Panamal Canal Dynamiting Damage: Plaster Pool Repairs

[PanamEric]

Hello All,

I am looking for suggestions on repairing my 30y/o plaster pool.

I live a short distance from the Panama Canal. Recent expansion works has been wreaking havoc with my pool.

Although I am maybe 5 miles away I am guessing that the vibrations from the dynamiting are too much to handle for this old structure. I'm on top of a hill (1000ft elevation) and I believe the elevation compounds the effect. Its like small earthquakes.

So about a month ago I lost over one foot of water in the course of one night.
I found a deep open crack right under the skimmer and then collapsed concrete around the drain.
The opening around the skimmer too was letting water through the jont of plastic and concrete.
I cleaned out the loose material and patched it up with rock-tite, a hydraulic cement mix. supposedly suitable for underwater use.

I sealed the patches and repainted the whole pool (while it was dry).

All was good until I woke up Sunday to another foot of water missing.

We (neighbours have similar problems) have no way of proving that the Canal construction is the cause for sure. I am mentioning it to factor in the fact that whatever happened is likely to happen again, and hopefully my next repair can take that into account.

Are there any suggestions on what to use to seal these cracks more permanently?
is there some type of expanding flexible caulking that I could use before patching up with the hydraulic cement?
How do I seal the skimmer? Would a good quality silicon do it?

The repairs that I did on the crack and skimmer did not hold. The one on the drain is still holding.

I am suspecting the walls are made with filled up cement blocks (as it is the standard construction here) but have no way to be certain until I cut into it.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[gtnos]

wow. thank stinks. any idea of when they will cease the dynamiting? I would not attempt repairs until the explosions stopped, especially if you think that is the cause of the damage... which I would think is certainly a possibility, depending upon how much ground vibration they are causing.

at that point, im thinking you will need to bring in a structural engineer to assess the damage, as its most likely beyond the pool and into the ground itself surrounding it, meaning, you will have to fix more than just the pool, or the damage could re-occur.

as far as proving the blasts causing the damage, any way you have access to someone who can record the seismic activity at your location when the blasts occur? that would be a starting point I would think.