The stunning views of Boston’s skyline will soon be appreciated by a brand new community.

The first level of the first building of the highly anticipated Portside at Pier One project has already risen from developing East Boston waterfront. And it’s about time – the Portside development effort began all the way back in 2000. After a permitting process that spanned six years, construction finally began in 2006, only to be halted only months later due to the economic downturn in 2007.

In 2012, Boston’s Mayor Thomas M. Menino made a commitment to the city of Boston to continue the stalled revitalization of East Boston’s port-side waterfront.

East Boston Pier one before construction began.

Some concern rose, however, over multiple environmental studies predicting rising sea levels between one and two feet around Boston in the next 35 years. The new building would need a permanent, proven waterproofing system for its below grade levels, due to its close proximity to the damaging seawater.

Kryton’s Alain Lok stands at the site of the first building.

The building contractors turned to Kryton’s Krystol Internal Membrane (KIM), through Kryton’s East Coast USA distributors – Dry Concrete, to turn the concrete itself into a watertight concrete barrior. As an admixture, KIM is added directly to the concrete itself, and reacts with water to create permanent crystals which block the passage of water throughout the internal capillaries of the concrete.

KIM’s effectiveness has also been proven in long-term, independent tests as a proven corrosion inhibitor for reinforcing steel under harsh salt water conditions, making it the ideal choice for waterfront, flood prone structures. Nearly 5000 cubic yards of concrete was waterproofed with KIM, including the mat slab, foundation walls, sump and lift pits.

In addition to the KIM in the concrete itself, the Krystol Waterstop System for joints was also applied to hundreds of lineal feet of the vulnerable jointing areas to mitigate any water infiltration due to flooding or water pressure.