Optimizations in concrete works

For the Turnova project, Mermans Beton has already delivered 37,000 m³ of concrete. The concrete supplier was able to realize the necessary optimizations for the contractors on the project and also faced a number of challenges. An interview with company manager and concrete technologist Jef Van Baelen.

Turnova in Turnhout is a major project being realized by several contractors. Interbuild is responsible for the construction of the underground parking garage and the 72-meter-high residential tower. In turn, contractor Pluym-Van Loon of Ravels is building the apartments in the Academy Quarter. "For both Pluym-Van Loon and Interbuild, we have been handling the concrete deliveries since the beginning of the works," says Van Baelen. "In a year and a half, we delivered almost 87,000 tons of concrete mortar in 1,300 orders."

Less nuisance plan
Van Baelen has more figures: "The 1,300 orders represent 4,150 freights, which in turn results in about 180,000 kilometers driven. We started the first deliveries in February 2017 and have had close consultations with the contractors throughout the project about the deliveries. This is because the site has a difficult passage and is almost entirely accessed by a number of schools. A 'lesser disruption plan' was drawn up by the city of Turnhout to minimize disruption to traffic (especially pedestrians and cyclists), with no freight traffic possible within certain time windows. This brought the necessary challenges to planning in connection with the many concrete deliveries."

one meter thick concrete slab
Among other things, Mermans Beton achieved optimization in the construction of the residential tower for Interbuild. "Instead of pumping the concrete mortar, we proposed to move the mortar upwards with a 3-cubic meter concrete cube," says Van Baelen. "This saves on the rental of an (expensive) pumping plant that eventually has to pump the mortar up to a great height. Also, at the end of the day, the contractor only has to clean the concrete cube and not a complete pumping plant. In addition, we assisted Pluym-Van Loon in the selection of the concrete compositions and with technical support in the effective pouring of the 1-meter-thick and 340 m² concrete slab that serves as the second floor of Lot 7. To prevent internal cracking, an internal cooling circuit was installed and the concrete package was completely 'wrapped' after pouring to avoid problems with the temperature gradient."

Mermans Beton deployed all 14 of its own mixers at peak times, plus several more rental trucks. The plant has a capacity of 100 m³ per hour and can produce and deliver up to 1,000 m³ of concrete per day. One has a modern mixer park, including a pump mixer. Mermans Beton can also deploy separate concrete pumps. With these resources, excellent service and great flexibility are guaranteed. With its high quality concrete, Mermans Beton also complies with the Dutch Building Materials Decree. Because they have both the Benor and KOMO quality mark, they can deliver both in Belgium and in the Netherlands.   

Text | Roel van Gils   Image | Mermans Concrete
Featured image: Mermans Beton deployed all 14 of its own mixers at peak times, plus several more rental trucks.