Chemical expansion of concrete in dams

Various chemical reactions, particularly the alkali-aggregate reaction, may cause the long-term expansion of concrete, a phenomenon that affects many old dams in Spain and in the rest of the world.

Principia has analysed half a dozen dams experiencing these problems and participated in an international benchmark to predict the evolution of the Kariba dam, on the Zambeze river, which bounds the largest reservoir in the world and also suffers the problem.