what products they have successfully used or even ask them about how contractor friendly a specific product is. Finally, don’t forget ASCC associate members that are manufacturers, distributors or suppliers of products. Many attend ASCC events and understand concrete contractor needs.