Watched a crew pump wet shotcrete inside a tunnel last week in Denver, still prefer dry gunite

I started in the 90s doing dry gunite on swimming pools around San Antonio, always had the nozzle guy calling for more water and we'd fight the dust cloud on every batch. Last week I watched a wet shotcrete crew line a 200-foot storm tunnel section and they had almost zero rebound, just smooth layers going down. But their setup cost a small fortune with the pump truck and the mix delivery schedule, plus they had to wait 45 minutes between loads. Dry mix we could stage bags, tweak the water on the fly, and fix a bad spot in 5 minutes without calling for a truck. Is wet shotcrete really the way forward for everyone, or do you guys still find dry gunite faster for small repairs on existing structures? I know the dust is brutal but the control feels better to me, what do you all think?

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victor_robinson20d ago

That 45 minute wait between loads is the same reason I quit waiting on the cable guy to show up, sometimes the simple tool you already have beats the fancy one that keeps you stuck.