Friday, September 07, 2018

Flat Strip Waterstop

Flat strip waterstop is installed most often in below grade applications, with limited movement. Flat strip waterstop functions in construction and contraction (control) joints. Both JP637 and JP937 are all 3/8” thick... The largest and thickest profiles available in the industry! Like all our thermoplastic waterstops, Earth Shield® flat strip waterstop can be heat-welded using a standard waterstop splicing iron allowing for easy field fabrications and enable the waterstop to function as a continuous, homogeneous, fluid-tight diaphragm. Waterstop directional changes are available along with straight roll stock. Custom, fit-to-print waterstop modules are produced to order. Prefabricated ells, tees, tank pads, column fittings, and many others are in stock and ready to ship.

Wednesday, September 05, 2018

We're Hiring

We currently have two positions to fill: Welder/Fabricator and Extruder Operator. Great pay and benefits included. If you're interested in learning more, please contact us at jpspec@jpspecialties.com

Tuesday, August 07, 2018

JP216L Retrofit Waterstop for Chemical Containment

Earth Shield® part no. JP216L Retrofit Waterstop is designed to provide a fluid-tight seal between existing and new concrete construction, without resorting to the labor-intensive and structurally destructive saw-cut-and-grout method. It is ideal for joining a new slab to an existing wall. Special profile fabrications are available for columns and pipe penetrations. All of our retrofit waterstops are sold as a complete system, and include all the necessary stainless steel bars and bolts. We also offer a high-quality chemical resistant novolac epoxy — VEN 1000. Earth Shield® retrofit waterstops are manufactured with our proprietary thermoplastic vulcanizate compound, which provides for unsurpassed chemical
JP216L Retrofit Waterstop
resistance. Like all our thermoplastic vulcanizate waterstops, Earth Shield® retrofit waterstop can be heat-welded using a standard waterstop splicing iron. This allows for easy field fabrications, and allows the waterstop to function as a continuous, homogeneous, fluid-tight diaphragm. Waterstop change of directions can be purchased along with straight roll stock, and custom, fit-to-print waterstop modules are produced to order. Prefabricated ells, tees, tank pads, column fittings, and many others are in stock and ready to ship.


JP216L in a construction joint.

Monday, April 30, 2018

TPV Waterstop for Secondary Containment


Earth Shield® Thermoplastic Vulcanizate Waterstop is used as a fluid-tight diaphragm, embedded in concrete, across and along the joint, for primary and secondary containment structures. Earth Shield® Chemical Resistant Waterstops are resistant to a wide range of oils, solvents, and aggressive chemicals. Alcohol, ketones, glycols, esters, and aqueous solutions of acids, salts, and bases have little effect on Earth Shield® Thermoplastic Vulcanizate Waterstop.

Unlike polyvinyl chloride (PVC) waterstop, Earth Shield® waterstop contains no plasticizer, stabilizer, or filler to leech out when exposed to chemicals, fuels, and aggressive industrial fluids. Also, unlike PVC waterstop, Earth Shield® can withstand prolonged exposure to high and low temperatures (-78°F to 275°F long term) without detrimental effect.

Earth Shield® TPV Waterstop is NSF Standard 61 Certified for use in drinking water and is made of a recyclable polymer, so it is good for health and the environment.

The superior chemical resistance of Earth Shield® Thermoplastic Vulcanizate Waterstop is enhanced by the use of a ribbed centerbulb configuration, which is available in a 4, 6, and 9-inch width. This provides for greater mechanical bonding with the concrete and a barrier against migration of liquid flow around the waterstop. The ribbed centerbulb style also allows for joint movement and may be used in above or below grade applications. Additional shapes are available for retrofit, extreme expansion, stainless steel and base seal applications. 


Different varieties and grades of thermoplastic elastomers (TPE) are commercially available. On the low-end there is thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO), which has a rubber phase that is not cross-linked. On the high-end there is thermoplastic vulcanizate (TPV)... Earth Shield® has chosen a fully cross-linked TPV as our standard elastomer compound, which provides superior mechanical properties, retention, and chemical resistance. In fact, when compared side-by-side, no competitive product is even close to achieving the physical properties of Earth Shield®

Sunday, April 22, 2018

Ribbed Centerbulb Waterstop

Earth Shield® Waterstop part no. JP636
Ribbed centerbulb is the most versatile type of waterstop available. The centerbulb accommodates lateral, transverse, and shear movement. Ribbed centerbulb can be used in expansion, construction, and control joints. Ribbed centerbulb waterstops provide superior anchoring abilities and a long fluid-flow path because of the multiple ribs on the exterior flanges. Under stress, the multiple ribs will distort less than a dumbbell type waterstop. This is because the stress is first applied to the inward-most anchoring rib, and decreases to the subsequent ribs. The centerbulb allows for joint movement beyond the ultimate elongation of the material (530%), without causing distortion to anchoring ribs. All of our ribbed centerbulb waterstops are manufactured with a large outer diameter centerbulb. This centerbulb, coupled with the outstanding mechanical properties of our proprietary TPV elastomer (ultimate elongation, tensile strength, etc.), provides for unsurpassed joint movement and sealing abilities. Like all our thermoplastic vulcanizate waterstops, Earth Shield® ribbed centerbulb waterstop can be heat-welded using a standard waterstop splicing iron. This allows for easy field fabrications, and allows the waterstop to function as a continuous, homogeneous, fluid-tight diaphragm. Waterstop change of directions can be purchased along with straight roll stock, and custom, fit-to-print waterstop modules are produced to order. Prefabricated ells, tees, tank pads, column fittings, and many others are in stock and ready to ship.


Saturday, February 24, 2018

An Introduction to Waterstop

For the complete presentation, please visit HERE.


The first waterstops used in construction were comprised of strips of lead or copper. In the early 1900s the preferred waterstop material shifted to vulcanized rubbers such as neoprene or styrene butadiene rubber (SBR). While rubber waterstops had excellent mechanical properties (high tensile strength and great elongation) they had one major weakness: they were extremely difficult to field fabricate as the rubber was vulcanized, meaning it had already taken a “set” (thermoset) and could not be heat welded together like the metals used previously.


In 1926, a new plastic compound was invented by Waldo Semon of the B. F. Goodrich Company: plasticized PVC. Semon was attempting to dehydrohalogenate (non-plasticized) PVC in a solution of boiling solvent in order to to create an unsaturated polymer that would be useful for bonding rubber to metal. The results of Semon’s experiment was the creation of a thermoplastic with properties very similar to rubber.  
It took many years for plasticized PVC to find suitable commercial applications, and was first used as a waterstop material in the early 1950s. Back then, the material was properlylabeled as fPVC or flexible PVC. 

The first wide-scale test of any waterstop was performed in 1954 by the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario, Canada. The results of this test are still used by many manufacturers as a benchmark, and other than some new polymers, waterstop has not really changed that much since then. 

For the complete presentation, please visit HERE.


Thursday, February 15, 2018

Chemical Resistant Waterstop Trench Modules

Earth Shield® Waterstop manufactures complete drop-in-place trench modules for the petrochemical industry. Learn more HERE.