Tarmac Does It Smoothly!

Members of Middlesborough Roller Hockey Club are delighted with their new smooth and even playing surface supplied by Tarmac Limited.

The challenge was to deliver economically a new 950m˛ roller skating rink in Albert Park by overlaying the original, terrazzo-tiled, concrete surface with a durable, smooth, joint-less system. Middlesborough Council was concerned that a standard asphalt overlay would not withstand the point loading stresses exerted by in-line roller skates. Removing the existing concrete slab and reconstructing with similar was also not a suitable option.

As well as recreational skating, the rink is also used by Middlesborough Roller hockey Club in the National Roller Hockey League, which meant that a smooth, even surface was essential.

Following an approach from the council, Tarmac arranged a site visit to view Densiphalt, a grouted macadam surface, in service at Walkers Snack Foods in Peterlee. Members of the roller hockey team tested the surface smoothness at Walkers on skates. As a result, it was decided that a smaller 8mm sized aggregate would have to be incorporated in the design mix.

The poor state of the existing concrete surface determined that a 75mm thick regulating asphalt be applied prior to the laying of the Densiphalt support coat. This provided a uniform binder course by taking out the surface irregularities and was also important to help prevent reflective cracking occurring as a result of any movement in the jointed concrete base. In order to ensure the tightest finished surface tolerance, Tarmac used their Laserpave team to lay the 8mm steel slag Densiphalt support coat. Using state-of-the-art laser profiling technology, the completed engineered surface achieved levels +0mm / -3mm over a three metre straight edge. Finally, the Densiphalt mortar was incorporated into the support coat, completing the system to the client’s requirements in just 7 days.

Jeff Higgins, group engineer for Middlesborough Council, said: “Tarmac provided a simple yet durable, high performance, joint-less solution. We are extremely delighted with the new surface with many positive comments received from the roller hockey team and the facility’s general users.”