A beautiful, tranquil oceanfront environment in Laguna Beach creates the setting for the 11-story Laguna Royale Condominium Complex. Home to 78 oceanfront condominiums, the coastal community provides elevator access directly to the beach. From the elevators, residents walk through pedestrian tunnels to reach the beach. The pedestrian tunnels had severe leaks, which were causing corrosion of the rebar in the concrete structures. The onsite property manager contacted Structural Preservation Systems (SPS) to perform the necessary repairs.

SPS first began work on the tunnels, which had outside walls that were underground. Water was entering the tunnel through cracks, which caused extensive corrosion. SPS crews mechanically chipped out the loose and unsound concrete to expose the rebar. Crews sealed exterior cracks and installed porting devices in drilled holes. Next, an expansive reactive urethane grout was pressure-injected into cracks to create a seal bond. Porting devices and sealant were removed, and porting holes were filled with hydraulic cement. Crews then mechanically prepped all the rebar to remove rust and other surface laitance. Any rebar with 20 percent or greater deterioration was augmented with new rebar that was set in drilled holes with epoxy adhesive. After the leaks were stopped and the repair concrete was cured, a waterproofing system was installed. Crews sandblasted to remove paint and enhance the bond. Two coats of Xypex crystalline cementitious waterproofing were applied to the walls.

In addition to the tunnel repairs, SPS performed repairs on a column that had visual damage. Crews began this project by excavating the area around the column down to the concrete footing that the column was sitting on. Shoring was installed off of the footing to facilitate the repairs. The perimeter of the deteriorated concrete was saw-cut; crews used a pneumatic chipping gun to remove the deteriorated concrete. The existing reinforcement was cleaned to remove corrosion, and new rebar was installed where necessary. Formwork was installed and braced. Crews then mixed, placed and consolidated a high-strength repair material within the formwork. After shoring was removed, the team repaired the end of the beam by chipping out delaminated concrete, installing formwork and placing a new repair material. The beam sits on top of the column that was repaired.

The shoring for this project presented an interesting challenge. The column was located on the sand, so the shoring had to accommodate this difficult landscape. The shoring had to be redesigned three times to reach the optimal solution. To ensure a safe environment, the crew erected barricades to prevent pedestrians from entering and to block dust from entering the nearby pool area.

Work began in March 2008 and was completed in mid-June. Once the repairs were complete, the property manager noted that the tunnels were the driest they had been in years.