Aggregate
Industries has supplied nearly 6,000m3
of WeatherMix concrete for the ongoing redevelopment of Snow Hill station – a 420,000 sq ft regeneration project to
transform Birmingham’s main business district.
As
part of ambitious plans to revamp the major transport hub at the heart of the
UK’s second city, new office buildings will replace the station’s multi-storey
car park in order to create what’s been dubbed as ‘Birmingham’s Canary Wharf’.
Once complete, the Snow Hill refurbishment will reshape Birmingham’s
skyline and transform the front of St Chad’s Queensway - one of the most
prominent gateways to the city centre.
Aggregate
Industries was awarded the contract to supply ready-mixed concrete to the
largest ever city centre office scheme built outside London by Thames Formwork
under main contractor, BAM Construction.
As one of the biggest slipform constructions outside the
capital, a key challenge of the £90 million project was that work had to be
completed during the colder winter months.
The
natural choice was to use Aggregate Industries WeatherMix, a concrete solution
specifically designed to tolerate colder conditions than standard mixes.
Approximately, 6,000m3 of WeatherMix as well as standard concrete and 11,000m3 Strike - one of
Aggregate Industries high early strength concrete mixes – were supplied to the
project throughout the 2017 winter period.
By accelerating the setting time, which provides early protection
against freezing, WeatherMix allows the placement of concrete across a range of
ambient temperatures down to zero, ensuring contractors are able to meet tight
timescales, whilst assuring the quality of the concrete
The revolutionary WeatherMix product, together with Strike,
enabled the contractor on the site to extend the construction season and work
throughout January and February, during which Birmingham experienced 24 working days where temperatures fell below
4°C degrees.
As
a result, WeatherMix allowed Thames Formwork to
continue to construct with confidence during this period, playing a vital role
in the project’s success.
Daniel King, Aggregate
Industries General Manager for the
Midlands & North, said: “The ambitious regeneration of the Snow Hill
site will create what has been coined as ‘Birmingham’s Canary Wharf’, providing
much needed office space in the heart of the city.
“It is the latest in a
series of projects we are working on to provide concrete for the city’s
construction boom, set to transform Birmingham’s skyline. With our innovative WeatherMix
solution, we were able to support the contractor to meet their tight deadline
by keeping the concrete supply and the project on schedule.”
Wayne Rock,
Construction Director at Thames Formwork, comments: “With a project as
difficult and complex as this, it was very important for us to work with a
concrete supplier that could help us work through the winter months and stay on
track for completion.
“The team at Aggregate
Industries didn’t disappoint, and without their customised WeatherMix solutions
and just-in-time deliveries, we would’ve had to stop work on the project during
the colder temperature months, putting the timescales of the project in
jeopardy. We were genuinely impressed with the seamless service you’d expect
from a market leader; we look forward to working with the business again in the
future.”
With excellent workability,
and pumpability characteristics, WeatherMix is ideal for projects with complex
formwork. Available in high-early strengths, the product provides advanced
finishing characteristics for flatwork and cast systems, where finishing times
are comparable to concrete placed in ambient temperatures.
The Snow Hill project
is the latest in a series of contracts Aggregate Industries’ has secured to
supply concrete to Birmingham’s city centre regeneration.
Most recently, working
with contractor MPB Structures, Aggregate Industries supplied a combined
28,000m3 of ready-mixed concrete for
the Arena Tower residential development and Arena Central – the new landmark
headquarters of UK banking giant HSBC.
