Building durable portsThe Port of Algeciras in the south of Spain is a leading port in the Mediterranean area. It handles an annual container cargo volume of 3.3 million tonnes of TEUs (Twenty feet Equivalent Units, or standard six-meter containers). Bekaert was selected to supply Dramix® steel fibers to reinforce the concrete pavement of a brand new terminalcomprising 392 000 m2. We therefore played a key role in the construction of a reliable, safe and durable port.

In 2008, the local port authority awarded the South Korean concern Hanjin Shipping the development and operation of a brand new terminal at the Port of Algeciras. To realize the project, Hanjin partnered with the Spanish group Acciona and the engineering company ALATEC.Works at the site began in April 2009 and are planned to be finished in March 2010. When completed, some 3 700 tonnes of Dramix® steel fibers will have been used to reinforce around 98 000 m3 of concrete pavement. Exceeding the standard

The three berths at the new terminal will be intensively used by large cargo vessels carrying between 5 000 and 13 000 TEU. Because of the high number of loading and unloading cycles – the projected containertraffic is set at a staggering 1.7 million TEU per year – the concrete terminal floor requires optimal reinforcement. Should a delay in operations occur because of a faulty terminal floor, the repair and down-time cost could jeopardize the profitability of its operator.

Moreover, the Spanish standard for the design and construction of port pavement sets the minimum durability at 25 years. As concrete strengthened with Dramix® steel fibers greatly exceeds this standardbecause of its high fatigue resistance and load bearing capacity, ALATEC opted for Bekaert. In addition, Dramix® has significant advantages in usage, compared to other reinforcement fibers. For example, ALATEC confirmed that the fibers could be distributed more uniformly in the concrete pavementwith Dramix®. This is one of the reasons why ALATEC has been using Dramix® steel fibers in its container terminal construction work for over 15 years now. Bekaert’s experience in this type of project and the excellent relationship that it has built up with ALATEC for over a decade now, are other major reasons why the engineering company chose Bekaert as a crucial partner in yet another successful, large-scale construction project. Plans exist to expand the Port of Algeciras with a similar terminal in another five to eight years time. Most likely, ALATEC will then again opt for Bekaert’s Dramix® steel fibers to build a safe, reliable and durable port terminal.

“The pavement of the new Algeciras port terminal extends well over 40 hectares. Reinforcing such a large surface area with conventional steel bar reinforced concrete would be a labor intensive task. By using concrete reinforced with Dramix® steel fibers, the hours of manual labor are sharply reduced, which lowers the overall cost price. More importantly, the solution provided by Bekaert significantly improves the durability of the terminal pavement.” Antonio Garabatos, Project Engineer – ALATEC

Algeciras harbour

Dramix® Green: hyper-performance ‘green’concrete reinforcementWith a manufacturing presence in 41 countries and a sales network covering over 100 countries, the French AREVA group is a leading player in the nuclear power market. The group encompasses all related industrial activities, in pursuit of reliable technological solutions to the issue of zero-carbon energy generation, transmission and distribution. AREVA thus addresses one of the greatest challenges we face this century: how to make energy available to all while protecting our planet. Driven by the imperative need for environmentalprotection, AREVA’s 65 000 staff around the world make sustainable development and continuous improvement their priority.

AREVA Transmission & Distribution (AREVA T&D) has been working with Bekaert for over fifteen years now. In the beginning, it used our galvanized Dramix® steel fibers to make it easier and quicker to build electricitysubstations with reinforced concrete. Building with concrete reinforced with steel fibers uses less steel and needs less manpower, because less time is spentfixing the reinforcement, repairing and making good. It also makes it easier to fill the shuttering, which speeds up the process and improves the quality.

Electricity substations have to be inspected regularly to check for defects in the surface of the concrete, and various studies have shown corrosion to be one of the main causes of damage to reinforced concrete. Bekaert’s research and development team looked at this problem and came up with Dramix® Green, a new variation on our old bestseller using galvanized steel fibers, which we launched in 2007.

