Sneak Peek of Boeddekker Park- A Tenderloin gem

The Grand Opening of Boeddeker Park is on December 10, 2014 from 1-4pm. The park is located in the Tenderloin at 246 Eddy Street in San Francisco. Why are we so excited about this park? Because most of the hardscape is our Fine Grain Pervious Concrete and it looks gorgeous!

We hope you swing by to check it out, either on the 10th or sometime after. It has exercise equipment for adults, play equipment for children and seating and grass for general playing. It is a lovely open oasis in the middle of the Tenderloin. For more information about this park click here to visit San Francisco’s Recreation & Parks page.

White Hill Middle School Gets a Brand New Courtyard

White Hill Middle School up in Marin County is the first school to put in polished pervious concrete! WRNS Studio designed it in the main courtyard area between classrooms as well the shaded amphitheater style steps, shown below.

The finishing touches were just getting completed as teachers were prepping classrooms in anticipation of classes starting. It was very exciting!

We were able to get this fantastic design installed with the help of a dedicated team of design professionals. Joel Williams and Pauline Souza from WRNS Studios were invaluable as design advocates for pervious concrete from the beginning of the project. Mike Hastings, from Sherwood Engineering, was the civil on the project, and his collaboration and cooperation on the technical aspects enabled us keep momentum going. We look forward to working with both of these firms in the future, for more pervious concrete projects!!

And here is our favorite shot - a close up of the nice tidy finish, and the subtle color variations in the polished finish the school administrators were looking for.

NRMCA Technician Training in Truckee - A Success!

David teaches the NRMCA Pervious Concrete Technician class by the NRMCA local sponsoring group ACI Northern California chapter. The class location was in Truckee, CA and after the class and test, the class went out the TNT Materials Yard for a demonstration pour. We had good pervious pouring weather and great participation! If you would like more information for upcoming NRMCA pervious concrete training classes, go to the ACI website here: www.ACI-NCAWNV.org.

Check out the photos below:

2 Symptoms of Failed Pervious Concrete

2 Symptoms of Failed Pervious Concrete - Raveling and Sealing

Recently it has come to our attention that there appears to be a discrepancy in what a high-quality pervious concrete jobs looks like, and what has been passed off as high quality but in fact is not at all quality.

Failed installations have 2 main features: raveling and sealing.

Raveling is when the aggregate comes off of the slab as cement coated gravel. That can be an indication of poor mix design, poor installation technique or even misunderstand the weather's impact on the day of the pour.

Sealing is when the water pools and does not go through. It is possible to have sealing at the top, where it looks blotchy, or just beneath the surface such that the finish looks appropriate but does not drain. This is an indication of poor mix design. An experienced pervious concrete installer understands how critical the proper mix is and works closely with his ready-mix partners to get it right.

As we at BAPC have said before, pervious concrete is a tricky material and only those who are qualified, experienced and show a commitment to ongoing learning about techniques and mix designs are able to install and place pervious concrete with a consistent high quality.

We have created this video, complete with an amazing sound track, to illustrate what failed pervious concrete looks like, and what successful pervious concrete looks like. If you would like us to come out and evaluate your slab, or better yet, if you would like it done well the first time, please contact us.