Project Name:   Bottling Plant

Location: Elton, Cheshire, United Kingdom

Application: Paving

This £200 million development in the United Kingdom is a “one-stop-shop” for the production, storage and filling of product for the beverage industry. At the time of construction in 2004/2005 it was reported to be the largest bottling facility in Europe.

The project includes a Building Structure which is 35m high covering an area of 52,000m2 constructed as a “Clad-Rack” building. This state of the art building also includes 80,000m2 of external concrete. For the international slab the specialist contractor adopted a steel fibre solution but concerns were raised by the engineer and client regarding steel corrosion in external slabs. Owing to continuous traffic from heavy vehicles the external area also required high Impact & Abrasion resistance.

The solution was found in a combination of both Macro Synthetic and Micro Synthetic fibres incorporated into a 175mm thick external slab. . The former providing necessary structural integrity, as specified by the project engineer, and the latter to offer protection against early age shrinkage cracking.

Outcomes:

• Replacement of Steel Reinforcement to provide a corrosion free option
• Resistance to both Early Age & Long Term Cracking
• High Impact and Abrasion resistance
• Reduction in material costs and concrete placement time

Author:  Trevor Atkinson: trevor.atkinson@propexglobal.com