Prepare the concrete (Base Layers)
Seal & bond (Surface Barrier)
Protect & finish (Topcoats & Sealers)
Complete systems (Multi-Layer)
Protect & finish · Infrastructure
The Bridge Deck Longevity System. A two-stage penetrating treatment that extends the life of reinforced concrete bridge decks by decades, installed in a single overnight closure.
A bridge deck does not fail because the concrete runs out. It fails because salt and carbonation reach the reinforcing steel inside it. ConcreteCare CS-42™ is a chemically bonded corrosion barrier that goes after both, sealing the deck against chloride ingress while preserving the alkalinity that keeps the embedded steel passivated.
It is a two-stage penetrating treatment, not a coating or an overlay. Stage 1 soaks deep into the deck and rebuilds it from the inside. Stage 2 seals the surface without forming a film, so skid resistance is preserved and there is nothing to delaminate. The result is a deck protected for decades beyond its typical replacement cycle, and an aged deck that has already begun to deteriorate can be restored in place.
CS-42 is the infrastructure product. Its stablemate for driveways, walkways, patios and pool decks is the ConcreteCare Ceramic Shield System™, built around the CS-01 sealer. The two share a name and a chemistry family, not a specification. For the chloride and carbonation mechanism in full, see how to stop salt corrosion.
How it works
Soaks deep into the deck, fills micro-cracks and rebuilds the concrete from the inside, restoring an aged deck in place rather than resurfacing it.
Penetrates and seals deeply into the surface without forming a film, so the deck keeps its skid resistance and there is no coating to peel, blister or wear off under traffic.
What it does for the deck
Reinforcing steel is protected by the alkalinity of the concrete around it: above about pH 11.5 its passive film reforms faster than it dissolves. CS-42 holds the pore solution in that steel-passivating 11.5 to 12.5 range, and the restored binder actively buffers the alkalinity rather than simply sealing it in.
Stage 1 refines the pore network the chlorides have to travel through, and the restored aluminate sites bind incoming chloride as Friedel’s salt while the alkaline reserve holds. Road salt and sea spray reach the rebar far more slowly, and what does arrive is locked away from the steel.
Carbonation drives the pH down and strips the steel of its protection. Sealing the surface shuts down the carbonation front where it starts, at the face of the deck.
An aged deck that has already begun to deteriorate can be treated in place, where the usual route has been to demolish and rebuild.
Because both stages penetrate instead of forming a film, there is no membrane or overlay to debond, blister or wear through under traffic.
Because the treatment penetrates rather than coats, the deck keeps its existing surface texture and its skid resistance. There is no film sitting on the driving surface.
Recommended uses
The primary use case. Both new decks being protected from day one and aged decks that have already begun to deteriorate.
Multi-story decks carrying de-icing salt in on vehicle tires through every winter.
Structures exposed to sea spray, tidal cycling and permanently high humidity.
Any reinforced surface facing carbonation, salts, sea spray or high humidity where the embedded steel is the asset at risk.
Installation
Traffic: the deck is typically ready to reopen within 24 hours of the system being installed.
Download the ConcreteCare CS-42™ one-sheet for complete application specifications and site conditions.
Technical data
Product documentation
Tell us the structure, the exposure and its condition, and we will tell you whether ConcreteCare CS-42 is the right treatment for it.