Air and Space Museum at Le Bourget

The Air and Space Museum at Le Bourget Airport close to Parisis the most important museum of its kind in France, and is among the largest in the world. It is located at the site of the Le Bourget Airport to the north of Paris, and even the roof of the "Salle des Huit Colonnes" columned hall in the large gallery is unique: the construction is made up of concrete arches and spandrels as well as countless glass tiles, which gives the building its special character, while also bringing light into the gallery.

Over the years, the weather conditions that the roof has been exposed to have gradually caused leaks which pose a risk of damage to the aviation museum exhibits. In light of this problem, the roof needed to be refurbished with a high-performance liquid applied waterproofing solution. The contractor Sertec recommended to the DMPA (Directorate for Memory, Heritage and Archives) and the architect the only PMMA-based waterproofing system that has obtained DTA certification from the Centre Scientifique et Technique du Bâtiment (CSTB): Triflex ProDetail reinforced with special fleece.

Once the previous waterproofing had been removed using a high-pressure sand blaster, the liquid applied waterproofing system could be applied onto the concrete surfaces. MMA resins were used for all the layers of the new system, making use of two advantages: the extremely short curing times of the methacrylate and the long life of the overall system. Once the primer had been applied, the expansion joints had to be sealed. This was performed using Triflex ProDetail reinforced with special fleece and a Triflex Support Strip for the expansion joints. Before waterproofing work was carried out, the strip was first fixed to the primer using Triflex Cryl Paste, a PMMA-based paste that cures in less than 20 minutes. The horizontal parts and the concrete arches were also waterproofed with Triflex ProDetail. This full-surface fleece-reinforced waterproofing layer offers outstanding resistance to static and dynamic loads acting on the concrete structure. In addition, the system is root- and rhizome-resistant and has a service life of at least 20 years (ETA class W3).

As the architect responsible for the project was completely satisfied with the colour of the Triflex ProDetail system, no finish was applied to the surfaces. Incidentally, finishing is not strictly necessary, as Triflex ProDetail is completely UV-resistant.