High-Pressure Concrete Demolition Using Water Jet

Concrete is a newer material compared to others (wood, stone, etc.) and has only been in use for the last hundred years. In the empirical part, a survey was conducted which demonstrated the negative impact of working with the classical demolition method on employees' health. It was also established that the demolition method using water jet technology is less frequently used in Slovenian companies.

Solution and Method

Concrete is a newer material compared to others (wood, stone, etc.) and has only been in use for the last hundred years. Shortly after concrete began to be used in construction, the need for concrete demolition started to emerge, either within the framework of renovation or connection of more modern structural elements, or due to the demolition of an entire deteriorated structure. Concrete demolition now represents a significant share of all works in the construction industry.

It was commonly considered to be heavy work that damages existing reinforcement, whilst demolition results in large cracks. Due to all of this, the quality of work execution was poor. Classical working methods also had a negative impact on the health of employees in the construction sector.

Only in the last twenty years have new concrete demolition techniques emerged. One of them is demolition using water jet. This is a newer approach to demolition, which was researched and presented in greater detail in the diploma thesis.

In the theoretical part of the diploma thesis, two basic types of demolition were presented in more detail. Demolition using high-pressure technology was presented more precisely from the perspective of technical characteristics, necessary equipment, and the condition of sites after demolition. The theoretical part also included a chapter on the impact of demolition works on the health and work capacity of employees in the construction industry due to the development of vibration disease.

Results

In the empirical part, a survey was conducted which demonstrated the negative impact of working with the classical demolition method on employees' health. It was also established that the demolition method using water jet technology is less frequently used in Slovenian companies. The second part of the empirical work included a comparative analysis of two construction sites where demolition of similar dimensions was carried out using different methods – once using the classical method and once using water jet technology.

The cost aspect, required number of workers, consumption of propulsion energy for machinery, and equipment accessibility were compared. It was established that demolition using high-pressure technology is more cost-effective, although the costs of initial investment and maintenance are higher. Certainly, fewer workers are required, who are less exposed to harmful health impacts.

We believe that all of this constitutes sufficient argument for greater use of high-pressure technology and that it should be brought closer to the Slovenian market.