Method of working a concrete surface

Abstract

One cuts away the surface layer of a concrete surface, for example the roadway of a concrete bridge, by using a water jet ejected out of a nozzle 31 on an elongated nozzle holder 30. One reciprocates the nozzle holder in cutting sweeps and moves the entire machine in steps between the cuttin sweeps. The water jet is directed obliquely forwardly in the directions of the sweeps and, at the ends of the sweeps, the nozzle holder is swung to its new angle of attack for the subsequent cutting sweep. When the water jet reaches the end of the cutting in a cutting sweep, the nozzle holder begins to swing backwards at the same time as its linear velocity increases so that its target area will remain unchanged or almost unchanged at the same time as the stepping of the machine starts so that the water jet will make a cut 34 forwardly in the direction of stepping. The stepping and the change of angle of attack are finished simultaneously and a new cutting sweep starts directly. Suitably, the nozzle holder should be oscillated in a plane transverse to the direction of the sweeps so that the cut track will be wider.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.