Birchwood Business Park has an interconnected network of granite and sandstone paved pathways and communal pedestrian seating areas, including attractive planting zones and water features.
This is unbonded block paving (also-called ‘flexible’ paving), is the basic form of paving, where the paving blocks are laid directly on compacted sand, to which they are not bonded or bedded with cement mortar.
The blocks are butt-jointed, with no defined spacing for a jointing mortar, instead the gap is filled with fine sand.
Unbound or ‘flexible’ block paving is obviously lower cost than bound paving with no built-up sub-structure, bedding or jointing mortars, and is widely used for larger pathways and car parks in retail and commercial areas.
However, after some years the joints needed to be cleaned out, weed growth removed, toxic weedkiller applied, and the joints refilled with sand, which can become an increasingly expensive and disruptive annual task.
The paving seems to quickly become unsightly again, access must be restricted, whilst the noisy and dirty works arere carried out, generally in the Spring and Summer, when use of the areas is most popular.
An alternative approach for established and well settled block paving areas, has been developed by NCC Streetscape. This uses the unique characteristics and advantages of the latest GftK vdw 850+,2-part, epoxy resin based, paving jointing technology.
This is obviously far more expensive initially in terms of the respective materials cost, than repointing with the traditional kiln dried sand.
However, over the last 10 years, with numerous and extensive field trials and test projects all around the UK, these have very clearly demonstrated that this is in fact very cost effective, as well as being a far more sustainable solution. This is because of the dramatic increase in durability and longevity in service, due to the lack of repeat cleaning and re-sanding required, and no more disruption and disturbance every 1 to 3 years or so.
Birchwood Business Park in Warrington involved repointing more than 8,000 square metres in annual phases since the first field trials over the winter of 2017 were successful and showed the clear advantages of this approach.
