Aggregate Industries paves the way at Liverpool’s Canada Docks

Chosen for its unparalleled ease in pavement construction, Aggregate Industries has supplied its innovative and highly-durable Highpave concrete mix for the resurfacing of a scrap metal yard at Liverpool’s famous Canada Docks.

Each year, leading metal recycling firm, S Norton collects, processes and exports around 1 million tonnes of metal from its dock facilities in Southampton, London and Liverpool, which is located on the edge of the River Mersey. With scrap metal continually loaded on and off the site’s external slabbed yard area throughout the day, wear and tear from the abrasion meant it was in urgent need of replacing.

As such, the family-run business, which has been operating in Liverpool since 1960, was on the lookout for a hard wearing reinforced concrete solution offering superior strength and durability - making it suitable for heavy impact areas.

The obvious choice was to use Aggregate Industries’ Highpave, a range of fibre reinforced pavement grade concrete specifically designed to withstand mechanical force whilst also reducing the errors associated with the use of conventional reinforcing methods.

Approximately 875m3 of Highpave, made using the firm’s ultra-hard-wearing Glensanda granite aggregate, was supplied to the project last November.

Traditionally, reinforced concrete includes two layers of steel mesh in the slab’s construction, which means the concrete has to be replaced when the slab has worn down to the first layer of mesh. However, the addition of steel fibres in the Highpave mix meant the top layer of mesh can be removed, increasing the wearing depth of the concrete by an extra 100mm – a feature likely to result in reduced labour costs for the customer compared to traditional mesh reinforcement.

What’s more, to improve the environmental impact of the concrete mix it was formulated using recyclable materials designed to lowers its overall CO2 impact.

As a result, not only was work completed successfully and to a high standard, in line with the customer’s unique specifications, but S Norton were so impressed with Aggregate Industries’ bespoke concrete mix, the company is already in talks about future projects.

Daniel King, general manager at Aggregate Industries, said: ““With its unrivalled hard wearing properties, we are delighted that our Glensanda granite aggregate, used to create a bespoke Highpave blend, proved the perfect fit for S Norton’s specialist needs.

“We have no doubt that our tailored supply of concrete with its superior toughness, high volume stability and reduced shrinkage, will create a slabbed yard that lasts for years to come.”

Matt Norton, Technical Director at S Norton, comments: “Our Canada Docks’ site is at the heart of our business, making it essential that the scrap metal yard has flooring that can withstand the heavy duty process of mechanically sorting through hundreds of thousands of tonnes of ferrous metal each year.

“The team at Aggregate Industries didn’t disappoint with their customised Highpave solution and the seamless service you’d expect from a market leader; we look forward to working with the business again in the future.”