How to cure a 1MM sq. ft. concrete slab in the winter
Client: World’s largest e-commerce company
Location: Ontario, Canada
Sectors: Construction
The Challenge
This was a large and complex (schedule and temperature sensitive) project located in Ontario, Canada for one of the world’s largest e-commerce distribution companies being constructed by a major GC on their behalf
Overall schedule from the GC was fixed on a tight timeline. In addition, the customer had already planned some preliminary heating design concepts. The customer’s total project schedule required to cure a concrete slab (area >1MM sq.ft.) in sections and phases while maintaining production (up-time) on all other construction activities. As with many projects, the customer experienced major delays on planned walls and roof structures. This would impact the timeline to cure and maintain the overall surface area. The GC needed to quickly thaw out the ground, provide properly cured sections, and then protect those sections from freezing while waiting on the delayed walls and roof sections to be installed.
Key Facts
The Solution
A Plan / Design / Implement / Maintain philosophy
Plan
Proper planning and cost control were key elements for this project’s success. After our technical team re-evaluated the initial heating and temperature control plan, our experts partnered with the GC’s technical team to review more efficient options.
The revised plan optimized the Total Operating Costs (TOC) for the phased-in equipment during the entire project’s heating lifecycle.
Design
Aggreko’s proposed ground thaw / concrete cure / frost prevention approach became a critical factor to maintain the GC’s timeline while managing the heating equipment’s footprint and monitoring/managing fuel consumption.
Our engineering and technical team designed a detailed phased-heating solution that delivered the precise amount of heat required (in BTU) for each planned section while aligning to the customer’s schedule.
Implement
Precise temperature control was critical to increasing customer confidence in the solution. So was the flexibility to easily adjust to different fuels during the execution of the project. Our solution resulted in reduced equipment footprint and lower setback barriers at the construction site.
Maintain
Our experience with construction projects has prepared us to manage sudden site constraints (temperature, emergencies, contingencies) and other unexpected changes throughout the project lifecycle.
When these contingencies appeared while executing the project our team was able to quickly pivot and adapt the original heating design while still maintaining the critical temperatures required for the successful for concrete cure.
Through this partnership, we became an extension of our customer’s sub-contracted team. Our heating experts could weigh in on project execution decisions resulting in a unified solution to each challenge, while maintaining no production or construction downtime.
Aggreko
The Impact
How we add value to your heating projects
We add value to your project by providing engineering-first turnkey solutions for your entire project lifecycle. From front-end and preliminary design, to expert project consulting and technical support, to site-based equipment mobilization, operation, troubleshooting, and final equipment demobilization.
Our approach to any heating project is to align with our customers project in a: Plan / Design / Implement / Maintain philosophy. We bring value to large scale construction heating projects with qualified project management and temperature control experts. In doing so we strictly adhere to our own safety protocols for people and equipment, as well as to all regulations, compliance and safety protocols mandated by our customers on and off the construction project site.