Project

Shopping Center
Eldon Square
Newcastle

To extend the useful life of the parking roof on the shopping centre originally built in the 1970s, new paving suitable for intensive use and renovation of the existing water-resistant substructure were required. With a view to the intensive vehicle traffic and constant parking movements on the roof, measuring in at more than 7200 m2, the municipal authorities in Newcastle opted for the Pardak®90 system from Zoontjens, based on the use of pretensioned concrete slabs mounted on special carriers.

Installation

At the start of the project, the original top layer (2,500 tonnes) was removed. The existing mastic coating that had been used as a sublayer was, however, retained, and where necessary repaired to ensure a temporary waterproof coating. A primer layer was applied and on top of that the two-component Integritank® system was sprayed, to provide a new waterproof layer. Once the Integritank® system had hardened, insulation panels were laid loose on the ‘undercoat’.

The Pardak®90 system, consisting of concrete slabs, pressure distribution slab carriers and adjustable tensioning elements was subsequently installed on the insulation panels. Every day, 400 m2 of roof slabs were laid. First, the pressure distributors in granulated rubber were installed in such a way that they approximately matched the joints between the tiles. The adjustable tensioning elements were then mounted on the pressure distributors. Finally the concrete slabs were put into position and fixed together using the tensioning elements.

Pedestrian traffic

In zones intended exclusively for pedestrian traffic, the lighter Pardak®60 system was used. This system consists of 600 mm x 600 mm concrete slabs laid on rubber slab carriers with plastic spacers (and no adjustable tensioning elements). The same techniques were used as for laying the Pardak®90 system.