World-class Warehouse Floors Neil Williamson BSc CEng MICE Managing Director Monofloor Technology Limited, UK to Godfrej & Boyce Manufacturing Co Ltd, Mumbai, May 2012

Why is the floor so important? • IT SUPPORTS ALL THE OPERATIONS CARRIED OUT IN THE WAREHOUSE • If a floor slab goes wrong then these operations are disrupted (at best), or stopped (at worst). • Repairs are expensive and cause disruption. • If the floor is not flat enough the MHE runs slower – or there are accidents & safety issues • A poor floor lowers value and increases the maintenance and dilapidation costs

Monofloor Technology Ltd •

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Founded 1994 to provide consulting & site supervision services to UK investors in new markets Principal is Neil Williamson now with over 28 years experience in Concrete Industrial Floors All site supervisors have a minimum of 10 years practical floor contracting experience

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Our Asia headquarters is in Singapore

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> 70% of turnover is outside of UK

The clients' concerns • Joints – the number, type and location • Floor tolerances – is the floor flat enough? • Abrasion resistanceis the floor able to withstand the traffic? • Does the floor look good & is easy to maintain & clean?

Client Expectations

Best Practice in Design 1. Locate the construction joints under racking for strip construction of VNA facilities 2. Limit the number of joints in marshalling areas, e.g. in this case it was achieved by designing the floor in 900m2 panels without sawn joints. 3. Armour the 'daily' joints

World-class Solutions to Construction Joint Problems These Steel armoured profiles produced by Permaban Limited in Europe protect the edges of concrete at construction joints.

These profiles prevent edges of the joints from spalling. This is particularly important in case of placing large areas & joint-less floors where joints open wider.

Choosing the Right Specification • Is truck movement Defined (by rack position) or Free (the trucks can turn in aisle or move in multi-directions) • Is racking position certain? • Future changes of use? • Racking (or potential racking) height • Important: In general the flatter the floor is the more joints there are likely to be

Floor Flatness Specifications DIN 18-202 & 15-185
F Numbers, Fmin (US)
CSTR 34 (UK)


Free Movement Categories

FM1, FM2, FM2 Special, FM3


Defined Movement

3 Categories depend on racking height


EN 15620: Racking Code




TR34 Defined Movement: Which Specification? • Racking height < 8m (defined movement) • Racking height < 13m (defined movement) • Racking height > 13m (defined movement) • Potential Racking 813m Layout not known • Wide aisle, Racks >8m

• Construct to Category 2 (TR34:2003 Table 4.3) • Construct to Category 1 (TR34:2003 Table 4.3) • Construct to ‘Superflat’ (TR34:2003 Table 4.3) • Construct to FM2 Special • Construct to FM2

Definitions of TR34 Properties All allowable limits shown in millimetres Column A = “95% property limit” Column B = “100% property limit” The pour will be considered satisfactory when: a) not more than 5% of the measurements exceed the particular property limit in column A b) none of the measurements exceed the particular property limit in column B Diagrams showing measurements taken for Table 7.1 Properties Property I

Property II

Property III II

300mm

Difference in elevation over 300 mm.

300mm

300mm

Difference in slope over 600 mm.

III Wheel Track

Difference in elevation across wheel track

Defined Movement - How Flat? Extract from Concrete Society Technical Report (2nd Edition, 1994) Table 7.1 ‘Allowable Values of the properties of flatness for defined movement areas’ Category

Allowable Limits Property I

Property II

Property III Wheel track up to 1.5 m.

Wheel track over 1.5 m.

A

B

A

B

A

B

A

B

Superflat

0.75

1

1

1.5

1.5

2.5

2

3

Category 1

1.5

2.5

2.5

3.5

2.5

3.5

3

4.5

Category 2

2.5

4

3.25

5

3.5

5

4

6

NOTE: Retained in Concrete Society Technical Report (3rd Edition, 2003) as Table 4.3 ‘Allowable Values of the properties of flatness for defined movement areas’

Other Defined Movement Specifications • DIN15-185 Below & above 6m lift height – 4 categories depending on track width. E.g. transverse allowance = 2mm for track width 1-1.5m • DM1/DM2/DM3 as per EN 15620. Includes rate of change of Tr34 Property III and measures front to back • Fmin (normally 80+) – similar principle to DM1/ DM2 etc., expressed as no.

New: FEM Standard – as DIN Plus short wavelength measure

Free Movement Areas





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FM1 – Only used for floors requiring very high levels of flatness – some GV’s FM2 Special – Where building height is over 11m or so, and there is the possibility of future VNA use FM2 – Normal standard for wide-aisle warehouses where lift height is over 8m FM3 – Basic specification for retail / cash & carry, non-critical floors FF25/FL20 and above depending on use (FM1 = FL46). Normally FF>FL DIN 18202 Table 3, Line 4 FM specification of EN15620 –based TR34

World-class Super-flat Floors •

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Monofloor are specialists in training teams for this critical work. These floors are needed for VNA warehouses Normally little or NO grinding is required after training of the team. Grinding can affect longterm flexibility of the facility and be unsightly, or dusty. Floors should be constructed to recognised international specifications, such as CSTR34

This floor to a pharmaceutical warehouse was constructed by an inexperienced team to TR34 Superflat tolerance under MTL guidance

Superflat Floor Construction 





True Superflat floors can only be constructed using long-strip method Not possible with large area pouring without a lot of expensive grinding Flatness to be checked daily, and/or supervised by specialist consultant

These tools are essential for S-F

Essential Floor Flatness Control The flatness should be checked daily after the first two or three pours

Monofloor FloorPro

If the floor does not meet the specification, the methods, equipment or the concrete mix should be changed and the next pours checked daily until OK.- DO NOT WAIT UNTIL END Thereafter surveys should be every few days IF FLOOR IS NOT CHECKED IT MAY ONLY BE AFTER RACKS ARE UP AND TRUCKS TESTED THAT THE PROBLEM SHOWS

Floor Survey Reports

Confirming Abrasion Resistance: • Testing against required classification of BS8204-2 & TR34 • In UK tested using accelerated abrasion testing apparatus • There are other test methods in EN 13813 e.g. Bohme

Key points to Avoid Grinding or Slowly Operating VNA Trucks • • • • • • •

Concrete quality & consistency Preciseness with datums and setting up Well trained, skilled operatives Experienced supervision Checking, re-checking and checking again Early survey to monitor performance Review surveys and make improvements

Meeting Expectations •

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MTL ensure specification is appropriate to use Monofloor technicians know how to tune and control concrete mixes Monofloor can train inexperienced teams and help others to improve Monofloor are on site to help to ensure the work is done ‘right first time’

Monofloor Service •

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Agree the specification with client's representative Provide tender scheme including outline design Review or advise on flooring contractor proposals Assess the concrete & other suppliers Design or specify formwork and joint details Train & Supervise the team Survey & certification of the floor

Other Services •

Defects diagnosis

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Floor flatness surveys & Rectification advice

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Specifications, Quality Plan and supervision – e.g. Renaissance Bhiwandi

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Expert Witness work

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Internal and External Concrete

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Joint-less and Super-flat floor specialists