BarChip Fibre Reinforced Shotcrete – Culvert Walls
Fibre reinforced shotcrete is common place in slope stabilisation works for road and rail high walls and cuttings, residential batters, flood ways and culverts. In Mackay, Australia, BarChip Fibre Reinforced Shotcrete helped Bellwether Contractors recover construction time lost to bad weather on the 530 m Warland St Open Channel Trunk Drain.
The AUD 3 million Warland St drainage upgrade comprised the reconstruction of the existing open channel trunk drain in South Mackay, Australia. The 530 m drain runs in two sections from Paradise St to Milton St, intersected by Warland St in the middle. The drain runs adjacent to significant residential development. Prior to reconstruction, the old drain experienced regular overflowing events during the wet season, leading to numerous complaints from residents. Extensive vegetation growth along the drain and massive silting in the drain itself resulted in Mackay Regional Council choosing to completely rebuild the drain.
Bellwether Contractors were selected to deliver the project. The original design called for the concrete batter walls to be traditional steel mesh reinforced slabs placed by a regular concrete boom pump. The project was to be delivered in 3 stages, with works to be completed in the dry season. However, the time required to set up, place and finish the traditionally reinforced batter walls caused delays, which were further delayed by unseasonably wet weather.
To recover lost time, Bellwether switched from traditionally reinforced poured concrete batter walls to BarChip fibre reinforced shotcrete batter walls. The shotcrete was then finished to resemble traditionally placed concrete. Fibre reinforced shotcrete eliminated the time required to setup traditional steel mesh reinforcement and significantly increased construction speeds. By switching to a BarChip fibre reinforced concrete, Bellwether were able to recover from delays to deliver the project on time and on budget.
