Ensuring continued operations and low maintenance

The challenge

A key requirement was to build a distribution center that would have low operating and maintenance costs. To meet this challenge, Bekaert proposed a jointless system for the floor of the distribution center, incorporating slabs of 34 x 34 meters reinforced with Dramix® 3D steel fibers.

By reducing the number of joints, overall flatness, operability and durability would increase, resulting in reduced operating and maintenance costs. In addition, the absence of steel bars would reduce the equipment needed for installation as well as the man-hours, resulting in time and cost savings and reducing the environmental footprint of the project.

Close coordination between all the companies involved in the project was crucial to guarantee the quality of the floor and ensure maintenance cost reductions.

The solution

The Bekaert team proved that they fully understood the needs of a high-use distribution center. They translated them into real loads, and developed designs that would ensure high quality and durability of the floor over a long lifetime. 136 tons of tons of Dramix® 3D 80/60BG were used at a dosage of 35 kg/m³ to create a slab thickness of 19 cm across 20,486 m² of floor.

In addition, Bekaert coordinated closely with all the partners involved in the project, providing training, on-site assistance, and fiber supply logistics to achieve the success of the project. Liverpool is evaluating the benefits of the jointless system incorporating Dramix® steel fibers with the objective of replicating it in other projects.