The challenge
Triflex were invited by Oliver Turner of Workman LLP to The Victoria Shopping Centre in Southend-on-Sea, to carry out a full site inspection and survey of existing car park decks which were situated over the shopping centre and a retail outlet. The specifier had previously worked alongside Triflex on a number of successful projects and had faith in the quality of the systems and level of service provided.
The total area of the project covered 1,400m² and consisted of an asphalt waterproofing and surfacing system. Unfortunately, the original asphalt had become badly split and cracked in places. Triflex Field Technicians attended site to extract cores from the asphalt deck to identify the thickness of the asphalt, suitability for overlay and any unforeseen underlying issues. The cores confirmed the visual issues with the asphalt deck, which was crimped but badly worn and was allowing water to ingress into the outlet below.
Examination of the majority of the cores showed a soft bituminous rich layer of material occurring within the surface of the asphalt at an average 7mm depth. This layer also contained little or no coarse aggregate. This can cause defects to appear at the surface of the asphalt car park in the form of wheel indentations, tyre marks, ruckling and crazing. Such issues are more likely to occur on exposed decks vulnerable to thermal influence. Where there is little aggregate at the surface of the asphalt a softer, more easily compressed layer is created.
Typically, a traditional asphalt system to a car park will consist of two layers. The base layer of mastic asphalt will be c.a. 20mm thick and provide the waterproofing. The paving mastic asphalt layer is applied on top at c.a. 30mm, providing the wearing course and typically include coarse aggregate of either 6 or 10mm in diameter distributed at c.a. 35% content across the asphalt section.
Careful consideration was also required on areas of the top deck which contained a large amount of air conditioning units and other plant. These areas required a significant amount of detailed waterproofing.
The solution
Triflex was specified following the presentation of the thorough and in-depth technical report which included a clear presentation of the test results, and a project specification proposal.
Triflex Authorised Contractors, Makers Construction Limited were contracted to overlay the existing failed asphalt using the specified Triflex ProPark system. Initial preparation required the main area to be planed fully removing the soft layer of asphalt at the surface. The surface was then thoroughly swept and vacuumed to remove dust prior to the installation of the waterproofing and surfacing system Triflex ProPark to ensure the best possible adhesion between substrate and system.
Triflex ProPark is a fully reinforced, seamless system. It is the ideal solution for exposed asphalt car park decks and ramps that are directly located above occupied premises. The system has been tried, tested and proven for over 30 years’ on some of the highest space change rate car parks in the UK. Its dynamic crack bridging properties make it the ideal solution for structures with high levels of structural movement.
Our detailed waterproofing systems, Triflex ProDetail and Triflex ProFibre were specified alongside Triflex ProPark to ensure that all complex details around air conditioning units and plant were thoroughly waterproofed. Triflex ProDetail utilises fabric reinforcement which is encapsulated between the layers of the wet-on-wet system. Triflex ProFibre has individual fibres within the resin, allowing incredibly complex details and hard to reach areas to be waterproofed and reinforced with ease.
All Triflex systems are totally cold applied eliminating any need for hot works during installation. They are solvent and isocyanate free and certified to the highest standards. Triflex ProPark is BBA, ETA and FLL certified, as well as being an EN 1504-2 certified system providing the highest levels of dynamic crack bridging to B4.2 at -20°C.
All works were completed to plan and on schedule. Cracks, ruckling and tyre indentations were made good with a combination of Triflex repair materials including Triflex Cryl Paste, Triflex Cryl Paste Mortar, Triflex FlexFiller and Triflex Asphalt Levelling Mortar.
Following completion Triflex were invited to provide further project specification proposals for the internal decks of 8 storey car park and ramps and an additional ‘annex’ area of exposed asphalt car park deck. It is hoped that works will commence in the near future.
