London Concrete provides heavyweight solution for Crossrail project

The Crossrail project’s track slab construction has been supported by London Concrete, who have provided with innovative heavyweight concrete solution.

The noise and vibration generated by the Elizabeth line will be minimised by the heavyweight concrete. 

London Concrete entered into a contract to supply ATC JV with 4,000m3 of specialist heavyweight concrete track slab, constructed using a natural dense aggregate around twice as dense as normal aggregate, MagnaDense.

Three grades of heavyweight aggregate as well as normal sharp sand were used to achieve the required density. MagnaDense from LKAB Minerals is formed of black ferrimagnetic natural iron oxide (Magnetite) and is minded in Kirune and Malmberget in northern Sweden, before being railed to the Narvik port in Norway and shipped to the UK.

London Concrete were involved and engaged with ATC at an early stage to assist with the design and development of the mix design and dedicated 12 months to an extensive trial process.

As the concrete mix and its components were so complex, London Concrete established a dedicated Site Plant at Battersea. Additionally, to aid pump ability and provide and meet the durability requirements of the specification, the final product included the use of pulverised fuel ash. Access for delivery of the concrete was only possible at night, adding to the difficulty.

London Concrete’s Managing Director, Luke Smith, commented that the unique plant offering at Battersea gives London Concrete the ability to handle a multitude of aggregate types, allowing it to work collaboratively with ATC and provide concrete mix that hasn’t been used in this type of rail application before.

Furthermore, London Concrete’s network of partners, such as LKAB minerals, meant that it was ideal to source the correct mix of aggregates and ship them from overseas to London.

A Putzmeister BSA2110HP static pump was used by Camfaud Concrete Pumps Ltd with another high pressure pump being used as a back up to the main pump and also to clean the lines using a water washout system.

The concrete has been pumped through 1,100m of pipeline, during which time there is approximately 40 tonnes of material contained in the line.

London Concrete  started work on the project this summer and is scheduled to finish in 2017.