S t r u c t u ra l P r o d u c t s
CI/SfB
(28) Hh2
February 2007
Composite Slab Flooring System
Using DRAMIX Steel Fibre Concrete - Projects Book
Building
to the Power of
Kingspan and Bekaert
Composite Slab
No Mesh Construction Is it more difficult to pump?
®
Dramix Steel Fibre Concrete, has been used No. The fibres spread evenly during the mix. Pumping to
throughout Europe in Industrial Floors and External heights is no problem using normal pumping equipment.
Pavements for many years. Following extensive test How does it lay?
work and analysis by The Steel Construction Institute it Dramix lays perfectly. And, of course, there’s no mesh to trip
is now available for multi-storey applications. Dramix over - eliminating a site safety hazard.
steel fibres with Multideck profiles have been proven by
So who is using it?
testing to achieve full fire performance for 1 - 1.5 hours.
Dramix has been used on many projects in different sectors such
The use of a Dramix® Steel Fibre reinforced Concrete as the Colmore Plaza on all of its 14 floors, 10 storey Teesside
slab provides a “pre-reinforced” concrete slab House in Middlesbrough. Thanet Retail Park, Spurriergate in York
- no mesh has to be installed. mixed development and the prestigious Quebec Buildings
Residential Development in Salford Manchester.
‘ great step forward
in composite
Why are Kingspan promoting the product?
We believe this is a great step forward in composite floor
construction for multi-storeys. So we’ve spent considerable
time and resources testing Dramix and Multideck.
The combination is the first design with a proven 1-hour and
1.5 hour fire rating.
floor construction ’ Where can I get more information?
For literature & technical advice on the Dramix product
contact Bekaert on 01142 427 485
or email [Link]@[Link]
Are You Still Quoting For Mesh?
Mesh is hassle. You have to buy it, transport it, store it,
crane it, and fix it. It’s tricky to work on AND it costs
good money. If you’re still using mesh you’ve probably
not heard of Dramix steel fibres.
So what is Dramix?
Dramix fibres are steel wire filaments with hooked ends –
manufactured by Bekaert Ltd. They are added to the concrete
mix to provide a pre-reinforced concrete suitable for pumping
straight on to the metal deck.
And it’s as good as mesh?
Yes, The fibres provide full depth reinforcement and excellent
crack control. What’s more the design is endorsed by the
Steel Construction Institute (SCI).
1. Steel fibres added 2. Fibres mix perfectly 3. Concrete pumped 4. Mixture spread
to hopper with concrete into position onto deck
Construction Advantages
• Pre-Reinforced Concrete
• Simplified process
• No mesh to transport,
buy, store, lay etc...
• Time savings on site
• Earlier project completion LORES MD80
• Concrete volume savings
• Reduction in crane hire time
Technical Advantages
• Proven 1 hour & 1.5 hour fire rating
• Structural design information
developed by SCI
• Full depth reinforcement offers
excellent crack control
• Design advice and assistance
Health & Safety
Advantages
• Minimises site handling
• Reduces site congestion
• Minimises crane lifts
• Eliminates hand carrying
of mesh into position
• Reduces tripping hazards
5. No mesh means no 6. Mixture floated off 7. Floating provides 8. Floor completed
tripping hazard a smooth finish in double quick time
1
Hi-Rise
Colmore Plaza
Birmingham
Project Name
Colmore Plaza The £155million Colmore Plaza project in floor laying process – significantly reducing
Birmingham is the tallest building in the UK completion time and improving health and
Location
to specify Dramix® Steel Fibre Concrete for safety onsite. Dramix® fibres are made from
Birmingham
each of its 14 floors. prime quality hard-drawn steelwire to
Structural Consultant guarantee high tensile strength and close
The Plaza’s city centre location necessitated
Brookbanks Consulting tolerances. Added to the concrete mix, the
carefully planned night pours of the
fibres ensure full depth reinforcement and
Main Contractor innovative flooring solution. Space at the
excellent crack control.
Bowmer & Kirkland Ltd. site is so restricted that a traditional
Sub Contractors
mesh-based flooring solution was fraught For the Colmore building, Kingspan
with problems – but Dramix® pumped onto approved installer MSW laid the Multideck,
MSW, Twintec,
Kingspan Multideck was the easier and whilst Twintec and Technic Floors
Technic Concrete Floors Ltd more economical answer. co-ordinated the addition of the steel fibres
Usage Dramix® steel fibre reinforced concrete at a Cemex batching plant. The reinforced
Offices provides a pre-reinforced concrete slab concrete was then pumped into each floor
which requires no mesh and simplifies the of the office building according to a strictly
2
‘ tallest building in the UK to specify
controlled night-time schedule to cause
minimum disruption to the surrounding area.
