Kesar Solitaire Project 

The Kesar SOLITAIRE is a prestigious project being developed by M/s. Kesar Group, when completed would be a land mark on the Palm Beach Road in Navi Mumbai. This commercial complex is situated just next to the creek and the water table is about 1 meter below the ground. On examining the water, it was found to be highly saline and the chloride content in water was more than 7000 ppm. Another issue at the site was the upcoming monsoons, the basement needed to be completed before the start of the monsoons, which otherwise would have flooded the site. It was therefore decided to go for an M 40 grade SCC for the triple basement structure, which was 10 meters below the ground level.

The SCC mix was designed with Silica Fume to take care of the chloride ion permeability of the structure due to the saline water table. An RCPT value of less than 1000 coulombs according to ASTM C 1202 and water permeability of max 50 mm according to DIN 1048 was specified, so as to ensure the durability of the raft concrete. The mix actually contained higher binder content and therefore the water demand was high. To ensure thorough dispersion of silica fume and flyash, a PCE based admixture was used. Glenium SKY 584 is a PCE based admixture based on the concept of Total Performance Control which not only helps in dispersion of fines but also allows longer slump retention. The concrete supplied from an RMC plant and it typically took more than an hour to reach the site. Glenium SKY 584, helped in achieving the retention of over 60 minutes, with a slump flow of more than 600 mm at the site. In order to improve the viscosity of the concrete, Glenium Stream 2, a viscosity modifying admixture was also added to the concrete.

The retaining walls, at the periphery of the structure, poised an entirely different issue. The thickness of the wall was 300 mm and after erecting the form work it was a challenge by itself to place and vibrate the concrete. It was therefore decided to use M 40 grade SCC so that even 3 meter pour (free fall) of concrete is possible. The use of SCC in retaining walls actually helped in achieving a homogeneous concrete void of any honey combs. The strengths achieved were more than 50 MPa at 28 days as the water binder ratio was maintained at 0.33. The mix design and the strengths achieved are given below: