BarChip Synthetic Fibre Reinforced Concrete Paving

Ausgrid Substation (Sydney) – BarChip Fibre Reinforced Concrete Paving

In 2016, construction commenced on a new substation in the heart of Sydney to enable Ausgrid to maintain a safe and reliable power supply for the area in the future. Ausgrid identified a new sub transmission substation was required to supply businesses in the surrounding areas as well as the Sydney Airport and international Sydney Airport substations.

Where the entry to the substation came in off the main road, the use of steel reinforcement in the concrete was forbidden, as it would allow for the passage of electrical current out to the local street and potentially cause electrocution of pedestrians if there was a surge. This meant the designer (Lindsay Dynan) sought another means to provide reinforcement in this pavement. BarChip were able to offer a steel free solution using BarChip Macro synthetic fibre reinforcement. Given the high design loads of the substation equipment a dose rate of 7.5kg/m³ was required. During construction this was able to be pumped and finished with minimal extra effort from the concrete crew.

To replace the original design using N16 bars, a design in accordance with the UK Concrete Society’s Technical Report 34 (TR34) demonstrated that 7.5kg/m3 of BarChip48 fibre was a suitable alternative.

To find out more about how to design paving and flooring works that don’t suffer from corrosion, download our BarChip Flooring Guideline.