Industrial Concrete Flooring
In warehouses and logistics buildings the concrete slab and flooring are critical to the effective functioning of the operations. However, it is often the perception that the concrete floor is one of the most straight forward elements of the project, and many times the overall attention paid to design and construction detail is less than proportional to its ultimate importance in the efficient operation of the facility. The expectation is that these large area floors must be constructed with lowest possible cost and provide problem free service year after year.
To ensure that the concrete floor will continue to carry its design loading successfully, it is vital to design and construct the subgrade as carefully as the floor itself. Pressures exerted on the subgrade due to loading are usually low because of the rigidity of concrete floor slabs and loads from forklifts wheels or high rack legs are spread over large areas. Thus, concrete floors do not necessarily require strong support from the subgrade. However, subgrade support must be reasonable uniform without voids or abrupt changes soften support.
Subgrade soils are considered problem soils when they are highly expansive or highly compressible such as silts and clays that do not provide reasonable uniform support. Proper classification of the subgrade soil must be conducted to avoid problem subgrades. The classification report provides information for needed subgrade improvement measures and design parameters for the concrete slab specification.