When used in conjunction with Kingspan
Dramix Steel Fibre Concrete’
Multideck MD60-V2, Dramix® Steel Fibre ®
Concrete provides a proven 1 hour and 1.5
hour fire rating. Not only does mesh become
redundant, but the shear resistance of
Dramix® concrete exceeds that of its mesh
reinforced equivalent. In addition, the unique
design of Kingspan Multideck reduces the
volume of concrete required, bringing cost
as well as time savings to a project.
Dramix® is now being specified in a number
of key projects across the UK – most
notably where access or architectural
conservation are significant issues.
The solution, a joint initiative between
Kingspan and Bekaert, has been tested
by the Steel Construction Institute (SCI)
and endorsed for multi-storey applications.
3
Hi-Rise
Teesside House
Middlesbrough
The £3,160,000 project Teesside House in replacing it with steel fibre reinforced
Middlesbrough is a 10 Storey scheme to concrete.
Project Name
provide a 388 bed student accommodation
Teesside House The placing of the concrete took place in
block in Middlesbrough town centre, with
the first quarter of 2006, making it at the
Location retail units and a restaurant on the ground
time the tallest building to have steel fibre
Middlesbrough floor. Due to the very limited access on the
concrete pumped onto its floors right up to
side roads on this town centre development
Structural Consultant 10 storeys
the option to use fibres was put forward by
Billinghurst George & Partners
Metaldeck, so as to remove the placement
Main Contractor
The Mandale Group
Sub Contractors
Metaldeck Ltd., Sidlow Brothers Ltd.
of large sheets of mesh reinforcement onto
the 10 floors which would have been very
problematic.
The Mandale Group accepted the
argument, and were persuaded by the
‘ savings in
both time
Usage
savings in both time and money, not to
Student Accommodation/Retail
mention the health and safety issues, by
removing mesh from the scheme and and money ’
Carrmills, Leeds
4
Leisure
Kirkby Leisure
Centre Project Name
Liverpool
Kirkby Leisure Centre
Location
The £9,000,000 scheme is a new leisure centre
Liverpool
comprising of a 4 court sports hall, 6-lane 25m
pool, 12m by 10m learner pool, health and Architect and Engineer
fitness/dance facility, shapers plus fitness room, Knowsley Metropolitan
multi purpose hall, wet and dry changing rooms, Borough Council
boxing club facility, aerobics studio, admin
Main Contractor
office, reception area, 6-lane athletics track, 2
artificial turf soccer pitches, landscaping and Shepherd Construction Ltd.
parking. Sub Contractors
Time savings and Health and Safety issues of Metaldeck Ltd., Sidlow Brothers Ltd.
using mesh were taken into account by the Usage
main contractor and the client in their decision Leisure
to use a steel fibre reinforced concrete solution
for the first floor, even though in this case
access was not a problem!
‘ time savings
with steel
fibre reinforced
concrete ’
5
Mixed Use
Express
Networks
Manchester
The £8,000,000 scheme comprises office
and shop units on the ground floor and first
floor with 56 apartments over 6 storeys
above. 28 parking spaces are also included.
This was the first time the Engineer had
seriously considered steel fibre concrete
on decks, but due to its very restricted
corner site the use of mesh would have
meant all sort of complications in gaining
access to lay.
‘due to its
very restricted
corner site,
steel fibre
concrete was
Project Name
Express Networks the answer ’
Location
Manchester Artisan asked the Engineer to consider the
use of Steel Fibre Concrete, as they could
Structural Consultant see that there were a number of days time
Marston and Grundy saving to be made and after looking at all
Main Contractor the evidence and information given by
Artisan Ltd. Bekaert, Kingspan and Metaldeck, the
engineer made an informed decision to
Sub Contractors proceed with Dramix Fibre Reinforcement.
Metaldeck Ltd., Sidlow Brothers Ltd.
Usage
Offices/Residential
6
Mixed Use
Spurriergate
York
Kingspan and Dramix provided an innovative
solution to the parking difficulties and
constricted conditions in York City centre. Project Name
The Spurriergate project comprised retail Spurriergate
space on the ground floor and 13
two-bedroom apartments over a further Location
three floors. The area was sited in the busiest York
shopping location in what is, ostensibly, Structural Consultant
a medieval city layout. Halcrow Group Ltd
‘ pre-reinforced
concrete ’
Main Contractor
Quarmby
Sub Contractor
Metaldeck
Usage
Due to the confined nature of the site the Shops/Offices/Single Living
engineers and main contractor needed to
minimise site traffic and crane lifts. One way
to do this was by eliminating the steel mesh
used in the composite floor decking. Dramix
steel fibres were added to the hopper during
mixing to create "pre-reinforced" concrete
which meant several lorry loads and crane lifts
could be eliminated from the programme.
