BOUND SURFACING
HITCHIN TOWN CENTRE
PAVING REFURBISHMENT In talking to Local Authority Engineers recently, it has become very clear that the information in an independent Investigative Report, which was made following a detailed 8 year durability evaluation and with site inspections by the team from Paving Expert.com that was carried out approximately 2 years ago in 2017, would be of tremendous assistance to ALL Town and City Councils, District and other Unitary Authorities around this country. The Historic Hitchin Market paving refurbishment and repointing project using GftK’s vdw 850 plus Paving Joint Mortar was now carried out after extensive evaluations and field testing for 12 months by the responsible engineers, completed 10 years ago, and just as in the inspection two years ago, in 2019 after 10 years service, it is still look good, performing in all weather conditions and under frequent heavy trafficking of this busy market square!
‘After 8 years it looks like it was jointed yesterday!’ - These were the words from www.PavingExpert. com when they visited to inspect the paving refurbishment that they had last witnessed underway on the site eight years ago, when the traditional granite sett paving of the historic Hitchin Market Square in Hertfordshire, was refurbished and repointed with GftK’s vdw 850 Paving Joint Mortar. The expert continues: ‘Oh yes - The paving had been patched and pointed, re-pointed and grouted, glued and all sorts over the years, but nothing lasted long. They might get a couple of years, but before you knew it, the setts were a rocking and rolling all over again. Faced with the prospect of having to lift and re-lay the whole square, at huge cost, the Local Authority and their Consultants undertook some tests and decided to have one last roll of the dice with what looked like a very promising product: VDW 850 resin jointing mortar by NCC Streetscape.’
The Hitchin Town Centre Paving Refurbishment Inspection Report in full can be viewed www.pavingexpert.com/point_ ncc06.htm
Like many old town centres and market squares, this is now a very different and demanding environment for paving and particularly the pointing, due to
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multiple heavy duty loadings and all sorts of modern traffic exposure, plus frequent mechanical street cleaning etc. However, working in phases, without closing the market, this project was completed on time and on budget, because work could continue and be completed using GftK’s vdw 850. This unique paving joint mortar is based on graded, water dispersed, epoxy resin coated and bound, alluvial, no-fines quartz sand. Nofines means no-dust produced in mixing either - very important for occupied streets with people and businesses continuing to work. Just as the contractor can continue to work, even despite the wet weather and low temperatures throughout, which would have made any cement based or single-pack paving pointing mortar useless and doomed to failure. Today after now 10 Years, the historic market paving is still looking great, a valuable asset to the Town; most importantly it will also continue to do so!
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