Over-banding of day joints to 2500m² floor screed.
Background
The construction of Heathrow Airport’s Terminal 2 building (T2A) is one of the UK’s largest privately funded building projects. The new ultra-modern Terminal 2 is due to open to passengers in 2014, eventually accommodating 20 million passengers annually.
It forms part of a five-year, £4.8 billion transformation of Heathrow Airport. As the project progresses with the installation of columns, baggage carousels and other services, the need to treat day joints in the screed was recognised. Aware of the potential for reflective cracking in tiles and tile joints following experience at Terminal 5, the need for an effective system was recognised. As this is a fast track construction project with multiple trades on-site in an enclosed environment, it was important that the remedial solution was free from solvents and heavy odour. T2A is Europe’s first next-generation ‘green’ terminal so environmental considerations were high on the list.
The Solution
Cemprotec Elastic was chosen as the ideal solution as it is already well proven at Heathrow, having been used in Terminal 5’s main check-in hall. Following extensive tests by the Building Research Establishment (BRE) including trials with a forklift truck to demonstrate that cracks no longer propagated through the tiles, Cemprotec Elastic was specified as a means of ensuring the long-term integrity of the high quality floor finishes in the heavily trafficked area at T5. In the case of T2A, Cemprotec Elastic was applied in strips over joints prior to the application of floor tiles. Either side of the joint was first primed using Cemprotec EF Primer before the first coat of Cemprotec Elastic was applied. The Cemprotec Elastic was reinforced with Cemprotec 2000-S reinforcing tape to add tensile strength before a final coat of Cemprotec Elastic was applied. Cemprotec Elastic is highly elastomeric with elongation in excess of 100% and it is proven to absorb the dynamic energy from construction joints and live cracks in the screed below tiled floors. Cemprotec Elastic also meets the industry’s most exacting standards as it is CE marked in accordance with EN 1504-2 for concrete repair.
Client
HETCo JV on behalf of BAA
Contractor
Vetter UK
Project Profile - Heathrow T2A