One piece watertight concrete structure

Abstract

A manufacturing process for a one piece tank that involves three steps results in a consistently watertight and structurally stronger unit than previous tanks. The three steps comprise a process for producing the body of the tank, a process for producing a preliminary lid, and a process for producing the final tank. An important step in the process for producing the body of the tank is extending reinforcing steel (rebar) a distance above the concrete walls of the tank. After the preliminary lid is placed into a groove of the tank, the rebar is bent over the lid and a water stop is applied between the walls of the tank and the preliminary lid. The water stop can be any of several forms. In one form, the water stop is in the form of butyl or rubber strip which projects from the walls of the tank above the walls with the rebar. In an alternate form, the water stop is in the form of a gasket of plastic or other suitable material inserted in a groove at the top of the tank. Once the preliminary lid is in place and the rebar bent over the preliminary lid, reinforcing steel (rebar) is bent over the preliminary lid and secured to proper locations. Then concrete is poured to the top and above the sidewalls of the tank until completely full. The resulting cured structure is a one piece water tight tank with an integral water stop.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.