Como Harbor at Como Park Zoo – TCC Materials Supplies Shotcrete
The Como Park Zoo & Conservatory in St. Paul, Minnesota recently opened a new exhibit with help from Bulach Custom Rock and Shotcrete by TCC Materials. The Como Harbor is the newest addition to Como Park Zoo, which was established 123 years ago in 1897. The new seal and sea lion exhibit will provide a year-round indoor and outdoor exhibit and is expected to help continue to draw thousands of visitors each day, including over 500,000 school-age students all year that enjoy field trips from all around the State of Minnesota. TCC Materials played an important role in this project by supplying the “dry” shotcrete product used to create the exhibit’s stone surround which mimics the animals’ natural habitat. Dry shotcrete refers to the application process where water is added at the application nozzle. The dry material (packaged at a TCC Materials manufacturing facility) is placed in a hopper, delivered by a silo then pneumatically (compressed air) propelled through a hose while the nozzle operator controls the addition of the water.
John Thomas, veteran member of the TCC sales staff has worked on many shotcrete projects across Minnesota and Wisconsin. He partnered with Bulach Custom Rock to supply this project to the Zoo’s new exhibit. “Shotcrete is a very technical sale.” Says Thomas. “It requires significant support from our technical and lab staff to help develop the mix design. Shotcrete needs to perform consistently out of the nozzle, or we hear about it.
“Bulach Custom Rock was a strategic partner in the process. Their nozzleman shot test panels prior to the start of the project. These panels were then sent to an engineering lab for test verification. The test resulted in positive feedback from Bulach’s nozzleman. This job went very smoothly thanks to the attention to the details that our production and customer service staff put into this project.”
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