As part of the development of Warehouse City at Umm Al Quwain, UAE, the Saudi-based developer Al Muhaidib had a requirement in 2016 for a very large, 180,000 m2 concrete warehouse floor. Time was of the essence, and a smart, sustainable and fast solution was required.
Time is money they say, and in this massive development there were considerable cost pressures on the contractor. This created the need to drastically reduce the time spent (and thus labor and overhead costs) in creating the floor itself, and also to mitigate the risk of the floor-laying becoming a bottleneck impeding other construction activities.
By selecting Steel Fiber Reinforced Concrete (SFRC) for this large Slab On Grade (SOG) floor, time-consuming steel fixing work was eliminated, yielding an estimated 30% saving on man hours. The 200 mm thick SOG was designed and value engineered by fiber supplier Bekaert, working directly with the main contractor: Asia Prime invested in the necessary skills and machinery themselves rather than appointing a flooring specialist.
Speedy and uninterrupted operation was assured by bringing in the 600 tonnes of steel fiber directly from Bekaert’s facility in Dubai. This also spared the contractor from managing the logistics of importing and storing the material.
The project was delivered on time and continues to demonstrate increased durability and reduced maintenance compared with a conventional rebar solution.
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