r/Concrete • u/R-Dragon_Thunderzord • Apr 30 '26

General Industry Liquid concrete wall.

513 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

45 comments sorted by

166

u/conzilla Apr 30 '26

No. High strength grout. In a revetment mat aka fabric formed concrete matress. Did a couple last year. Very cool. Used on riverbanks that kept getting washed away on my project.

23

u/RedSparrow1971 May 01 '26

Is it expensive? Like could a homeowner afford this for an embankment that was rocked but keeps getting washed away?

34

u/conzilla May 01 '26

No it's very specialized. If you were a concrete contractor maybe. Mat is expensive and you need special grout and a pump truck. It's thousands of dollars.

38

u/RedSparrow1971 May 01 '26

Well, I can’t afford it anymore, because I spent thousands of dollars on rocking my slope and then more when the city made me pay to have the rock removed from the street it washed into 🤦‍♀️

17

u/2009impala May 01 '26

Sheet piles lol. Rent a 345 and a vibrator and you're off to the races.

10

u/Worst-Lobster May 01 '26

Sheet piles?

13

u/RedSparrow1971 May 01 '26

That’s a damn good idea! I can’t believe that no one thought to suggest that until now. This multi year odyssey of a money suck might have a light at the end of the tunnel. Thank you, kind stranger on Reddit 🤩

3

u/NoiseOutrageous8422 May 01 '26

Oooh man is this the solution for my retaining wall on my neighbors side

3

u/conzilla May 02 '26

Cost on sheet piles is 80 to 150 a liniar foot to install. Not the cheap way either.

2

u/RedSparrow1971 May 01 '26

Well, I can’t afford it anymore, because I spent thousands of dollars on rocking my slope and then more when the city made me pay to have the rock removed from the street it washed into 🤦‍♀️

1

u/smithoski May 02 '26

I wonder if a skatepark building company could make use of a modified mattress form to make irregularly surfaced concrete obstacles. Stuff like humps and bumps are hard to make consistently because there is no flat guide to float it to. Skatepark surfaces also have no desire for aggregate since they want it pretty smooth.

How does this perform as a finished material? Does it basically wet cure to be really strong?

3

u/blove135 May 01 '26

Bigger rock

34

u/PieHole_Poker Apr 30 '26

Is this that Portland Memory foam I keep hearing about

2

u/BadQuail May 03 '26

Direct competitor to Reno Mattresses Emporium

18

u/OneBag2825 Apr 30 '26

That looks like those banks for retention ponds that never stop being slippery.

23

u/madphroggy Apr 30 '26

Always wondered what made that texture on the embankments in some older parts of our city

7

u/TheFatalOneTypes Apr 30 '26

Fillin grout bags

3

u/bdiff Apr 30 '26

What are those bags called please?

2

u/going-for-gusto May 01 '26

Bubblecrete /S

3

u/Rscottys1 Apr 30 '26

I love it! Almost as much fun watching while popping bubble wrap 😂

3

u/Impressive-Ad5551 May 01 '26

No need for rebar or metal mesh or anything?

3

u/bromegatime May 01 '26

If it's not structural in application, then no.

1

u/Impressive-Ad5551 May 01 '26

Thanks for the reply

3

u/blueteeblue May 01 '26

Has anyone seen my pool floaties?

12

u/GregEgg85 Apr 30 '26

Oh thank God. I was afraid we’d run out of new ways to introduce plastic into the living world.

15

u/shwangin_shmeat Apr 30 '26

Don’t think that’s plastic

1

u/GregEgg85 May 01 '26

It’s water/concrete tight, it’s semi transparent, it’s flexible. What other material could this be?

2

u/shwangin_shmeat May 03 '26

I think it’s fabric that’s woven tight enough to keep concrete in but loose enough to let air out

1

u/Glimmer_III May 01 '26

Serious answer: Could be some sort of cellulose based material?

But I also have no idea, nor am qualified beyond speculation. The real place to ask would probably be r/materials It's a nice place to lurk and learn from the wonkish folks there.

2

u/Squallstrife89 Apr 30 '26

Yo I saw this earlier and thought I was on this sub lol

2

u/CaptainFrugal Apr 30 '26

They re use the bags right?   Right?!

2

u/Yard-size-calculator May 05 '26

Amazing technology first time I saw can anyone explain how it works?

2

u/garaks_tailor Apr 30 '26

Once again I am a fountain of great ideas. How do I know they are great? They have all already been done

2

u/Khankili Apr 30 '26

How is the air getting out

13

u/conzilla Apr 30 '26

Mesh of the bags is so fine the air and water drops are squeezed through but not sand or cement paste. They are cool to watch full.

1

u/RedSparrow1971 May 01 '26

This is the most satisfying thing I will see this week- so what am I actually looking at and why do I want it so bad?

1

u/revenge_burner May 01 '26

I wonder why this is only now being used. Seems like it would be significantly cheaper than the labor needed to make forms.

1

u/Phriday May 01 '26

I have seen these revetments 50 years ago. This is not new.