UK heatwave doesn’t stop LMS Highways delivering ahead of schedule

The LMS Highways project team have been busy refurbishing sections of an urban concrete road in Kent. Works included new kerbing, concrete bay replacements, white lining and joint sealing which perfectly demonstrates the company’s unique ability to deliver a wide range of services under one point of accountability. The recent run of hot weather has proven challenging but didn’t stop the team from finishing 3 days ahead of schedule.

With the hot weather brought temperatures of 38 degrees Celsius to site and care had to be taken as LMS were already using a rapid cure concrete to enable delivery of a tight programme. With concrete planned to cure in 24 hours at an ambient temperature of 18 degrees, the hot weather can give rise to problems with material work-ability / working time and there is also potential for the finished surface to crack if it is allowed to dry out too quickly. No problem for the LMS delivery team- the programme was adjusted to ensure pours were carried out on cooler days with greater cloud cover and also programmed concrete placement to take place first thing in the morning whilst substrate temperatures were at their lowest.

Concrete curing too fast isn’t normally a problem that needs to be solved! Typically clients are looking to have works carried out in as short a time frame as possible with roads opened to traffic after the shortest feasible curing period. Concrete normally needs to be left for 7 days to allow it to reach a suitable internal and surface strength to allow it to be trafficked. With increased traffic flows the ability to close lanes for this period is a rare luxury and LMS Highways have developed bay replacement systems that can be trafficked in as little as 4 hours.

For more information on our unique urban concrete bay replacements, give us a call on 01626 331771 or visit our Highway Repairs page.