Keltbray Turns to Cement-free Concrete for UK Facility

Brief 

Keltbray deployed a cement-free concrete for the foundation of its treatment facility in London located near the Thames River. The Earth Friendly Concrete from Wagners costs up to 40% more than ordinary portland cement-based concrete, but the material allowed for thinner ground slabs without reinforcement, said Tim Lohmann, strategic engineering director for Keltbray.

Insight

arbon emissions and costs for construction of ground bearing slabs for a project in London have been cut with the use of Earth Friendly Concrete.

Finding projects to put new materials through their paces is always a challenge. But one contractor is using its own facility to do just that. Keltbray is using Earth Friendly Concrete (EFC) in its new treatment facility for hazardous and non-hazardous construction, demolition and excavation waste in West Silvertown in London.

The new facility is for its Environmental Solutions division. It will assess, treat and dispose upwards of 350,000t of waste a year and will replace the firm’s existing one at nearby Thames Wharf which is being taken over for the Silvertown Tunnel project.

Keltbray carbon vision
Reducing operational carbon emissions has been a key part of Keltbray’s vision for the new facility. The site’s proximity to the River Thames, will make it possible for the company to accept material into the facility and dispose of it via barges, rather than solely relying on lorries. This will reduce the number of lorry journeys and therefore carbon emissions.

As well as reducing operational carbon, Keltbray – the project’s client, designer and contractor – looked into reducing carbon embodied during the construction phase.

The original plan was to use Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) concrete for the 10,000m2 of ground bearing slabs, divided into approximately 300m2 bays. Analysis carried out in-house indicated that a switch to EFC for this application would reduce the project’s carbon footprint and cut costs.