BASF Corp., Cleveland, recently previewed a new liquid admixture it claims eliminates the need for air-entrained concrete, a material used in regions exposed to freeze-thaw cycles.
Touted as breakthrough technology, the still-unnamed chemical product has been in development for eight years and will be available in 2015. The additive uses millions of microspheres coated with tough but flexible polymeric shells, "similar to very tiny tennis balls," explains Mark Bury, BASF product manager.