QUIKRETE builds home for largest saltwater crocodile

Words: Chad CorleyThe Toledo Zoo recently welcomed the largest saltwater crocodile in North America to its animal family that includes hundreds of mammals, amphibians, aquatic creatures, reptiles, insects and spiders, and birds. Transported from Australia, the 17-foot crocodile required a spacious and ecologically-friendly home at the Toledo Zoo, so A.A. Boos & Sons and Great Lakes Concrete Restoration turned to QUIKRETE®, the leading manufacturer of packaged cement mixes for the construction and home improvement markets, to help renovate an existing solarium into the ideal crocodile habitat.

Great Lakes Concrete Restoration applied more than 50 3,000-pound bulk bags of QUIKRETE® Shotcrete MS over a rebar frame in the 80,000-gallon solarium pool before Graphite Design sculpted the material into a landscape that reflected the crocodile’s native Australian environment. The shotcrete surface was finished with a concrete stain to maximize the authenticity of this unique and highly anticipated zoo exhibit, which opened on May 24.

QUIKRETE® Shotcrete MS is a single component Micro Silica enhanced repair and restoration material that achieves a compressive strength of more than 9,000 PSI at 28 days, and features very low rebound and permeability characteristics. The QUIKRETE® Companies offers a full line of shotcrete products that can be applied through a wet or dry process to deliver the combination of high strength, high adhesion, low rebound and low sag. These characteristics make QUIKRETE® Shotcrete MS ideal for use in rehabilitating bridges, tunnels, parking garages, ramps, piers, dams and other concrete structures. QUIKRETE® shotcrete has been used on many renovation and restoration projects including the Pleasure Pier in Texas, Alcatraz Island and Stanford Linear Accelerator in California, and Spokane River in Washington.

For more information on QUIKRETE® and its products and projects, visit www.quikrete.com.
About: Featured
Brick by Brick: The Importance of Grit

In a world where many jobs are done with a click of a mouse, masonry workers are still out there, getting their hands dirty—literally. These folks build the walls that keep our roofs over our heads, often battling the elements, tight deadlines, and unexpe

By: Erin Laird
About: MAP Partner
Read More
Fechino Files: Welding

As a masonry contractor, welding typically falls into two categories: fabrication or repair. Fabrication is when our certified welders make structural connections on the job site, and repairs are just that—fixing one of the hundred things that break every

By: Steven Fechino
Read More
The Thompson Library - Ohio State University

The Thompson Library at Ohio State University is a landmark of historical and architectural significance. Its renovation, completed in 2009, was a comprehensive project that aimed to modernize the facility while preserving its historic character. The proj

By: Drew Rosengarten
About: Featured
Read More
The Haunting of the NYS Education Building: The Legend of Jason, the Mysterious Mason

As Halloween approaches, there’s no better time to delve into the eerie tales that haunt our historic buildings. One such story surrounds the New York State Education Building in Albany, NY—a towering structure steeped in history and mystery. Constructed

By: Cass Stern
About: Featured
Read More