In addition this meant that valuable storage
space on site could be freed up for other
uses. Using Dramix Steel Fibres in
conjunction with Kingspan's Multideck MD60
gave a mesh-free, proven fire-rated solution.
The complex fixing and concrete pumping
requirements was undertaken by Kingspan
approved fixers, Metaldeck of Skelmersdale. Withington House, Manchester
7
Education
University of
Nottingham
Nottingham
This £11,000,000 scheme comprised of the
construction of phase 2 of the Centre for
Bio Molecular Sciences research buildings
and general academic buildings.
‘very impressed
with the ease
of laying
the floors ’
This was the first time that the engineer
The Ward Cole Partnership had considered
the use of Steel Fibre Concrete on Steel
Decks, tight proximity of the new building to
existing buildings created access problems
which would have been difficult to solve with
mesh reinforcement. So they looked very
seriously at the Fibre Solution and decided
to proceed!
Project Name Thomas Fish & Son Ltd bought its steel
University of Nottingham fibre reinforced concrete form Lafarge, who
dosed the fibre into their concrete at a local
Location batching plant. Thomas Fish were very
Nottingham impressed with the ease of laying the floors
Structural Consultant and their Site Manager Ranjit Lall stated that
he would certainly consider Steel Fibre
Ward & Cole Partnership
Reinforcement on decks on future projects!
Main Contractor
Thomas Fish & Sons Ltd
Sub Contractors
MSW, Northern Flooring
Usage
University
8
Education
Bishop
Auckland
College Project Name
Bishop Auckland College
County Durham Location
County Durham
The £9,500,000 scheme comprised of the
comprehensive re-development of the Engineer
college’s main campus, including the Cundall Johnston & Partners
demolition of approximately 8,380 sqm of Main Contractor
buildings and the construction of 7,000 sqm Surgo Construction Ltd
of classrooms. Metaldeck made the
suggestion of using Steel Fibre Concrete on Sub Contractor
the decks of this project, and Cundall Metaldeck Ltd., Wyn Construction
Johnston made an investigation into the Usage
viability and decided that there were definite College
advantages to the use of fibres over mesh.
Tarmac bought and dosed the fibres at their
local batching plant for Wyn Construction to
pump and place the concrete onto all 3
storeys of the building.
‘ solution for
latest project
All went successfully and Surgo are now
considering Fibres as a solution for its latest
’
project, another educational building in the
North East of England
9
Residential
Broad Road Apartments
Sale, Manchester
Project Name
Broad Road Apartments
Location
Sale, Manchester
The £15,000,000 scheme comprises of the
erection of 2 apartment blocks (six storeys
and seven storeys high) along with 45 2
bedroom apartments, and a multi storey car
park to provide 460 spaces on 10 split
‘ tight access
- so fibre
Architect levels.
MBLA Architects & Urbanists
Main Contractor
Richardson Projects Ltd.
The site is a corner site with very tight
access between the main road and the
railway line, giving a very cramped area for
reinforced
Sub Contractors
Metaldeck Ltd.,
services on site. So the use of fibres was
considered so as to remove the obvious
problems that laying large sheets of mesh
concrete was
Technic Concrete Floors Ltd
Usage
Offices
reinforcement presented. So Steel Fibre
Reinforcement was decided upon for
access reasons, but also for time savings,
the perfect
solution ’
and the Health and Safety issue of removing
an obvious trip hazard.
Technic Flooring who have worked with
Richardson Projects on previous jobs,
suggested the use of Fibre concrete at a
meeting where access problems with laying
the mesh were being discussed.
Richardson Projects took this on board and
after discussions with the client proceeded
with the fibre reinforced concrete.
10
Residential
Quebec
Salford
Quebec Buildings in Salford, Greater Manchester
is a residential scheme built by property
developers, the Vermont Group. The £7 million Project Name
development comprises 152 apartments Quebec Buildings
together with smaller commercial units. The Location
complex is 6 storeys high and includes a
Salford
basement car park for residents. Designed by
Stephenson Bell Architects the building features Structural Consultant
zinc metal cladding on the facade. Clancy Consulting
The Structural Consultant, Clancy Consultants Main Contractor
selected a composite slab floor to reduce the Vermont Group
overall amount of concrete that would be Sub Contractors
required in the build programme. By specifying
Dramix steel fibres the consultant also ensured Metaldeck/CAY Flooring
that the floor construction would be fast-track Usage
and not reliant on mesh which is problematic to Residential
transport, store, lift and position.
Construction Director for Vermont, Mr Mark
Colton commented “Using steel fibres with a
composite deck was a first for the group and it
was essential that everything went right on such
a large project as this. We were impressed with
how the product simplified and speeded up the
pouring process. The end result was a smooth
floor with less of the hassle involved with mesh.”
