This diploma thesis is aimed at verifying the properties of joints of waterproofing membranes generaly used in underground constructions and also deals with the possible addition of a swelling profile as a barrier to permeating water through the defect in the waterproofing system. The most commonly used materials for waterproofing membranes are polymers. The work is focused on verifying the properties of automatic and manual welding joints of polyvinylchloride membrane. In actual practice, there is a pressure test being used for automatic weldings, and for manual weldings there are tests with a tear-off needle and a vacuum bell. In the laboratory, it is also possible to verify the joints using a peeling test and determining the shear strength of the joint using a testing device. In case of damaged waterproofing system and soaking of pressurized water, it is possible to use a swellable strip as a barrier for the water leaking from one injection compartment to another. At the end of the thesis there is a comparison of the waterproofing system without the swelling profile and the system including its application. The swelling profile has shown very good properties with regard to the infiltration of the flowing water into its structure, and so the amount of water that could be applied to the sample with the swelling profile was much higher than in the case of the generaly used waterproofing system.

The objective of this research was to assess the condition of four decommissioned bridge decks treated with waterproofing membranes and asphalt overlays following the completion of their service lives. Large samples were cut from each of the bridge decks immediately prior to demolition and taken to the Brigham Young University Highway Materials Laboratory, where extensive sampling and testing was performed. Methods used to evaluate the condition of the bridge deck samples included visual inspection, hammer sounding, Schmidt rebound hammer testing, resistivity testing, half-cell potential testing, linear polarization testing, cover depth measurement, and chloride concentration measurement. The samples were removed from four concrete bridge decks along the Interstate 15 corridor in Provo, Utah. One bridge deck was constructed in 1937, two were constructed in 1964, and one was constructed in 1984. Each of the bridge decks was constructed using conventional cast-in-place methods. With the exception of the 1984 bridge deck, which had epoxy-coated rebar, all of the bridge decks were reinforced with black bar. A waterproofing membrane was installed on each of the bridge decks in 1984, meaning each waterproofing membrane had been in service for 26 or 27 years at the time of sampling. With the exception of one of the bridges, which was in good condition after 26 years of service, each of the bridge decks sampled had successfully served for at least 46 years. Aside from asphalt maintenance, no rehabilitation was needed on any of the bridge decks following installation of the waterproofing membranes. Without the application of the waterproofing membranes, the chloride concentrations in the bridge decks likely would have been much higher. Additional exposure to chloride ions from deicing salts would have quickly increased the chloride concentration in the concrete above critical levels, which would have led to significant corrosion and bridge deck deterioration, prematurely. While the application of membranes as a bridge deck maintenance procedure has mostly been replaced by the use of epoxy-based polymer overlays, many bridge decks protected with membrane systems are still in service today. The research findings suggest that application of waterproofing membranes and asphalt overlays in a timely manner, before the accumulation of excessive amounts of chlorides within a deck, can be an effective approach for concrete bridge deck preservation.

Bridge decks are commonly subjected to harsh environmental conditions that often lead to serious corrosion problems triggered by blisters under the hot mix asphalt bridge deck surfacing and secretly evolving during weather exposure until damage is often detected too late. Blisters may form under both the waterproofing dense mastic asphalt layer or under the waterproofing membrane which is often applied as additional water protection under the mastic asphalt (MA). One of the main technical issues is the formation of blisters under the membrane and asphalt-covered concrete structures caused by a complex mechanism governed by bottom-up pressure and loss of adhesion. A linear viscoelastic finite-element model was developed to simulate time-dependent blister growth in a dense mastic asphalt layer under uniformly applied pressure with and without temperature and pressure fluctuation. A finite element model was developed using ABAQUS with linear viscoelastic properties and validated with a closed form solution from first-order shear-deformation theory for thick plates. In addition, the blister test was conducted on different samples of MA in the laboratory and digital image correlation measurement technique was used to capture the three-dimensional vertical deflection of the MA over time. It was found that the blister may grow continuously under repeated loading conditions over subsequent days. With respect to blistering under waterproofing membranes, mechanical elastic modeling and experimental investigations were performed for three different types of membranes under in-plane stress state. The orthotropic mechanical behavior of a polymer modified bitumen membrane (PBM) was determined from biaxial test data. Finally, blister tests by applying controlled pressure between orthotropic PBMs and concrete plates were performed for studying the elliptical adhesive blister propagation using digital 3D image correlation. The energy calculated from elliptical blister propagation was found comparable to the adhesive fracture energy from standard peeling tests for similar types of PBMs. This indicates that the peeling test assists to evaluate and rank the adhesive properties of different types of membranes with respect to blister formation at room temperature without conducting time consuming and complicated pressurized blister propagation tests using digital 3D image correlation. / <p>QC 20130625</p>

The aim of this thesis is to develop a new building – a cultural and educational center, located in the town of Uherské Hradiště. The building is fitted to the central part of the city, on unused building lot, with good access to public transport links. The building is designed as a partial basement facility, with three floors and a basement. Structurally it is a column-based, skeletal support system, made of reinforced concrete. The basement part consists of bearing walls of reinforced concrete. The ceiling structure is made of locally backed, cross-reinforced slabs, also made of reinforced concrete. The outer perimeter infill masonry is constructed of ceramic bricks with a thickness of 300mm. Interior bearing walls are made of reinforced concrete of appropriate dimensions. Dividing walls are made of plasterboard constructions. Roof structures are formed by a system of flat roofs and terraces. In principle there are two types – the roofs with safety waterproofing and the ones without it. The base structure consists of footings and strips of reinforced concrete.