Reinforced concrete for school buildings

A school based in Swindon teaching 11-18 year olds needed a brand new academy to be built to house their students. The contractor was keen to replace the specified mesh reinforcement with a fibred solution. Tarmac was approached by the contractor at an early stage of the project to see whether a TOPFLOW solution might be suitable. In addition to the specification, there were other challenges too. The supply plant was 45 minutes away and the volume required would be up to 70m³ per day to be poured using a pump. Because of this, the production and logistics sychronisation was key. Alongside this the site was open plan, therefore the potential for wind tunnel effect that can cause cracking was very high.

Tarmac offered TOPFLOW with fibres which removed the need for mesh and the handling and fixing that goes with it. This reduced programme time and enabled a much safer and open site for other trades working during installation. The steel fibres provide a 3D reinforcement and enhanced flexural properties, ideal for the screed topping to be placed on bonded over precast planks. A team of four operatives completed 1,000m² within 5 hours thus saving labour on site and enhancing productivity. Each batch was monitored for consistency and delivered on time to keep the pump flowing. The site support and design team managed the finishing process to ensure that the wind tunnel effect was mitigated as much as possible and with minimal cracking. This was a challenging task with the particularly windy weather at the time.

Over 650m³ of TOPFLOW with steel fibres was supplied as a structural topping and placed over 2 floors of precast plants, each approximately 4,500m². The customised TOPFLOW SF solution met the expectations of both the contractor and client in all respects whilst allowing them to continue business as usual and significantly reduced the construction programme. The contractors were highly impressed with the solution and the client was so pleased with the result that they are using TOPFLOW on two more sites in the UK. TOPFLOW SF is available from all Tarmac plants across the country with site support from the local sector.