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When \u200bSWD Inc.<\/strong>\u00a0decided to build a 55,000-square-foot addition to its operations in Addison, Illinois, everyone knew the site needed the toughest floor possible.<\/p>\n \u201cWe move 300,000 pounds of metal fasteners and small parts in and out of our coating and sorting operations every day\u201d, says SWD owner\u00a0Tim Delawder<\/strong>. \u201cThe metal tubs and constant forklift traffic give our floors a beating.\u201d<\/p>\n Joint patterns mattered, too, says\u00a0David Crane<\/strong>\u00a0of\u00a0Itasca Construction Associates, Inc.,<\/strong>\u00a0general contractor on the project. \u201cThe owner wanted to limit the number of joints so they could be filled for a smoother surface.\u201d<\/p>\n First specified as a traditional wire mesh project, plans for this floor changed when\u00a0Pan American Concrete<\/strong>\u00a0met with experts at Prairie Material to discuss using fibers instead. \u201cOur tech team designed mixes with dosage rates ranging from 3.5 lbs to 7.5 lbs per yard, along with various supplementary cementitious materials,\u201d explains Prairie sales rep\u00a0Tom Soukup<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Soukup and Prairie\u2019s\u00a0Theron Tobolski<\/strong>\u00a0met with team members from Itasca, Pan American and SWD in a pre-construction meeting. Decision-makers opted for 5.5 lbs of fibers per yard with fly ash added.<\/p>\n \u200b\u201cOwner sign-off was the key to making the switch to fibers,\u201d says\u00a0JohnPaul Lamberti<\/strong>, vice-president of operations at Pan American. \u201cChange is difficult, and the safe choice is to go with what you\u2019ve always specified, even though we find it\u2019s almost impossible to get wire mesh into the concrete where it will do any good.\u201d<\/p>\n Using trowels with plastic blades, Pan American burnished the freshly poured surface and then sealed it. Joints were cut along 40-foot column lines and skewed by 8 inches to better handle traffic-related stress. Crews then cut a single joint to create 20×20 panels. \u201cThere are only 25 joints in the entire floor,\u201d says Lamberti. \u201cWith wire mesh reinforcement we\u2019d have done twice as many.\u201d<\/p>\n Project costs were about the same as traditional methods, but the larger joint pattern reduced SWD\u2019s costs for filling all joints, a step completed by\u00a0Artlow Systems<\/strong>. \u201cSWD tells us they\u2019re extremely happy with the materials and workmanship from Prairie and Pan American, and would definitely recommend this approach for others who want to reduce floor joints,\u201d Lamberti adds.<\/p>\n Frank Maiello<\/strong>\u00a0of\u00a0M4 Concrete<\/strong>\u00a0in Addison, Illinois is glad there\u2019s finally an alternative.<\/p>\n \u201cThe old scenario was 4 guys laying wire mesh down and another one lifting it up,\u201d he says. \u201cIt buckled, it shifted, and after the laser screed ran over it, you knew it was at the bottom where it couldn\u2019t add much strength.\u201d<\/p>\n Maiello favors fiber-enriched concrete because \u201cwe just pour and go without the struggle and safety issues.\u201d<\/p>\n M4 recently placed a 100,000-square-foot floor in Hobart, Indiana for\u00a0Becknell Development<\/strong>. The floor is part of an office and storage warehouse that houses farm machinery. \u201cWe decided to go with a dosage rate of 1.5 lbs of fibrillated fiber per yard, since this floor sees only moderate traffic,\u201d says Becknell\u2019s\u00a0Ned Colson<\/strong>. Specs called for 3,000 psi finished strength and the surface was burnished with standard equipment.<\/p>\n Maiello says a hard-trowel technique \u201cwith the pans we have now finishes this concrete beautifully. With the Becknell floor, I figure I came out about 10% ahead when you factor in reduced labor due to greater speed. As far as I\u2019m concerned, we\u2019ll always use fiber for floors going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2012, general contractor\u00a0Leopardo Companies, Inc.<\/strong>\u00a0teamed up with\u00a0Alright Concrete Company<\/strong>\u00a0to build the 60,000-square-foot\u00a0Mariano\u2019s Fresh Market<\/strong>\u00a0anchoring The Gateway, a 2-block retail development in Chicago\u2019s Greektown.<\/p>\n \u201cSince the floor would be exposed, we specified fibers to minimize shrinkage and cracking,\u201d says Leopardo job superintendent\u00a0Shawn Buehler<\/strong>. Prairie provided three mix options, performing on-site test pours, Buehler says. The mix selected for the job included 4.5 lbs of macrofiber per yard. The floor was burnished and waxed to a brilliant shine and has held up well, he reports.<\/p>\n When Leopardo and Alright bid on a new Mariano\u2019s near the soon-to-be-rebuilt Ravenswood Metra commuter train station, fiber-rich mixes were again part of the plan. Ground broke last fall on the new station and construction of the new grocery store begins this April.<\/p>\n Super strength, fewer joints: Pan American delivers a better industrial floor When \u200bSWD Inc.\u00a0decided to build a 55,000-square-foot addition to its operations in Addison, Illinois, everyone knew the site needed the toughest floor possible. \u201cWe move 300,000 pounds of metal fasteners and small parts in and out of our coating and sorting operations every day\u201d, […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2926,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2925","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prairie.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prairie.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prairie.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prairie.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prairie.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2925"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.prairie.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2925\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prairie.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prairie.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prairie.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prairie.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.prairie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/12\/concretePeople2.jpg\")
<\/p>\nSpeed, safety, lower labor costs: M4 boss says he\u2019ll never go back to mesh<\/h2>\n
Can\u2019t argue with success: Leopardo finds fibers work for gleaming grocery floors<\/h2>\n
Free FiberSwap service helps you see the possibilities<\/h2>\n
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Would fibers make sense for your next flatwork project? Prairie now offers FiberSwap, a service \u201cthat shows how replacing wire mesh with engineered fiber alternatives can add value for owners and general contractors,\u201d says Prairie Marketing Manager\u00a0Brad Huiner<\/strong>.\u200b<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"