Why the Engineer Should Specify Waterstop Shop Made Fittings

Shop Made Fittings are recognized and specified worldwide by major engineering firms. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers also selected Shop Made Fittings in the July 1995 revision of CEGS Section 03250. Shop Made Fittings are specified because they work. Edge welding waterstop seriously compromises the integrity of any project. Even the limited concrete movement during the coefficient of expansion and contraction can be too much for edge welded waterstop. The edge welded waterstop lacks the proper tensile strength and does not maintain the characteristics of the parent material (bulb or rib continuity). Consequently, the waterstop often tears at the most critical junction: the change of direction since all waterstops are designed to act as a continuous, fluid-tight diaphragm which fluids (generally water) traverse, the structure that uses edge welded waterstop will naturally leak, as fluids migrate to any tears in the weld and pass through to the other side of the joint.

Structures that use Shop Made Fittings will significantly reduce these waterstop failures. The tensile strength of the weld will be at least 80% of the parent material, and the bulb and rib continuity is maintained across the weld. In other words, the waterstop will perform as intended and last the life of the structure.