Aggregate Industries
has supplied 3,000m3 of its
innovative and highly-durable Watertight concrete mix to the North West
Cambridge Development – the University of Cambridge’s ambitious £1bn scheme to
create a new district of homes, shops and schools
on the city’s outlying farmland.
Aimed at addressing
the escalating housing shortage in Cambridge, which has seen many key workers
priced out of the city, once complete the development will include 1,500 new
affordable homes, accommodation for 2,000 postgraduates, a primary school, community
centre, two parks and local shops.
As part of the
recently-completed first phase of development, known as The Eddington site,
around 91 residential homes were built on top of an underground car park. To
protect the car parks’ basement and ground floor slab from water ingress and
potential damp, concrete frame specialists Tamdown, were on the hunt for a
water resistant concrete solution.
Cue Aggregate
Industries’ Watertight, a versatile range of specialised ready-mixed concretes
designed to protect structures from water ingress or to retain water within a
structure.
Working to strict
access times limited to between 9am to 4pm, the project involved concrete pours
of up to 280m3 a day, twice a week.
In total to date, the Aggregate Industries team have supplied 14,000m3 of concrete to the first phase of the
project.
Core to this was the
3,000m3 of custom blend Watertight,
made using the Masterlife WP799 BASF’s a high
performance integral waterproofing system for wet cast concrete incorporating
combined waterproofing and super plasticising components.
What’s more, the second tier of waterproofing saw the use of BASF’s
ancillary products at the construction joints such as MasterSeal 910,
hydro-swelling waterbars used to seal and leak-proof joints in concrete
structures by swelling up to 200% on exposure to water.
Fully compliant with
BS 8102 type B construction, the benefits of using this system were reduced
water and air permeability, reduced water penetration and absorption as well as
lower installation time and cost.
Simon Wycherley at Aggregate Industries, said: “As a
ground-breaking model for affordable urban housing in the UK, the contractors
working on the North West Cambridge Development Eddington were right to choose
a tailored approach to concrete specification.
“With a host of high
performance concrete blends at our disposal, including BASF admixtures, we were
able to create bespoke Watertight concrete solutions with superior
water-resistant properties, enhanced toughness and excellent workability that
will no doubt last for years to come.”
Mark
Coe, Senior Project Engineer at Tamdown, comments: “As one of the largest
development projects in the region, the North West Cambridge Eddington site is
set to provide much needed accommodation for local residents. As such, it was
vital that the basements and ground floor slabs of the underground car park
located below the new homes were built to be as robust and water resistant as
possible in order to ensure that the building lasts the test of time.”
“The team at
Aggregate Industries didn’t disappoint with their customised Watertight
solution and the seamless service you’d expect from a market leader; we look
forward to working with the business again in the future.”
