The April 2019 inauguration of the Tshwane Regional Mall in Mamelodi Township, Gauteng, fills a vital need in the region’s infrastructure.
Penetron crystalline technology was used to waterproof all below-grade concrete to ensure a durable structure that will last for decades.
The Tshwane Regional Mall is located in Mamelodi, a township with a population of around 340,000, just northeast of Pretoria. The mall is part of the R850-million Denneboom Station Public Transport Interchange (DSPTI) project – a 60,000 m2 construction site – which comprises the Tshwane Regional Mall, the Tshwane Rapid Transport (TRT) train station, a bus station and taxi facility for seven taxi associations.
The new mall construction provides space for 600 retailers, featuring brands such as Woolworths, Pick ‘n Pay, Spar, Clicks, Gym Company, Big Save, Nando’s, African Bank, and KFC. The Tshwane Regional Mall tenants include food shops, clothes stores, food courts, other retail businesses, government service offices, a medical facility, and banks.
“This Tshwane Regional Mall is a hugely important part of the development effort to provide the previously underserved Mamelodi township with better access to public and private services,” explains Jonathan Whitehead, Engineering Support of Penetron Africa. “The Penetron team worked with the project engineers to ensure the performance parameters for the concrete mix were completely met.”
Penetron crystalline technology was used primarily in the crucial below-grade concrete structures, which include the retaining walls and the elevator pits. PENETRON ADMIX was mixed into the concrete to waterproof and protect the elevator pits and all the exposed concrete elements on the ground floor and first floor slabs. PENETRON was applied topically as a slurry to the retaining walls underlying the mall’s outer perimeter. PENEBAR SW-55 swellable waterstop strips were used to seal the construction joints throughout. A combination of PENETRON and PENECRETE MORTAR was used to repair cracks and honeycombing, as well as filling the numerous tie holes.
Penetron products are formulated to react with key concrete components to produce an integral network of crystals that seal the micro-cracks and capillaries in concrete. Penetron-treated concrete shows improved resistance to chloride diffusion and sulfate penetration, permeability, drying shrinkage and freeze-thaw cycles. The service life of Penetron-treated concrete is about three times that of conventional, untreated concrete.