Introduction
East Kilbride shopping centre is the largest covered shopping centre in Scotland. Served by 5 car parks, the centre promotes their parking offering with free parking times and affordable tariffs to attract visitors. The Plaza car park (also known as car park 2) serves the Ramada Inn, with the large hotel immediately adjacent, and overlooking the car park.
Built in the 1970’s, the car park construction consists of a reinforced frame which supports precast reinforced concrete planks. A structural concrete topping has been installed over to allow the deck to act compositely. The waterproofing and surface system has been provided by a traditional mastic asphalt system with a heavily profiled, crimped finish.
“Our experience of Triflex’s approach on our other car parks gave us the confidence to select their systems once again, for this latest phase of works. Their team’s expertise in testing and bespoke proposals for an overlay solution aligned perfectly with our sustainability aims, eliminating the need for asphalt removal.
The Triflex systems delivered robust waterproofing, surfacing and protection, installed quickly and with minimal disruption. In particular, the use of Triflex DeckFloor with Emery aggregate on the ramped driving aisles, delivered enhanced slip resistance and ensures long-term protection for our busy car park, which serves both a hotel and a shopping centre”.
Alan Smillie, Centre Manager, East Kilbride Shopping Centre.
The challenge
A waterproofing and surfacing solution was required to the external car park decks and access ramps to ensure watertightness and deliver an improved aesthetic. The Triflex Technical team undertook a site survey to ascertain the current condition of the existing asphalt system, and its suitability for a Triflex overlay solution.
The detailed survey highlighted open day joints and two large cracks across the decks as well as blistering in the asphalted access ramps. Previous repairs were also evident in parts of the car park that were either of a liquid applied or cementitious nature. With a number of failures, water ingress and defects evident, the team undertook core testing to determine the thickness and condition of the existing asphalt coverings. The core testing was further evaluated at Triflex head office, where cleaning and bisection allowed for additional analysis.
The solution
To prevent tonnes of asphalt removal, an overlay solution was highly desirable to minimise cost of refurbishment, minimise disruption and the length of the program of works. Due to the nature of the existing build-up, it was recommended that the deck was prepared to remove 2-3mm of the bitumen-rich, crimped asphalt from the surface by planing.
Triflex proposed an overlay solution using the Triflex DeckFloor system with localised overbanding to provide dynamic crack bridging where required. With 0.7 - 1.2mm quartz, the system provides a robust an anti-skid surface with high retention of PTV over time. providing a long wearing driving lane. Tough, durable and highly abrasion resistant the new waterproofing and surfacing system provides protection for years to come. The new Triflex DeckFloor system delivers a robust waterproofing solution to protect the underlying structure without removing the entire asphalt covering.
The Triflex DeckFloor with 1.0 - 3.0mm emery aggregate was proposed for the connecting ramps, which required some repairs to the blistered surface prior to overlay. The heavy duty, flexible system combines strength and an aggressive anti-skid finish engineered to cope with the forces of heavy traffic, making it ideal here where vehicles manoeuvre into the adjacent parking spaces incorporated onto the ramp construction.
With access required to the hotel, a phased approach to works was undertaken by Triflex authorised contractor, Volker Laser. Combined with Triflex systems systems that rapidly cure and allow surfaces to be trafficable in as little as a few hours, disruption to operations was minimised.
