National Zoo

Project History

The Smithsonian National Zoological Park was established by Congress in 1889. It was designed by Smithsonian Director S.P. Langley and famed landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted. Maintaining the various buildings and exhibits requires balancing budget restrictions and keeping down time to a minimum. Concrete repairs were required for both the popular Lion & Tiger exhibit, and Research Hill. Corrosion of embedded rebar and metal hand railings caused spalling and delamination in multiple areas. PCM Services removed damaged areas to sound substrate. As an economical alternative to full depth patching with a custom colored repair mortar, early lifts were done with Conpro Set, a concrete patching mortar that contains ECB – Tech corrosion protection. Conpro Set suppresses ring anode effect, protects reinforcing steel, and is resistant to both weathering and chloride attack. The final lifts were done with colored MIMIC repair mortar. MIMIC is matched to the original substrate and can be finished to duplicate the original texture.