5,000 m³ concrete in floors of Rotterdam DC

Much of the Rotterdam Polymer Hub is equipped with a super-flat concrete floor. As a permanent partner of CONFERM, Van Berlo realized the most economical floor possible in a very short time frame, meeting the specified flatness requirements. Over 5,000 m³ of concrete was involved.

"At the invitation of CONFERM, we shed our light on the various concrete floors in the new distribution center of Rotterdam Polymer Hub," begins Michiel van Zon, commercial and technical consultant at Van Berlo. "We exchange a lot of knowledge with each other and often see if optimizations in the design can be achieved in a preliminary project. For this project, the design of the floor was already fixed, by the way, and the main thing was to set a competitive price. Even though we were under considerable time pressure, the end date was already fixed. Lean planning was therefore inevitable."

In total, Van Berlo incorporated some 5,000 m³ of concrete into the building's floors.

Super flat and more

Rotterdam Polymer Hub's distribution center comprises a total floor area of 45,590 m². Van Zon: "More than half of that is executed in our VB Exa^® Superflat Floor. To be precise, it is 27,500 m², in accordance with DIN 15.185. The floor is founded on steel. We followed the structural engineer's worked-out plan and did not have to use our own engineering department. The floor was realized in 24 phases, including the use of our superscreed machine. In addition to this superflat floor for the narrow-aisle warehouse, we also realized the other floors in the distribution center. These are successively the floors in the so-called 'bagging area' (1,440 m²), the expedition floors (5,490 m²), the floors in the offices (600 m²), the mezzanine floor (4,200 m²) and the loading pit construction outside (6,300 m²). In total, we incorporated some 5,000 m³ of concrete into the floors of the building."

Lean planning

Right from the start of the project, there was enormous time pressure on the plan, Van Zon looks back. "The completion date was already set. Given the size of the project, quite a challenge. Good cooperation is then essential to both meet the schedule and guarantee quality. All the conditions then have to be right. Therefore, a lean planning was drawn up in advance with all parties involved so that all activities fit together perfectly. That worked out well here. As mentioned, CONFERM is no stranger to us. Together we have already built more distribution centers of this kind and the cooperation is always in good harmony. We know what we can expect from each other and together we are always able to come up with the best possible solution. Solution-oriented thinking is certainly a must in projects of this size. We are currently working with CONFERM on the realization of two more large distribution centers."