Project – Guernsey new Waste Transfer Station
Project Manager – Amec Foster Wheeler
Client – State Of Guernsey
Main Contractor – Geomarine
Concrete flooring contractor – Level Best Concrete Flooring
Floor design – 200/400mm, jointless steel fibre reinforced, incorporating dry shake topping and laid to falls
Concrete supplier – Ronez – Concrete mix, high strength microsilica mix with superplasticiser
The State of Guernsey has constructed a brand new and extremely modern, waste recycling centre close to the port side, by the docks and industrial area. The facility is 3,300m2 in size and consists of various different recycling sections to cater for all of the different types of waste on the island. Level Best Concrete Flooring was contracted on behalf of main contractor Geomarine to design and construct a steel fibre jointless concrete floor slab, suspended on driven cast insitu concrete piles. Due to the very nature for the design of the internal push walls and variable floor loading conditions, a steel mesh re bar detail was also required at every interface with the reinforced concrete walls and steel profile construction floor joints.
With the construction programme of the project being extremely tight and the industrial concrete flooring contractor having a busy workload, it was decided to carry out the project over a full 7 day working period in order beat original target deadlines. The concrete flooring team travelled on a Friday night to reach the ferry in the early hours of Saturday morning and land in Guernsey in time to commence floor preparation works over the weekend.
Five consecutive days pouring was required to construct the steel fibre reinforced concrete floor slab using both of the concrete flooring contractors laser screed concrete floor levelling machines. A high strength concrete mix including a microsilica additive was used to increase the lifespan and durability of the concrete floor slab for the client. Using microsilica concrete in conjunction with steel fibres and especially when slab casting on hot days can present a lot of problems for concrete flooring contractors. Level Best took their two laser screed machines to work in tandem with each other and also act as a “back up” in case of any potential breakdowns or problems etc. The laser screeds were also set to lay the concrete to a straight grade fall, to assist water “run off” when washing down each individual bay area. The two concrete finishing teams managed to powerfloat the concrete surface to the clients requirements and also incorporate a dry shake sprinkle topping surface hardener into the concrete at the same time. This again, was no mean feet when working with microsilica concrete mixes on what turned out to be one of the hottest days of the year in Guernsey.
The steel fibre reinforced jointless floor slab design negates the requirements for any intermediary sawn induced contraction joints. The 6 number individual slab bays were isolated with a permanent steel construction joint, which remains in the floor and also helped to set the falls from perimeter to perimeter. With no requirement for any sawn joints the floor can be heavily trafficked without fear of joint breakdown from heavy duty loading shovels and mechanical handling equipment.
The steel floor joints offer protection for each days concrete pour which in turn protects the edge of the floor joint itself.
Level Best Concrete Flooring, the Yorkshire based industrial concrete flooring contractors are a true nationwide concrete flooring contractor and UK island hopper as the week previous to this carried out a concrete flooring contract on the Isle of Man for a new 1,200m2 warehouse on one of the few industrial estates on the island. Should you require more information on either the steel fibre reinforced jointless concrete floor slab in Guernsey or the steel fabric reinforced laser screed floor in the Isle of Man, then please contact our estimating department on 01405 819199 or email enquiries@levelbestconcreteflooring.co.uk
Level Best has added some time lapse videos on the “About Us” section of the website if you would like to see a few examples of concrete floors which have been constructed throughout the country. The concrete flooring contractors also have a Floor Renovation System section on their website, which is now available for viewing and also includes short video footage.