The challenge

The client was interested in reducing future operational expenditure that might be incurred by floor repairs and associated downtime. These might be expected in a traditional ‘Slab on Grade’ with saw-cut, and to a lesser extent even with a so-called ‘jointless’ floor (which in practice still has some joints, albeit around slabs of 1,000 m² or so). Additionally, the floor was to fill an irregularly-shaped site.

The solution

CBS Flooring recommended a floor combining steel fiber reinforcement with traditional rebar where required, in a truly seamless solution. Here, the entire floor constitutes a single slab and moving joints (and saw cuts) are completely eliminated.

The seamless approach overcomes the usual constraints on width:length ratios on individual slabs, while the combination of reinforcement methods allows for the casting of irregular shapes. The design proposal, for a slab of only 150 mm thickness, allowed for a nominal crack-width of just 0.2 mm over the entire 26,000 m². Bekaert was engaged to design, specify and supervise the mix and casting method as well as to supply the steel fiber on short lead times from its Dubai facility.