Quote:
Originally Posted by jammer139
That's what I'm curious about. This is only like 25 years old and we are talking about two levels of underground reinforced concrete that needs structural repairs. What is the extend of this?
Another question is why did they leave this to start in Sept just as the Arena starts to get busy with Knights games? Why didn't they plan this to start end of May to take advantage of slow period? Did they only now discover the structural problems?
They city planning department must have been involved -    
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Parking garages are really prone to issues with the concrete, as deterioration can be caused by temperature cycles, moisture damage, and road salts entering the pores in the slabs, presenting as cracking, efflorescence (salt buildup), or internal voids in the slab. It also gets worse if the garage is not well-maintained, which I could guess might be the case for the Covent Garden garage.
With older parking garages, this is type of thing presents earlier since the use of epoxy coating for the concrete (which stops moisture or salt penetration) wasn’t as common in the past as it is today. This is why you see this kind of coating on the floors and sometimes walls in modern garages, so the slab is protected from moisture and can last longer.
I can’t recall exactly what the state of the Covent Garden parking garage is (ie if it has sealant or not) but I wouldn’t be surprised if it didn’t for much of its lifespan. Either way, the repairs are likely to be pretty typical - filling voids, replacing deteriorated sections of the slab, sealing cracks, etc. I have done acoustic surveys on parking garages in the past (dragging a chain along the surface of the slab or hitting areas with a metal bar or golf club to listen for hollow sounds) and these kinds of issues are pretty typical for older garages.