The benefits of a Freeplan ‘jointless’ SFRC floor slab are well documented when compared to a traditionally designed concrete floor slab that necessitates numerous saw-cut joints (straight cracks).
It is more onerous to design and detail a ‘jointless’ slab when you need to incorporate 2,400 manholes within the 44,160m2 area, but this is exactly what Twintec has done.
Twintec’s in-house design team engineered the slab to accommodate all the complex MEP requirements, providing provision for the kilometres of conduit to be incorporated into the slab design and construction, resulting in a large panel (30m x 33m) Freeplan ‘jointless’ floor slab with no saw-cut joints.
The arranging of the ducting and manhole complexity of the project meant that it was not possible to utilise a Laserscreed (concrete levelling) or Topping Spreader (application of the dryshake hardener) and that a pump would be necessary to deliver concrete to the workface, all added to the challenges. Twintec’s skilled, experienced and quality motivated workforce rose to the challenge and the concrete slab was laid and levelled by hand emphasising their exemplary skill levels and competence. Transgulf Ready Mix co-ordinated closely with the Twintec Operations Team and in-house Concrete Specialist to provide the optimum concrete mix, best pump and operators for the specific site conditions as well as consistent supply rate of concrete. [Read more about concrete - getting it right]
The skills of the Twintec Operations Team under the control of an experienced Operations Manager familiar with local climatic and working conditions and rigorous quality control meant that the 44,160m2 was installed in 26 days with up to 300m3 of steel fibre reinforced concrete (SFRC) being laid each night.
As part of the quality control measures the steel fibres were incorporated into the concrete trucks on site, by an experienced Twintec Operative, utilising an in-house built fibre integration machine. Learn more This ensured a homogeneous dispersion of the fibres throughout the concrete.
Working on a major construction site such as Expo 2020 brings it own unique challenges; the general contractor's programme, co-ordination with other trades, an extremely busy site and a non negotiable fixed deadline for completion. One of the critical success factors was the willingness of all parties to co-ordinate and work together to achieve the desired end result. The co-ordination by ALEC was professional, pragmatic and all inclusive and, together with MACE and associated trades, Twintec were able to design and construct an outstanding floor slab for this unique development.
Contact one of our worldwide offices for more information or mail@twintecgroup.com