After the earthquake of 1985 in Mexico City, investigation revealed that many buildings collapsed because of inadequate joints, the bad bonding between concrete and steel, deterioration of the building structures due to weather ingress, due to salt and chemical attacks, caused by eg. the high permeability of the Portland cement concrete used.
Nicolas Fernando Tejada, resident of Mexico City, engineer, known for his award winning techniques and publications, was asked to look at the problem and after deliberation and testing he came up with the solution of a new revolutionary polymeric binding material originally by the name of ‘cemento sintético’, now named ‘Tearpol’.
This new binding material had to satisfy the following criteria:
- High mechanical strength
- Strong in tension and compression
- Resistant to weather, pollution and chemicals,
- 100 % resistant to steel oxidation
- Cold joints with no loss of strength
- Minimal shrinkage
Based on these findings, it was absolutely clear that the ‘ideal concrete’ should not absorb water, and therefore should not use water as the catalyzer.
Serious consideration should also be given to the environment, because Portland cement production was known as the world’s second largest polluter of CO2.