Marina Pier Repair at Casa de Campo, Dominican Republic

01 · THE CHALLENGE

Concrete Marina Fingers Corroding in Caribbean Seawater

Marina Casa de Campo, on the southeastern coast of the Dominican Republic, is one of the Caribbean's largest full-service marinas, with about 350 slips and berths for vessels up to 250 ft long. Its reinforced-concrete fingers face constant saltwater, airborne chlorides, moisture and oxygen. Once chlorides reach the reinforcing steel, corrosion products crack and delaminate the concrete cover and eventually cause spalling.

Each finger has three zones: two 500 x 500 mm piles, a recessed pile cap about 850 x 850 mm and 4.5 m long, and a 200 mm access slab connecting it to the main pier. Assessment showed the zones had deteriorated at different rates. The access slabs had advanced reinforcement corrosion and significant spalling, while the piles and caps had only localized damage.

The owners and residents chose to start with six fingers, in three opposing pairs, so they could judge the finished appearance and performance before deciding whether to extend the program to the marina's many other fingers.

03 · ACCESS SLABS

Replacement Slabs Reinforced With GFRP Bars

Corrosion and spalling in the 200 mm access slabs were too extensive to patch, so they were demolished. The new slabs were formed to the original 3.5 m geometry: a rectangular segment about 0.85 m wide, then a trapezoidal segment widening to about 1.5 m at the main pier.

Instead of steel, the new slabs are reinforced with GFRP bars. Because the bars do not corrode, they remove the mechanism that destroyed the original slabs.