Beton Bauen and Fosroc are delighted to have won two prestigious awards at the CRA Awards 2023 - The CRA Small Project of the Year (under 1M) Porthcawl Breakwater and Slipway, plus the SCA Project of the Year - RNLI Slipway Porthcawl. As contractor, Beton Bauen supplied Fosroc products for both project elements.
Held at the stunning Hilton Double Tree in Liverpool, the glitzy black-tie awards ceremony followed the Annual General Meeting, bringing together key refurbishment and repair industry players for an evening of food, entertainment and recognition for outstanding achievements. As part of the Structural Concrete Alliance, the event also hosted the Sprayed Concrete Awards, with award categories Manufacturer of the Year, Emerging Talent, CRA Project of the Year (<1M & >1M) and SCA Project of the Year.
The winning project demonstrated the ability of Fosroc as manufacturer and Beton Bauen as specialist spraying contractor to propose a workable solution to repairing the slipway with minimal disruption to stakeholders such as the RNLI, while minimising the impact of the sea - in a highly challenging location with the second highest tidal range in the world.
The volumes of void-filling required made the use of a proprietary underwater grout prohibitive from a cost perspective, so use of a grout with an admixture proved to be the ideal solution, with approximately 600 tonnes of the grout used to fill the voids.
The partnership between the Beton Bauen and Fosroc resulted in a successful, uninterrupted application avoiding product wastage to keep project costs minimised. Paid setting products placed by the spray method eliminated the need for shutters and ensured the material was set before the incoming tide submerged the works.
Porthcawl RNLI Slipway: Delivering in Challenging Work Conditions
The slipway at Porthcawl Lifeboat Station was originally a Victorian construction and today primarily serves the RNLI D Class boat and crew that operate in nearby waters. The slipway surface itself had deteriorated over several years and was not only in desperate need of a ‘facelift’, but also extensive critical works to prevent further erosion and subsidence, as well as prolonging its lifespan. Expansion joints had begun to crack and revealed concrete that was spalling badly. This is most likely due to natural erosion from salt water, plus the extreme temperatures the slipway encounters.
Steve Davies, Managing Director of specialist contractor Beton Bauen explains…
“Beton Bauen repaired the issues with expansion joints by hand before applying a protective overlay to the entire slipway using the specialist Fosroc Renderoc DSR material. Technically the project was daunting, in terms of providing a solution that would fundamentally do the job, but also within a limited budget and timescale.
Notably, twice daily in the Bristol Channel, the project team encountered one of the world’s highest tides. Furthermore, the RNLI station was still on active duty, and could be called out at any time. Using conventional concrete products would not suffice. Using the innovative Renderoc DSR product to overlay the slipway meant that the slab surfaces cured sufficiently before the tide submerged the slipway."
Porthcawl RNLI Slipway and Porthcawl Coastal Defence Breakwater
In conclusion, Steve Davies said…
“Beton Bauen is extremely proud to be part of this successful project, especially given the fantastic work that the RNLI carry out daily. As such we’re delighted to have completed the project at a reduced rate, but most importantly our project client (Knights Brown), the RNLI, and the Harbour Master are delighted with the standard of works completed.”
To find out more about the project, read Porthcawl RNLI Slipway and the Porthcawl Breakwater case study. at Fosroc.com
For further project and service information, please visit WWW.BETONBAUEN.COM.