Category: Events

Xypex Chemical Corporation is pleased to announce that the Xypex 2020 Best International Project Award of the Year winner is MC-Bauchemie Brasil for the Canal do Sertão project. The winner was chosen from amongst the five Regional Winners from Latin America, Europe, Africa, Middle East and Asia. These awards recognize the achievements of Xypex’s international network of distributors and celebrate their dedication to provide first-class technical service to Xypex customers.

Canal do Sertão – Hinterland Water Channel, a 1,000+ km water channel which brings water from Brazil’s 5th largest river, the São Francisco, to the extremely dry Sertão Nordestino region of Brazil, needed urgent repairs in its early stages of construction as the elevated aqueducts had suffered thermal/dry shrinkage cracks every 2 meters – more than 2,000 linear meters of leaking cracks. The application of Xypex Concentrate and Modified was a resounding success, stopping all leaks within 30 days of application, saving significant time and costs, and avoiding the injection of the extensive cracking. This led to Xypex products becoming an important component of the whole project, solving the waterproofing challenges and enabling the timely delivery of all stages of this crucial project for the Sertão Nordestino region of Brazil.

Xypex also awarded Regional Best Project Awards 2020.

EUROPE

Winner
Hungary – Budapest Pedestrian Tunnel
Presented by ASTOP Magyarország Kft.

Runner-up
Benelux – Pairi Daiza
(The Land of the Cold and the Wilderness)
Presented by Totech B.V
AFRICA

Winner
Egypt – Rod El Farag Axis Tahya Masr Bridge
Presented by Beton Alexco

Runner-up
Tunisia – Tunisia Mall Ennasr
Presented by Le Record

MIDDLE EAST

Winner
Qatar – WOQOD Petrol & Service Stations
Presented by Hanson Doha Trading Co. WLL

Runner-up
Israel – Midtown Towers
Presented by PBS Israel Ltd

ASIA

Winner
India – Rihand Dam Rehabilitation (International Runner-Up)
Presented by APAAR Infratech Pvt. Ltd.

Runner-up
Australia – Murray Irrigation Rehabilitation
Presented by Xypex Australia

LATIN AMERICA

Winner
Brazil – Canal do Sertão
– Hinterland Water Channel (International Winner)
Presented by MC-Bauchemie Brasil

Runner-up
Mexico – Acuario Michin
Presented by Grupo MG

About Xypex
Xypex Chemical Corporation is a world leader in waterproofing, protection, and repair of concrete structures with over 50 years of extensive experience and backed by a distribution network in more than 90 countries. Xypex Crystalline Technology outperforms other methods because of its unique ability to become a truly integral and permanent part of the concrete matrix. Xypex is proud to have served the construction needs of over thousands of global customers including Fortune 500 construction and engineering firms across a variety of projects in general construction, water resources, wastewater, tunneling, bridges, ports, industry, power and utilities.

In September, Xypex Distributors and Licensees from all over Latin America gathered in the historic city of Cartagena de Indias in Colombia for the 2013 Regional Conference. Almost all countries were represented, with delegates attending from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras, Peru and Venezuela.

Central to discussions was the progress being made in the implementation of the Xypex Growth Strategy. Chris Miller, International Director at Xypex said: “It was great to see such excellent progress in our key segments over such a short time”. In fact, most countries in the region are growing at a sustainable rate of over 30% per year and are forecasting even more growth in the coming years. Another discussion concerned the importance of teamwork within the region and, as Regional Manager Mauricio Davila stated: “the success in any field in any one country inevitably brings success to the whole region”. Of course, no meeting in Latin America would be complete without celebrating in true Colombian style, and the team spent evenings in the fortified city enjoying the food, sites and sounds. “Lo pasamos muy bien”, was on the lips of many a delegate.

Xypex is always interested in any opportunity to meet with the architects, engineers, contractors and concrete producers who have specified or expressed serious interest in our crystalline concrete waterproofing and protection technology. This year’s WOC offers such an opportunity and we hope you will be able to drop by our booth to meet our team of experts as well as many from our international network of distributors and licensees. The past year has been a good one for Xypex and we want to tell you about it. We have exciting new plans for 2011 and invite you to meet the new management people (see below) who will be helping us realize these plans both domestically and internationally.

Meet Chris Miller
Director of International Development 
Chris joined Xypex as Director of International Development and is responsible for worldwide business outside of North America. Chris holds a degree in International Business Administration and has over 20 years of worldwide construction-related experience. This new position at Xypex represents the company’s commitment to achieving its full international potential.

Meet Jim Caruth
Technical Services Manager
Jim Caruth, P.Eng, has embraced his role as Manager of Technical Services to great success. Jim holds a Degree in Civil Engineering and, in joining Xypex, furthers an extensive career in the concrete and construction industry – a career that most recently included technical sales development with Sika Corporation.

