Company Announcement - A.b.e. Construction Chemicals is supplying a wide variety of products for the construction of the new Nelson Mandela Children's Hospital, now under construction by Group Five in Parktown, Johannesburg. A.b.e. -  part of the Chryso Southern Africa Group - is providing both flooring and concrete performance enhancing/repair products for the project scheduled for completion in 2016.  The state-of-the-art hospital will have a specialised paediatric facility that will provide the children of South Africa with quality medical services, irrespective of their economic status. Ryan Nel, Boksburg-based a.b.e. Flooring Technical Sales Consultant, says a.b.e. is providing large volumes of its pumpable, self-levelling compound - marketed by FloorworX as 'FloorworX Self Leveller' - to level and prepare 20 000 square metres of concrete flooring for the application of FloorworX vinyl flooring.

FloorworX Self Leveller, originally developed and popularised by a.b.e. as abescreed SLC P, is a fast-track self-levelling screed which hardens rapidly and is ideal for levelling floors where quick setting is essential. "The screed has several other advantages, including the fact that up to 2 000 square metres can be pumped daily under suitable conditions, it can be walked on six to eight hours in warm weather,  and it is protein-free and so does not harbour bacteria. Usually vinyl, or other coverings, can be applied onto 10mm thick FloorworX Self Leveller screed after only 24 hours," Nel added.

The screed is being applied at the hospital by specialist flooring contractors, H&M Flooring, and Universal Flooring. Peter Jones, a.b.e. National Product Manager: Flooring, says FloorworX Self Leveller has proved extremely popular throughout South Africa and was also specified for other large flooring contracts recently, including the Polokwane Hospital (20 000 square metres), and Saldanha Bay Military Academy (also 20 000 square metres).  Concrete repair and performance enhancing products supplied by a.b.e. to Group Five for the Nelson Mandela Children's Hospital include durarep FC (fairing compound), a cementitious polymer modified  fairing coat that covers concrete surface imperfections and provides a smooth finish, says Rens Pelser, Technical Sales Consultant for a.b.e. in Boksburg.

"In addition, durarep FR (fibre reinforced), a cementitious structural repair mortar, is being used by Group Five for a wide variety of applications. The product  provides excellent bonding to concrete when used with the appropriate primer, does not shrink, is chloride-free, and apart from being easy to apply, also has high ultimate strength. It is suitable for repairing voids and honeycombing in concrete, and for profiling as well as general concrete repairs required during the construction stage of a project," Pelser adds.
FloorworX Self Leveller as well as durarep FR and durarep FC are part of the growing range of a.b.e. products manufactured at Boksburg in a special plant with adapted formulas and raw materials to eliminate unhealthy dust emanating from these products when used on building sites.

Finally, a.b.e. epidermix 344 as well as epidermix 345 structural wet-to-dry concrete adhesives are also being used at the Nelson Mandela Children's Hospital. epidermix 344 provides an 'open time' (the time it remains workable before setting hard) of about two hours, while the 345 version has an impressive 18 hours open time capacity. "These two products, suitable for structural situations, provide high ultimate tensile strength as well as lap sheer strengths. It can be used to bond fresh concrete to existing concrete, plaster to brickwork, or to provide a damp-proof barrier in the concrete matrix," Pelser states. Group Five handled the application of the concrete repair products, following initial a.b.e. training and guidance.