**Please note Versatile Tanks DO NOT repair water tanks**
Here at Versatile Tanks, one of the most frequently-asked questions we get asked is this: ‘what kind of concrete do you use to make your tanks?’ The answer? Only the very best!
To ensure our tanks are of the highest quality, we use high strength concrete (HSC). But what is high strength concrete? In short, it’s a high-performance concrete which comes with more than a handful of benefits.
These include:
- Low shrinkage
- Low permeability
- High elasticity
- High strength (typically HSC is recognised as compressive strength greater than 6000 PSI or 42MPA), and a concrete which gains its strength earlier
- Self-leveled.
But there are lots more benefits where those came from, too. The concrete mix we use when producing all our precast products, HSC has an additional special property not attributed to normal concrete.
And in case you’re wondering how the precast industry defines HSC concrete, it’s simply as: “concrete that meets special-performance and uniformity requirements that cannot always be achieved routinely by using only conventional materials and normal mixing, placing, and curing practices.”
Here at Versatile Tanks, we offer a special chemical mix for all our products. What this does is ensure our products can come out of the steel reusable overnight, with a glass-like finish, very few air entrapment issues, reduced shrinkage, and quick output. It all adds up to an even more appealing prospect for anyone looking to have a concrete tank installed on their premises.
A Product That’s Built to Last
The concrete’s special design involves enhancements of placement and compaction without segregation, long-term mechanical properties, early-age strength, toughness, volume stability, or service life in severe environments. Typically recognised as concrete with a 28-day cylinder compressive strength greater than 6000 psi or 42 Mpa, it’s a product that offers optimum longevity.
It’s worth knowing that, in concrete, the use of high cement to water ratio and special ad mixtures and silica dust and fly ash, assist in achieving a higher than normal strength.
Exceptionally Versatile
The use in HSC in the current precast world has allowed for manufacturers like us to be able to reduce the wall thickness from the general accepted 100mm-150mm thick walls, to just 75mm thick walls. Furthermore, with the use of pillars and structural steel, we have been able to offer clients exceptional versatility. What that means is our tanks and wine cellars will withstand eccentric lateral loads you would expect a 100-150mm thick wall to support.
Did you know that the Australian standards have been updated to accommodate the new HCS now on the market, too? Here at Versatile Tanks, we access the following standards regarding cement quality
- AS3600-2009 – concrete structures
- AS3972-2000 – Portland blended cements
- AS1379-2007 – cement specification
On top of these, many other standards come into play when producing certain precast products.
Versatile Tanks produces the following precast:
- Culverts for energy companies
- Wine cellars for the domestic market
- On-site detention or OSD tanks (heights can be altered; however, dimensions and length are restricted)
- Water tanks of varying heights
- Load-rated lids for tanks to enable heavy traffic over the tank lids
As well as water tanks, our tanks can also be used as retaining walls. So, you see, there are a world of possibilities for you and your business when you choose Versatile Tanks. Want to know more? Get in touch with our team today and we’ll talk you through our tanks.