Hanson UK sets new continuous concrete pour record

The company supplied the raw materials for the concrete to the main civil contractor, BYLOR, which operates the onsite concrete production plant. The 9000 m³, five day pour was to construct the last of five reinforced concrete segments that make up the cross-shaped foundations on which all the first nuclear reactor’s buildings will sit. The record-breaking pour beat the previous UK record set by the Shard in London.

The completion of the foundation platform, which is up to 4 m thick, represents a significant milestone for the project, described by EDF Energy as J-zero. It marks the transition from below-ground activity to the construction of permanent reactor buildings above ground.

Hanson UK is also supplying construction materials to other aspects of the HPC project. To date, this includes 51 000 m³ of concrete, 2.5 million t of aggregates, 210 000 t of marine sand, 65 000 t of cement, 105 000 t of Regen ground granulated blastfurnace slag, and125 000 t of asphalt.

“Every batch of concrete must be exactly the same and must comply with the stringent quality standards laid down by the Office for Nuclear Regulation,” said Stewart Cameron, Head of Nuclear Operations at Hanson UK. “Trials of the mix design for HPC took three years of development and testing to ensure concrete of the required quality can be produced consistently right first time, every time. We have 65 employees directly involved in the HPC project team but, across the UK, we have some 750 enlisted onto our nuclear safety culture education programme, which everyone who is involved in the project in any way must complete.”

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/europe-cis/01072019/hanson-uk-sets-new-continuous-concrete-pour-record/