Decorative Concrete Flood Control Drain

For its 100-year flood plan, the city of Lincoln, Neb.,utilizes decorative concrete in multiple ways to bring design and beauty to the project. "It is a great example of the diversity of how decorative concrete can be used," says Todd Rose, of Todd Rose Decorative Concrete, who installed most of the decorative concrete work.

The Antelope Valley Project in Lincoln, Neb. was a combined effort to create a 100-year flood control plan and improve the city's surrounding neighborhoods. Todd Rose Decorative Concrete was hired to install five types of decorative concrete applications. The scope included staining multiple bridges, spraying polymer overlays on bridges, stamping 3000 square feet of concrete, and sandblasting tens of thousands of square feet of concrete for murals and quotes.

The bridge railing and sides are polymer overlay with Miracote sprayed out of a hopper gun. The supports underneath the bridge are concrete. They appear to be painted, but are stained with Nox-crete's Nox-Carb stain. This particular stain penetrates into the pores of the concrete and creates a waterproof barrier. It protects by keeping water out but still allows the concrete to breathe. The colors for the bridge supports were mocha, saddle tan and sandpiper beige.

The concrete was designed to look like the natural creek beds in Nebraska. It was sandblasted and had special aggregate in it to create the resemblance of local aggregates and streams.

Retaining walls were also stained with Nox-Crete. On this individual retaining wall, Nox-crete stains were used to complement the bridge supports. The patterning was done by using small PVC pipe glued together. The PVC was positioned according to a landscape architect's approval and was secured so that the areas between could be stained properly.

The greatest challenge on this project was installing the "celebrate" stencil. The company, Decorative Concrete Impressions, helped to create the stencil at such a large size. "It was challenging to be that big and to line it up correctly," says Todd Rose. To achieve the various colors on the concrete, Rose put the stencil down and sandblasted it and the two lighter colored ribbons around it. The sandblasting made the stencil and ribbons appear lighter than the concrete surrounding them.