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April, 2003 Compass Contracting, Inc. was recently contracted to install Sika’s Carbodur, carbon fiber, angel brackets at Old Dominion University’s Convocation Center. The carbon fiber brackets were installed to provide additional strength at the upper level balcony slabs. The design called for the brackets to be installed, in sets of three, in order to obtain the desired reinforcement. This project was the very first time that Sika’s carbon fiber brackets have been used in the United States. The angel brackets were fabricated in Switzerland specifically for this project. In preparation for the bracket installation, anchoring holes were cut in the balcony slab. The holes were filed with Sikadur 30 epoxy resin as part of the anchoring system. The vertical and horizontal surfaces are mechanically abraded, using grinders that were fitted with Zek discs, to open the pore structure of the concrete and the setting bed of Sikadur 30 epoxy resin. The brackets were then set in place, to determine if the hole depth needed to be adjusted and that they fit properly against the concrete elements. A setting bed of Sikadur 30 is then applied to both the concrete and the back of the Carbodur brackets. The holes in the slab are also filled at this time. The brackets are then placed into position and pressed into the setting bed. Pressure is applied using hard rubber hand rollers to insure good contact. The epoxy, within the slab holes, is worked around the brackets to eliminate any voids and then finished flush with the adjacent concrete. The areas between the brackets and around the perimeter of the installation were infilled with Sikadur 30 epoxy resin to provide a flush surface with carbon fiber brackets. A total of sixteen stations were addressed using this strengthening procedure.
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