Fire and acoustics are important areas in
residential design. The SCI’s robust details for
composite slab floors provide residential
solutions to meet Part E of the Building
regulations. In addition the SCI have proven the
performance of Kingspan Multideck MD60 and
Dramix steel fibres together and endorse the Havenside, Cambridgeshire E1.4, Milton Keynes
design for 1 and 1.5 hours fire rating.
11
Retail
Westwood Cross
Broadstairs, Kent
One of the challenges facing the design The problems were solved by using
team on the £50m contract for the Kingspan MD60 decking with un-propped
Project Name
Westwood Cross Shopping Centre, Thanet spans up to 3.3m infilled with concrete
Westwood Cross which opened in June 2005 was the large reinforced with Bekaert RC65/60BN steel
Location area of first floor which needed to be fibres.
Thanet, Broadstairs, Kent constructed with maximum flexibility to suit
Structural Consultant
Reuby & Stagg
Main Contractor
Carillion
the future incoming tenants. Alongside this
were the needs for ultra fast construction
and no applied finishes.
The problem of keeping composite floors
economically thin whilst providing fire
‘ maximum
flexibility and
Sub Contractors resistance and adequate crack control is
MSW/O’Keefes
Usage
normally frustrated by the use of steel mesh
reinforcement particularly at the lap
positions. All too frequently this leads to the
ultra fast
construction ’
Retail Park
need for increased concrete thickness to
prevent the mesh ‘grinning’ through.
Despite some contractor concern the use of
fibres became an unqualified success and
fixing of screed rails and stop ends was
considerably simplified as was the power
floating of the slabs.
The success of steel fibre reinforced
concrete metal decking led to the ground
floor slabs also being constructed using
steel fibre. This obviated placement
difficulties when working over mesh and
provided far more extensive crack control
through the full depth of the concrete.
Debenhams, Thanet
Comments by Roger Stagg
12
Commercial
Talbot Road
Manchester
The first project for 2004 using Kingspan’s
MD60 and Dramix fibres was a 4 storey office
Project Name
development on Talbot Road in Manchester. The
site had very limited access being situated Talbot Road
between two existing office blocks and the only Location
site access being onto the small car park area Manchester
at the front of the building.
Structural Consultant
The decision was made to use Dramix steel Shaw Whitmore Fyffe Partnership
fibres instead of mesh mainly because of site
Main Contractor
access, but also health and safety issues such
as reducing mesh handling, and trip hazards Parkinsons
during the flooring operation. The steeldeck & Sub Contractors
fibre concrete solution carries a minimum 1 hour Metaldeck/Tarmac Topmix
fire rating. Fire load tables were developed by Usage
the Steel Construction Institute based on large
Offices
scale fire testing undertaken at the Warrington
Fire Research Establishment.
‘ 4in floors laid
2 days ’
The fibres were batched by conveyor directly into
the truck mixers at the Tarmac Topmix Batching
plant in Salford. After arriving on site the concrete
was pumped directly onto all 4 floors which were
laid in 2 days. Despite being on a main road,
congestion was kept to a minimum, as
IO Business Centre, Glasgow Sunderland Marine Assurance, Durham
pre-reinforced concrete was pumped into place.
13
Kingspan Structural Product Range
Multibeam Technical Multichannel Technical
Handbook Handbook
Kingspan Structural Products The Multichannel range is
produce a complete range of contained within the Multibeam
pre-engineered cold formed technical manual.
products for modern industrial
and commercial building
construction.
Multideck Technical Composite Slab Flooring
Handbook System
Multideck is a high performance The combination of Dramix steel
profiled galvanised steel deck for fibres and Multideck 60-V2 provides
use in the construction of a pre-reinforced concrete slab
composite floor slabs. This - no mesh has to be installed
publication contains complete
technical information on the
Multideck products produced
by Kingspan Structural Products.
Multichannel4 Technical Kingspan Toolkit
Handbook Software
Multichannel4 can provide a more The Toolkit series has become the
efficient and economical alternative leading cold rolled steel and floor
to traditional construction materials decking design software in the
such as hot rolled steel, timber, industry and is now used by
masonry and concrete. structural engineers in over
1000 practices in the UK.
The structural design software
has been used industry wide to
save valuable design time.
Kingspan Metl-Con Limited
Sherburn, Malton, North Yorkshire, YO17 8PQ, England
Tel: +44 (0) 1944 712000 Fax: +44 (0) 1944 710555
Email: sales@[Link]
visit our website [Link] or our group website [Link]
Due to our continuing policy of development and improvement we reserve the right to alter and amend the specification as shown in this literature.
