Al Azizia Panda United, Distribution Facility

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT
Al Azizia Panda United - Distribution Facility
Ridayh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Design and Construction of a 71,900m²
Steel Fibre Reinforced Concrete (SFRC)
Ground Floor Slab
Twintec Industrial Flooring of Rugby, UK
part of the
Twintec International Group of Companies based in
Luxembourg, has recently designed and installed a steel fibre
Working partners with:
reinforced concrete (SFRC) ground floor slab for
Al Azizia Panda United at their new regional distribution
facility in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. WSP Middle East
Ltd were Project Managers with Davis Langdon Project QS. The facility will be fully
automated, with the design of the handling systems managed by ILS of South Africa.
The slab is ground bearing with individual leg loads from pallet racking of 100kN and a
UDL of 50kN/m². The flatness tolerance specified for the whole of the floor area was
FM2 Special to the 2003 edition of Concrete Society (UK) TR34 and as a result Twintec
has created one of the flattest floors ever constructed in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Design - Twintec's solution for this project was a jointless, steel fibre reinforced
concrete (SFRC) slab, 190mm thick and reinforced with 40kg/m³ of AFT 1/60 steel fibres.
The floor utilised a C35 concrete with a 0.5 water cement ratio and a flexural strength
of 4.6N/mm².
Our SFRC proprietary design software allows the plastic moment redistribution effect to
be taken into account whilst still using an elastic method of design. This is a well
established design methodology, supported by TR34 and with
PROJECT DATA
Application Type: Ground supported floor slab
Consultant Engineer: WSP Middle East Ltd.
Concrete Supplier: Al Falwa & Twintec
Fibre Type/s: AFT 1/60
Fibre Dosage: 40 kg/m3
Total Area: 71,384 m2
Slab Depth: 190 mm
Completion Date: May 2007
a track record of several million square metres.
Twintec design methods have been developed in conjunction
with steel producers and independent consulting engineers
for over 20 years. The total volume of jointless ground
bearing floors laid throughout Europe using our design
methods since 1982 now exceeds 60,000,000 m².
(Continued overleaf)
Ref: PS/102
Concrete - The size of the panels meant that a concrete volume of
400m³ was required on a daily basis. This, together with the need for
guaranteed delivery rate and consistent quality of product was a major issue
that required a carefully planned solution. 11No concrete mixer trucks were
used to supply the site with capacities of 6 and 9m³. The concrete suppliers Al Falwa
& Twintec kept good control over the quality, consistency and workability of the concrete and also the rate
of production. Key to this quality was the technical assistance of BASF who were fully engaged with Twintec,
Al Falwa & WSP in carrying out trial mixes until the optimum mix was selected.
Design Co-ordination - This was perhaps the key to success on this contract; with the Twintec design
team fully able to understand the specific needs of the structure and the fast track nature of the client’s
business.The floor slab was constructed to programme and within budget.
Twintec carry out all aspects of the work from budget proposals through to detailed design along with full
supply and installation.Twintec's team is entirely "in house" and includes structural engineers with over 20
years experience of designing concrete floor slabs reinforced traditionally and with Steel Fibre Reinforced
Concrete (SFRC).
Skilled Workers - Twintec have a superb market reputation and their directly employed work force are
renowned for producing floors to the highest standards of flatness in large area jointless pours, without
the need for remedial grinding. Whilst they have developed a few special tools and some unique techniques,
it is essentially a question of the attitude and commitment of the workforce. To this end, the project is
planned well, managed effectively, resourced correctly and the men are properly trained and supervised.
Site Co-operation -
Vital to the success of any floor slab project is the total commitment of all
project team members and a shared goal of achieving quality and client satisfaction. Twintec were pleased
to be part of this project team , where all concerned realised the vital importance of the floor slab to the
long-term success of this distribution facility.
Result - Using 13,000m3 of concrete, 550 tonnes of steel fibres, 250 tonnes of "Mastertop 300" dry shake
topping and 7,000 litres of "Masterkure 181"curing agent / sealer, Twintec produced the floor slab in just
38 casting days over 3 visits.
Twintec Head Office
Twintec Northern Office
Woodfield House
Berkley Business Park
Doncaster Road
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DN15 7DQ
Twintec Scottish Office
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Rugby
Warwickshire
CV21 1TF
Tel: + 44 (0)1788 567722
Fax: + 44 (0)1788 567700
Tel: + 44 (0)1788 567722
Fax: + 44 (0)1724 277697
Tel: + 44 (0)1324 715616
Fax: + 44 (0)1324 715639
[email protected]
www.twintec.co.uk
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