Evolving Birmingham's tunnels...

CEMEX UK provided a unique solution for Volkerlazer and main contractor Amey working on behalf of Birmingham PFI by developing a bespoke Self Compacting Concrete, Evolution Structural.

Volkerlazer, were demolishing and reinstating existing walls in three Birmingham tunnels; Lancaster, St Chad's and Queensway.  The challenge was to access the walls which had to be reinstated within a few inches of the tunnel roofing with no access for compaction equipment, such as a poker, and they were only exposing one face.  This was the first revamp of the tunnels since the 1960’s.  

At any one time in during the work there were 200 staff working on the tunnels night and day.   During the work the engineers reinforced the tunnels structures, improved fire escapes, coated the tunnels with fireproof material, installed new lighting and generally tried to improve their appearance.

Evolution Structural is a bespoke Self Compacting Concrete specifically designed to enable the placing of concrete in difficult to access areas with congested reinforcement. The concrete flows and fully compacts without the need for external vibration enabling customers to place concrete in the most difficult locations whilst still maintaining all the hardened properties associated with traditional concrete.

In total we supplied 600m of material. The contract consisted of 2 phases over a period of 18 months with completion in August 2013. The tunnels reopened on time.   Huge congratulations to the teams who worked on the development and delivery of a superb project and another happy customer!!

For further information contact Elizabeth Young, email: Elizabeth.young@cemex.com telephone: 01932 583214

• Helping to build a Greater Britain – CEMEX’s vision is to help build a greater Britain by providing solutions to construction problems through our innovative building materials, our expertise, our understanding of the construction issues and our people.  We aim to create the best service and the best solutions for a better future.    
    
• CEMEX is a global building solutions company and leading supplier of cement, ready-mixed concrete and aggregates. In the UK, CEMEX also produces asphalt, and has a significant share of the concrete- paving and block sectors. Additionally, the company is the leading supplier of concrete sleepers to the rail industry and a supplier of PFA cement additives. CEMEX has a national supply network in the UK with over 360 locations, to ensure that quality building materials are available to customers locally. For more information, see www.CEMEX.co.uk, www.CEMEX.com