Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/177297
12-10-04 10:19 AM benefits of joint-free or semi-jointfree are less maintenance of the floor and less maintenance for the forklifts, which will ride better. Most customers have gone with semi-joint-free," says Guida. Sometimes, instead of eliminating saw cuts, a client might add them – for decorative purposes, say, on a driveway or patio. "About 25 per cent of our sales is residential. With residential, you sometimes get an opportunity to be very creative," says Scott Mitchell, in charge of concrete operations, and a partner, at Blacktop Paving Inc. He says that many in the design and construction sectors don't seem to fully appreciate the vast range of colours, textures, finishes and shapes that concrete can take on. "Many don't realize the extent to which you can add the decorative look to concrete." A recent project for the entrance at Edmonton's Sutton Place Hotel involved the replacement of existing concrete with stamped concrete paving combined with exposed aggregate concrete. Mitchell notes that using concrete for tables and countertops can produced a unique look. "It can have anything from a super-gloss to a matte finish, which is becoming popular. Matte still has protection thanks to the recent advances in sealants," Mitchell says. Not exactly a recent innovation, Concrete p24-33Concrete.indd 33 BEBO concrete arches, which were first tested in 1965, and are currently being installed at venues along Ontario's Highway 404 expansion, are perhaps more properly regarded as a concept that has endured. The BEBO arch capitalizes on the interaction between the concrete arch and foundations and the surrounding earth fill. "BEBO arches are precast component bridging systems that provide great strength in relatively light concrete shell structures. Spans range from 3.66 metres to 31 metres, and are uniquely capable of ultra-lowprofile geometries, with span-to-rise ratios as low as 10 to one," says Tim Kuhn, director of sales and marketing at Armtec. Another product that has been around for a while is shotcrete. The first patent for it was awarded in 1911 to a taxidermist who had devised it as a means of filling the plaster models of animals. But now, shotcrete has acquired a new application as a structural component. "It can even be used for erecting columns. You apply it with three sides closed. You use a drier concrete, and by shooting it, you reduce the air content. It becomes less workable as it loses a percentage of the air," says Cengiz Guldemet, a materials engineer and branch manager at the Burnaby office of Metro Testing Group. ■ deCember 2012 /33 11/16/12 3:23 PM