Watertightness in anti-flotation slabs: MIS-RJ case

It is common in coastal cities as Rio de Janeiro, that buildings located close to the shoreline have their basements below water table level. In most cases, the engineering solution for these buildings is to design a massive anti-flotation slab to satisfy, principally, the issues related to structural dimensioning and calculation hypothesis. On the other hand, the execution of this solution imply in significant construction problems related to reinforced concrete watertightness and durability. This paper presents a case study about challenges and solutions devised to execute an anti-flotation, 1m thick, 1200m³ reinforced concrete slab for the new Museu de Imagem e Som (MIS) - Sound and Image Museum, located at 50m from the seashore, at Copacabana in Rio de Janeiro, RJ. The results show that concrete proportions, concreting plan and pouring method adopted were decisive in obtaining a watertight structure, avoiding thus the employment of traditional waterproofing alternatives.