Concrete Lego Block

IDEAS

Typical Examples of Use

Cross Rail LondonA customer working on the Crossrail project in London contacted us to provide blocks to construct a piling mat at the Tottenham Court Road site.There was a risk of the piling machinery slippage and cause a major incident. The risk was designed out by constructing a piling mat foundation 1.8m wide x 3m high x 60m longThe wall was built using Virtabloc 1800 x 600 x 600 blocks.The ground behind the wall was then back filled and a concrete slab cast over the top.

Flood Defence WallsFlood defence walls built using concrete lego blocks are an economical solution. The flood defence wall in the sketch to the right is constructed from two, 300mm Wallbloc walls with 300mm of waterproof cavity concrete. This is a heavy duty wall 900 mm wide.

The design below is economical and fast to construct. It consists of two 300mm Wallbloc walls with a heavy gauge polythene sheet between. Wall width 600mm. The walls are tied together with a interlocking 600mm wide x 300mm deep coping block.

Reinforcement is required in one of the wall leafs for effective heights over 1.2m.

Water Treatment SiteRecent enquiry to protect a water treatment asset from flooding

2.1m Reinforced Wall 1.5m Gravity Wall 0.9m Gravity Wall

River Bank ErosionGravity, inclined and reinforced block retaining walls can all be used for river bank erosion and protection..Concrete lego block construction is fast and simple.

Rampsbeck HotelThe original proposal was to build a gabion inclined wall but the contractor wanted a fast construction solution that could be value engineered to share a saving with the client. From the bank profile we developed an inclined block solution that fitted the brief. The contractor said they saved two week on the program using this method

River AvonWe were approached by the consulting engineers to have a look how we could support the Avon fish ladder scheme. The client is RAFTS River and Fisheries Trusts of Scotland.

Ferniegair

River AvonWe helped to visualise the design and draw the blocks in 3D setting the bed levels. This allowed us to check for any clashes and the blocks worked.

Millheugh

Birket House - A project manager called from Willmott Dixon in a panic to see if we could design and supply a retaining wall very quickly. We designed it and agreed a price within two days.

Sea WallsSea walls need to be strong and capable of taking large sea storm forces. Reinforced concrete lego blocks are ideal for fast track, economical and strong walls. Design life span is estimated up to 150 years with the correct material specifications.Our Stackabloc 800mm wide wall has been utilised in this illustration.

Harbour and Marina Sea WallsConcrete lego blocks are ideal to construct harbour and marina sea walls. They are easy to assemble on site and provide a sturdy build platform wall.Using our reinforced block construction reduces the number of blocks required and creates a strong wall to withstand tidal forces.Our Virtabloc 600mm wide wall is used in the sketch above.

River Wall ManchesterAn existing retaining wall constructed from oil drums filled with concrete failed along a river bank in Manchester. The wall was 5m high. Our solution was to construct a retaining wall with our reinforced block wall.This solution uses less blocks and has excellent structural characteristics. A wall can be build up to 6.4m high as standard specification.

Reinforced Block Retaining Walls

Patent PendingWe have filed a patent application for our reinforced block design. This design is economical, efficient and fast to construct. To learn more about the system go to our website www.blockwalls.co.uk

New House Build HalifaxWe were asked to attend a site to see how we could help a contractor with a retaining wall. The site had been excavated to build a house. The fill was rock.

We designed a reinforced block wall. The contractor liked the concept as he could lay his back wall drainage after the first blocks were laid making this operation easy.

We gave him setting out information to make setting out the foundations and adjusting the excavation easy for him.

Reinforced Block Retaining Walls

Halifax Scheduling

We schedule the block manufacturing and give this schedule to the contractor to help them build the walls. We also produce reinforcement schedules and structural sections.

Gravity Retaining Walls

Gravity Retaining WallsGravity retaining walls are a basic design and rely on the mass of the wall to retain the earth behind.As a general rule an economical gravity retaining walls from 600mm high to 4m high can be built swiftly and easily.

Inclined Block retaining WallsAn inclined block retaining wall is the most economical gravity wall solution as it uses the blocks on an inclination and rely on gravity to add resistance to the forces trying to push the wall over.Inclined retaining wall are approximately 25% more economical than a standard retaining wall.

Reinforced Earth Retaining Walls

The land was surveyed and local engineers designed a standard cast insitu solution. Portland Port was looking for an alternative sustainable design to address their needs. We provided a bespoke-engineered solution for a reinforced earth wall using our blocks.The foundation followed the slope of the ground in steps. The wall height went from 5m to 1.8 m.The geo mat was designed from lengths of 5m to 2m depending of the wall height.

Portland Port had a requirement to construct a new hard standing wall to store cargo for a new shipping contract. The available land was on an inclined plane.

