TECHNICAL INSIGHT: WATERPROOFING
GOING BENEATH THE SURFACE ON CAR PARK WATERPROOFING By providing convenient access to shops, bars, restaurants and other leisure-related places of interest, public and privately-owned car parks help oil the wheels of the urban economy. Therefore, it’s vital these sites are in the best possible state of repair in order to remain operational and help maintain town and city centre trade. Exposed car park surfaces are at the daily mercy of the elements, as well as heavy, motorised traffic, which is a potential cause of waterproofing failure if not addressed at an early stage. Mohammed Ashfaq, Senior Sales Manager at Sika, looks at the challenges involved with car park refurbishment in a ‘live’ environment to ensure sites stay safe and ingress-free. SIKA
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uch is their importance to town and city centres; car park repairs need to be carried out in as short a time as possible. No project is the same, but common situations occur that need to be regularly overcome. For example, contractors find store managers are often reticent to surrender parking spaces and run the risk of inconveniencing customers. Disgruntled shoppers will take their trade elsewhere if disrupted even for a short time and once lost; they can be very difficult to win back. It’s understandable, therefore, that store managers are keen to keep as much of their car park open as possible during refurbishment. FC&A – OCTOBER – 2020
Managing the flow For the contractor, a part-open car park means employing the highestpossible health and safety standards to ensure public wellbeing is maintained during working times. This can involve introducing a traffic management system to ensure vehicle flows are managed for the safety of customers and on-site teams alike. Providing clear instructions and signage to indicate works are being carried out is an important part of the safety programme. Temporary site fencing and barriers are also required to keep the workforce safe in the ‘live site’. Car park refurbishment requires contractors to be mindful of the surrounding environment at all times, which means restricting noise levels to a minimum. When this isn’t possible – due to the number of materials and machinery 34
involved, noise is an unavoidable byproduct in concrete repair and waterproofing projects – out-oftrade-hours working is essential. Having mentioned the importance of delivering waterproofing projects in a time-effective manner without compromise to the installation’s quality, the use of rapid-curing materials is paramount, particularly when car parks are open to the elements and poor weather can hamper a project’s progress. Sika has a range of quick-setting waterproofing systems suitable for a variety of car park applications, such as top decks and exposed areas, intermediate decks, ground-bearing slabs and ramps. One of the company’s latest innovations – Sika FloorJoint PDRS – for instance, provides car parks with an integral rubber seal that reduces mechanical vibration and the potential for cracking and ingress when used in decks and ramps. Suitable for vertical and horizontal movements, Sika FloorJoint PDRS is simple to install and trafficable after 24 hours, thus significantly reducing a site’s operational downtime.
Honesty pays In terms of installation, clear lines of communication are essential to the successful completion of a car park repair and waterproofing project to an agreed timeframe. Clients and those nearby affected by work being carried out should be updated at all times as to how it’s progressing. In some cases, it may mean managing expectations, giving an honest assessment on completion times of different phases of the project. The answer a contractor gives won’t necessarily be the one someone wants to hear, but better to give a realistic estimation than one designed to make them popular. Such a response can add unnecessary pressure to an already challenging installation.
