The sealant has been tested on two roadways and Indiana’s Department of Transportation expects to use it on several others this spring.
“Our product is different from traditional sealants because it is sprayed on the roadway and actually soaks into the concrete to form a barrier against water,” said Paul Imbrock, an alumnus of Purdue’s College of Engineering who helped develop the hydrophobic sealant. “This makes the sealant much more resistant to cracks and damage, plus it does not create a vulnerable chemical film on a road’s surface that can lead to more issues.”
The technology was spun out into a startup called Environmental Concrete Products. The company has received funding from the Indiana Soybean Alliance.