As well as producing esthetically faultless and durable structures, the galvanized steel fibers used in Dramix® Green contain a new rust inhibitor that offers an organic ’green’ alternative to the inhibitors in current use. Given the importance that AREVA T&D attaches to durability, it has found an ideal partner in Bekaert. AREVA T&D chose Dramix® Green steel fibers for electricity substations it was building in France, Russia and India. Checking for surface defects in the concrete is no longer needed and rust stains are a thing of the past. And AREVA T&D people know that they will get the same first-class support from their local Bekaert contacts anywhere in the world. We are delighted to support AREVA in its quest for sustainable high-performance materials. “With Dramix® Green, we can

meet all our customer’s requirements: we canoffer a solution that ensures safe and durable concrete structures which,thanks to the environment-friendly rust inhibitor used in the product, are also esthetically attractive.” Henri Savard, Sourcing Manager AREVA T&D

Dramix®steel fibers are easy to mix into the

concrete

Thanks to Dramix®, AREVA uses less steel and

needs less manpower to build its electricity

substations, because less time is spent fixing

the reinforcement and repairing and making

good the concrete. It also makes it easier to fill

the shuttering.

Delving deep into Swedish minesInnumerable victims have died in mines over the course of history. Safety is therefore especially important in this industry. That is why many miningcompanies choose Dramix® to reinforce mine tunnels and shafts. Our high-quality fibers, which can be mixed with concrete without clumping, have an outstanding reputation for safety.

For more than a decade already, we have enjoyed preferred supplier status for Dramix® with the Swedish mining companies LKAB and Boliden. Both arelocated in the extreme north of Sweden and account for the production of millions of metric tons of quality ore per year. We do our best to provide optimum service to these customers: our staff speaks the local language, keeps stock on-site and offers extremely flexible service.

“We don’t have a constant pattern of demand: one week we need more Dramix® than we do another, also because the quality of the rocks varies greatly. But the worst thing that can happen to us is when the mining has to stop because we’re short on rock reinforcement,” says Patrik Johansson, manager of the concrete factory in Malmberget and responsible for rock reinforcement at LKAB. “That is why Bekaert keeps local stock in Gothenburg. Even when we recently found out on a Friday evening that our stock was running low, Bekaert ensured next-day transport over 1 800 km.”

In late 2008, our efforts reaped rewards. We finalized a long-term agreement with the purchasing center of LKAB and Boliden for delivery of Dramix® and technical cooperation.

Thomas Larsson adds: ”Bekaert’s glued Dramix® fibers have proven their quality throughout the years: for mining companies it is crucial that there is no clotting of the concrete which can cause obstructions of the shotcrete equipment with production losses as a result. Dramix® never let us down in this respect. In the years to come, we will invest heavily in mines; after all, the demand for mining products is on the rise around the world. Our need for rock support will therefore increase.”

“Bekaert’s glued Dramix® fibers have proven their quality throughout the years: for mining companies it is crucial that there is no clotting of the concrete which can cause obstructions of the shotcrete equipment with production losses as a result. Dramix® never let us down in this respect.” Thomas Larsson, purchaser at LKAB (on the left in the picture above)

Dramix®steel fibers

The story of customer dialog: Dramix® BoosterWith our Dramix® steel fibers, the contractor’s reinforcement of choice for justabout any complex structure, we are recognized as market leader around theworld. Steel fibers are far easier to work with than the traditional steel meshand bar reinforcement.

To maintain our lead in this market, we are in permanent dialog with the majorreadymix suppliers. We talk about how they see the future and how we, as asupplier, can add value. It emerged from our discussions that they hadconcerns about one trend in particular: the increasingly tight regulation of theconstruction industry and the growing demand for product certification.

We went to work and arranged for the readymix depots to deliver to their customers given quantities of Dramix® steel fibers with given quantities of concrete. Certifying one of both ingredients didn’t bring a solution. Separate certification of the two ingredients was not the answer: certification on the basis of fixed proportions was the only way of guaranteeing the performance of the end product. But how could we be sure that our customers would always mix the concrete and the reinforcement in the correct proportions?

Working closely with our customers, we developed a number of ‘solutions’:combinations of concrete and steel fiber which were suitable for certain clearlydefined applications. We tested them at our concrete laboratory and had thesolutions certificated by an independent agency.

On the basis of our engineering know-how, we developed a proportioningdevice we call the Dramix® Booster, which uses steel fibers, wrapped in apaper belt, in 250 grams packages. The software in the Dramix® Booster, which is integrated with the readymix depot’s software, automatically adds the rightquantity of fibers to the mix.

The project can justifiably be considered a success: at present, there are about50 Dramix® Boosters in use in nine countries. The readymix depots now deliversteel fi ber-reinforced concrete complete with a performance guarantee.

Here at Bekaert, we have recently invested in a state-of-the-art production line.We can manufacture Dramix® paper belts on a larger scale and supply ourcustomers even faster ... .

High-end solutions to very practical problems: Dramix® Booster is a remarkable example of how better together makes your work easier.

Dosing equipment