Meet Bert Korteling
Regional Manager
Bert Korteling has joined Xypex as Regional Manager for the North and Mid-Atlantic States which include New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. He is an active member of the Metropolitan New York Chapter of the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) and at this time serves as a Director and Chairman of the Membership Committee.

Xypex is recognized for Excellence in the Repair of The Macomb Sewer System.

The International Concrete Repair Institute (ICRI) is a 22 year old organization whose statement of purpose is “to improve the quality of concrete restoration, repair and protection through education of, and communication with its members.” Xypex is proud to have received such high recognition from this institute for its quality work on the Macomb Sewer System.

The Macomb Sewer System was constructed by the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) in the early 1970s. Since that time, the system has experienced deterioration of the sewer pipe due to hydrogen sulfide and ground movements. The sewer was inspected and areas were identified that required repair. Sewer inspections were done using man entry, CCTV inspections, geophysical multiple analysis of surface waves (MASW) methods, and test borings in isolated areas, and identified several reaches that required immediate repair.

The ability of Xypex to penetrate deep into the pipe’s concrete to repair, waterproof and protect it, even in the presence of moisture and a constant flow of raw sewage, made it the ideal product choice for this challenging environment. In addition, Xypex, through its crystalline technology, becomes an integral part of the concrete to also protect it against Hydrogen Sulphide attack.

A major design challenge was managing flow in the sewer to allow physical access to perform the repairs. Flow quantities, operation methods, and acceptable working conditions were identified to develop a flow control sequence. This included shutting down pumping stations on a temporary basis, operating existing flow control gates, and construction of flow control weirs within the sewer. A platform was constructed within the sewer to allow work to continue over the flow level. To control flow from one branch of the system, a large flow control structure was designed that included a drilled secant pier temporary earth retention system, groundwater dewatering, a cast-in-place concrete structure, and installation of a flow control gate. Given the urban location of the structure, support of an existing adjacent five-lane roadway, utility relocations, and traffic control were significant design aspects.

Remarks by President Obama concerning:
“NEW CONCRETE MATERIALS THAT LAST LONGER AND ARE WATERPROOFED FROM THE INSIDE OUT…” 

At a press conference on July 2nd, 2009 in the Rose Garden of The White House, President Obama, after meeting with CEOs from a number of “innovative energy companies”, spoke about a new clean energy economy and the importance of encouraging these companies’ efforts.

Based on his discussions with these CEOs, President Obama cited energy saving examples such as LED lighting and solar energy innovation. Most importantly, from our point of view, he also included comments about new concrete materials:

“New concrete materials that last longer and are waterproofed from the inside out, and that can mean that bridges and roads and buildings can last 20 or 30 years longer than using conventional concrete.”

His comment indeed represents support for integral concrete waterproofing as an alternative to traditional membrane or barrier systems, a challenge and opportunity that has been the very basis of the concept, design and development of Xypex crystalline technology. Xypex has, without doubt, led the way with integral concrete waterproofing in North America and, although The President did not endorse any particular product, we are very pleased that he is so clearly drawing attention to our type of technology and innovation.

D’Arcy Mainwaring
President

In the cold, clear dawn of September 10, ten climbers in support of the Alzheimer Society of British Columbia climbed the last ridgeline to stand on the 19,340-foot summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, the roof of Africa. Xypex was proud to team up with the international accounting firm, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, to be a summit sponsor for the climb.

For each one of the climbers it was a personal journey, and the culmination of a commitment made months earlier. Whether it was in memory of a family member afflicted with Alzheimers, or a need to give back to the community, the team came together to climb the mountain, and in the process raised more than $ 100,000 for the Alzheimer Society.

In the final assault, the group left its last camp at Kibo Hut – elevation 15,220 feet – just past midnight to begin the six-hour ascent in the dark. At high altitude, the lack of oxygen affects climbers both physically and mentally, and mirrors the struggle and confusion that those afflicted with Alzheimers endure every day.

On the climb was Sue Ross, wife of Xypex technical advisor Dave Ross. Sue is a registered nurse, who had worked for the last six years with people with Alzheimer’s. Other climbers were Darcy Bender, Angela Chang, Peter Debay, Harry Diemer, Shannon Epp, Lisah Fraser, Kit Morissette, Becki Paterson, and Cliff Saito. “We extend our heartiest congratulations to all who made the ascent,” said Xypex President D’Arcy Mainwaring. “Our company slogan, Being There, not only represents our commitment to the engineers, architects, and contractors who use our products, but also our commitment to the greater community in which we all live.”