Aquajet in the Navy

Triton Marine Contracting, a Bremerton, Washington based contractor used a newly purchased Aquajet HD 6000 hydrodemolition robot to remove weak concrete on two piers at the US Navy's Pearl Harbour base in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Triton was working for main contractor Nova Group Construction to carry out renovation to Pier F12 and Pier F13 on Ford Island. Areas of concrete on the two piers were in poor condition and had therfore to be replaced to provide a better surface and to ensure their longevity. Work involved the removal of the spalled concrete and any corroded rebar after which new materials were laid down.

The Aquajet processed 2 m³ of concrete an hour–in total, 230 m² of concrete had to be removed from the decks of the two piers, in separate areas of varying shape typically covering 9 m².

The first phase of the job, covering 110 m², was completed in January, with the balance removed during March.

Triton had purchased the Aquajet machine since it believes that hydrodemolition will likely become the method of choice for concrete removal since other removal methods can cause damage to surrounding sound material.