Smooth thinking

Darryl Eddy, Director, Twintec Industrial Flooring.

Question: How important is flooring in achieving a flawless warehouse design?

Expert: Darryl Eddy
Director, Twintec Industrial Flooring

Elemental talk

The warehouse floor slab is arguably the most important part of a modern warehouse building. All other elements of the process are affected, for good or bad, by the quality and durability of the floor slab. With many warehouse and logistics operators now taking full advantage of new technology that often requires bigger and taller buildings,
the demand for a flatter floor is significantly higher.

The massive throughput of goods and the 24/7 nature of working operations also requires minimum down time for maintenance. In short, owners and operators need a floor slab that provides flexibility and performance with minimum disruption during function time.

Current scenario

However, it would appear that, in general, the current standard of warehouse floors does not match the demands being placed upon them. Traditional ground-bearing floor slab construction uses concrete nominally reinforced with fairly light mesh and then incorporates saw-cuts to induce shrinkage cracks to a pre-planned grid.

Floors with such joints are prone to curl, and are very bumpy for forklifts, eventually leading to breakdown and ongoing maintenance for both floor and machines.

Alternative techniques

A modern development in Europe has seen steel fibre reinforced concrete (SFRC) used in warehouse floors. The replacement of all reinforcing bar or mesh with high tensile steel wire fibres changes the concrete's behaviour from a brittle material to a ductile one that can redistribute internally developed stresses.

This development in materials technology together with laser controlled concrete placement equipment is allowing companies to consistently produce warehouse floors to a standard ideally suited to the needs of a modern warehouse. Such a concept is in theory faster, with large pour construction methods producing daily outputs of up to 2000m² per day, more economical, as it removes the need for applying coats or screeds due to its density and durability, therefore offering a lower life cost.

Know how

In order to design and build a floor in SFRC it is necessary to understand and master the properties of the constituent materials both individually and in relation to each other in order to arrive at the optimum combination of concrete mix, fibre type and fibre dosage. SFRC is a composite material and can be used to produce heavily reinforced floors that do not require sawn induced contraction joints.

Such jointless floor slabs reduce wear and tear on forklifts and ultimately the level of floor maintenance. It is believed a jointless solution can eliminate 90% of floor joints in comparison to a jointed floor option, providing greater flexibility in the use of racking throughout a site.

Levelling out

The implications of achieving the highest possible standard of flatness in a warehouse floor design have considerable implications for both building owners and warehouse operators.

If a jointless floor is cast to the highest standards of flatness and levelness without grinding, not only is the efficiency of the operator maximised, but also the possibilities for change of use are greatly enhanced, ensuring that the value of the building remains at a premium. Very high flatness tolerance also enables forklifts to operate at optimum speeds, offering peace of mind for driver.

SFRC in the Middle East

Twintec, a European company that promotes the development and use of advanced SFRC technology within the construction industry throughout Europe and North America, has recently completed a project in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The second phase of a 70,000m² distribution facility for Panda in Riyadh, Twintec are subsequently set to open new offices in KSA later this year.

Carrying out all aspects of work, from design through to installation with an insured guarantee and profesional indemnity insurance to cover design and workmanship, the team at Twintec is happy to enter into negiotations with clients, fund holders or their design teams to provide information, proposals or accurate budget quotations.

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