Material Bays

Boys & Boden ChesterWe provided blocks to build 20 material bays for Boys & Boden for their new Chester site. We design material bays for a large range of materials and usages such as - Recycling- Building Materials- Scrap bays

AgricultureConcrete lego blocks are ideal to build a range of structures in the agricultural sector including:

- Plant buildings- Retaining walls- Silage bays- Material bays

Concrete Wash OutA Tarmac quarry manager wanted to build a concrete mixer wash out facility at the quarry to improve the environmental operations of the site.We were chosen to design a solution using our 300mm wide wallbloc.We build them with ducts for addition of rebar to improve durability.

Bunded WallsConcrete lego blocks are ideal to build bunded walls.Construction is swift and simple. The walls are lined to prevent leakage from the joints.We constructed a bund wall for a large sugar manufacturer in London that measured 60m x 60m x 1.2m high. The bunded area was designed and built to handle the largest delivery of sugar ever received in the UK.

Shooting RangeThe managing director of Lingwood called one day and asked if we could build walls for a shooting range.We used our 300mm Wallbloc solution with 600mm Virtabloc walls for the main shooting walls.To make construction easy on site we scheduled the work in layers. Each layer was transported on a load as per the design to construct layer wise. Thus, achieving a build within a short deadline.

Eton Five CourtA customer wanted a quick and economical method to build modular Eton Five Courts in the UK.They had built them traditionally in the past but the cost was prohibitive.We designed various modular scenarios that are fast and economical to build.

Buildings

Buildings

Storage BuildingsOur 300mm wide Wallbloc product is ideal for the construction of storage buildings. The walls can be restrained using the roof structure. The buildings are not suitable for habitat as they do not comply to heat loss within the building regulations. They are ideal for a large range of storage applications such as:- Salt barns- Plant storage- Material storage

A1 Fire RatedConcrete has a very high ignition temperature and has an A1 fire rating to 4.3.4.4 of EN 13369. Concrete simply cannot be set on fire like some other materials in a building. It is resistant to smoldering materials, which can reach very high temperatures, igniting or even re-igniting a fire, and flames from burning contents. It will also not drip molten particles, which can cause ignition, unlike some plastics and metals.

Concrete has a high degree of fire resistance and, in the majority of applications, can be described as fireproof when designed using required standards. Concrete is a very effective fire shield. The mass of concrete confers a high heat storage capacity.

Its porous structure provides a low rate of temperature rise across a section. These properties result in a low rate of temperature rise that enables concrete to act as an effective fire shield.

Retaining Wall Tables

Gravity Wall Design Table

The design table above presents Indicative designs based upon a base material with allowable bearing pressure of >200kPa.

The retained material is assumed to be well graded, granular backfill with back of wall drainage or weep holes to relieve hydrostatic pressure.

All indicative information presented in this table is based upon assumed loading and ground conditions and may be subject to change following detailed, site specific design.

The design table above presents Indicative designs based upon a base material with allowable bearing pressure of >200kPa.

The retained material is assumed to be well graded, granular backfill with back of wall drainage or weep holes to relieve hydrostatic pressure.

All indicative information presented in this table is based upon assumed loading and ground conditions and may be subject to change following detailed, site specific design.

Reinforced Wall Design Table

The design table above presents Indicative designs based upon a base material with allowable bearing pressure of >200kPa.

The retained material is assumed to be well graded, granular backfill with back of wall drainage or weep holes to relieve hydrostatic pressure.

All indicative information presented in this table is based upon assumed loading and ground conditions and may be subject to change following detailed, site specific design.

Inclined Wall Design Table

Structural Design

Block Types

Stackabloc

Stackabloc R

Virtabloc

Virtabloc R

Wallbloc

Wallbloc R

Earth Block

Quality Assurance

Quality

Blockwalls operates to the ISO 9001:2008 quality management system for all our business processes. We adhere to relevant standards and best practice codes for concrete production such as the British Standards. These are detailed below.

Concrete DesignOur standard mixes are manufactured to BS 8500 – 1:2006 +A1:2012 Part 1 and 2 for concrete grades ranging from C40 and C50.

Strength TestingIn the U.K., the accepted design guidelines by the civil engineering industry are the British Standards. Our products are tested for strength in compression according to BS EN 12390. We test concrete on a regular basis to ensure our production of concrete meets the standards we are working to.This is a crucial aspect to meet our clients needs for concrete blocks of different strengths. These are marked as Concrete Grades which range from C40 – C50, where 40 and 50 stand for compressive strengths of 40 N/mm2 and 50 N/mm2. C40 grade is ideally used in non-structural applications such as in waste segregation bays, separation walls, agricultural clients while C50 high strength concrete is typically strong enough for bridges, retaining walls and interestingly – shooting ranges.

Particle TestingConcrete is a cocktail of several building materials such as aggregates, cement and sand. Our concrete blocks are made with constituents that have passed particle test analysis using methods directed by the British Standards, BSEN 123560We test materials from different sources using sieve analysis and particle distribution analysis to gauge client needs and provide cost effective solutions in the form of quality tested concrete lego blocks.

Quality

800 8803135www.blockwalls.co.ukBlockwalls is a trading name of Virtus Concrete Solutions Ltd