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Green Solution Strengthens Industrial Facility Floors

It isn’t enough for maintenance professionals today to simply keep up their facilities. In addition to meeting the demands new loads and change of use places on a facility, maintenance professionals for industrial facilities are pressured to utilize environmentally-friendly solutions that still offer extreme durability.

     It isn’t enough for maintenance professionals today to simply keep up their facilities. In addition to meeting the demands new loads and change of use places on a facility, maintenance professionals for industrial facilities are pressured to utilize environmentally-friendly solutions that still offer extreme durability.

     Case-in-point is a printing facility, operated by one of the nation’s largest newspapers that, was experiencing problems with their slab-on-pile warehouse. The warehouse depends on the assistance of Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV) to carry rolls of paper that weigh in excess of 4,000 pounds. The floor began to experience extreme reflective cracking due to the large loads. This cracking affected the performance of the AGVs and needed to be repaired to ensure the facility was operating at maximum efficiency. Additionally, heavy loads, repetitive pathing and sharp turn angles of the AGVs were causing extreme wear to the concrete as the wheels of the AGVs dug into the surface.

     To address these concerns, the company hired Structural Preservation Systems (SPS), a Baltimore-based specialty-contracting firm, to perform the repairs. Initial inspections of the facility by SPS revealed that there was a construction defect; the rebar was placed too low in the slab to handle the large loads which led to the reflecting cracks. SPS suggested an innovative repair strategy involving Tstrata TR (Tensile Reinforced Flooring System), which is a polymer resin flooring system that incorporates Hardwire High Strength Steel Reinforcement and a high-wear UV stable, clearcoat finish.

     “Tstrata offers many unique benefits to a variety of different markets,” said John Friedel, marketing manager at Structural Preservation Systems. “With a non-intrusive application process and no Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAP) or Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC), Tstrata can be installed without major or costly disruptions to daily operations, which is extremely important for industrial facilities.”

     An engineered solution, the Tstrata floor strengthening systems enhance the tensile strength of concrete surfaces without increasing thickness more than one-fourth of an inch. The Tstrata systems strengthen the existing floor and allow for immediate curing with UV light technology. The system minimizes operational disruption associated with conventional concrete repairs. Providing a reinforcing repair and a chemical-resistant finishing that is also seamless, slip-resistant and easy-to-clean, the tensile reinforcement and optional static dissipative features of Tstrata are optimal for facilities that utilize fork trucks and Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) material handling equipment.

     For the printing facility, the incorporation of Hardwire allowed the floor to have adequate tensile strength and support. The AGV systems employed by the facility required a static-dissipative flooring system which was easily incorporated into the durable Tstrata TR flooring system. Like all Tstrata Flooring Systems, the unique UV-curing finishing system allowed the floors to be immediately put back in service following installation. And, by utilizing the Tstrata TR system, SPS was able to employ a progressive repair approach that required shutdown of the facility in sections for only a couple of days over weekend periods. SPS was able to save the newspaper both time and money with this approach.

Structural Preservation Systems (SPS)
www.tstratafloor.com
410-850-7000


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