Building materials for urban upgrades in the UK

Our materials have been at the heart of solving one of the UK’s nationwide problems: a shortage of infrastructure and housing.

Our London-focused ready-mix concrete business London Concrete is in the middle of delivering 25,000m3 of concrete for the One Nine Elms development in Central London, most recently undertaking the supply of an epic 4,000m3 continuous pour in just 24 hours.

A logistics challenge in the middle of London

The scale of the operation and the unique logistical demands of London itself meant that months of planning were required. We worked with local authorities and Transport for London, the body responsible for the transport system of Greater London, to carefully plot over 1,200 movements of concrete mixers and cement tankers. Our delivery included watertight concrete, with everything extensively validated to control key aspects such as concrete temperature. The mix was tested every 200m3 of the pour, resulting in zero rejections. In Birmingham, the Midland Metro Alliance, a team of design, planning and construction experts which is extending the city’s tram system, requires similar precision across an even greater range of materials.

Making Birmingham more sustainable, safe and beautiful

Part of the route used 1,000m3 of Aggregate Industries concrete on the track slab, with additional Artevia® exposed aggregate concrete to beautify the new track bed and surrounding area. Artevia also adds texture and improves safety, as the naturally non-slip finish makes it ideal for foot traffic over the tram lines. The section currently under construction uses 3,000m3 of macro synthetic fibre reinforced concrete to construct the track slab, in lieu of a traditional mesh framework. Once again, Artevia is being used as a surface layer on portions of the track.