The Client

Although the tank was located within a walled secondary containment bunded area, the bund was not watertight and the bund offered inadequate protection in the event of a serious spill. Our client wanted to seal the floor wall joint and improve the level of protection of the bund.

Challenges

• The construction of the bund was untreated breeze blocks on an untreated concrete floor.
• The joint at the interface of the wall and the floor needed to be sealed.
• The breeze blocks were semi-porous and only offered limited protection.
• The floor of the containment bund was contaminated with diesel fuel.
• There was restricted space to reach the areas under the tank.

Solution

We prepared the surface by cleaning up the diesel spill underneath the tank and chemically decontaminating the concrete. After the surface had dried, we applied a moisture-tolerant epoxy resin-based primer coat to seal the surface of the concrete, the floor and the wall joint.

We repaired a number of holes in the breeze blocks using a custom-made epoxy resin-based paste. After this had set, we applied the first coat of diesel fuel-resistant resin. Once cured, the bund was able to be tested and returned to normal use the following day.

The images above are before and after treatment

The Results

Our solution will provide many years of maintenance-free protection for the bunded area with the added benefit that in the event of a major spill or leakage, the fuel will be fully contained and enable almost 100% recovery, whilst simultaneously protecting the environment.