Piling and substructure in saline ground
Groundwater in Jebel Ali is shallow and carries chlorides and sulphates. Piles, pile caps and ground beams follow the consultant's exposure class, often with GGBS blends, a low water to cement ratio and the specified cover. Agree the mix before the piling programme starts.
Volume for piles: cross-section times length plus over-break. Pile caps and ground beams are measured from drawings. A warehouse with 120 piles of 600 mm at 15 m needs about 510 m³ for piling alone, roughly 43 truckloads spread over the piling days.
The warehouse floor
Large floors are poured in strips or bays on a planned sequence. Give us the strip sizes and dates. A 30 by 50 m bay at 225 mm is close to 340 m³, 29 trucks, and it needs a steady supply so the finishing crew is never waiting or overwhelmed.
Joint cutting, curing and temperature control are part of the floor order. Book the saw-cutting crew for the same night, have curing material on site and agree a start time that keeps placing temperature within the specification. A floor poured in the afternoon heat with no curing is a floor that will need repairs.
Yards, roads and free zone access
Container yards and truck aprons are exposed and heavily loaded. Fibre-reinforced concrete can help where the design allows. Pour early and cure at once.
JAFZA and port areas have their own gate procedures. Check with the free zone or site management which gate the trucks use and what passes they need, and send us that before the pour. The plant in Al Quoz is about 20 km away in a straight line, via Sheikh Zayed Road or Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road. We dose the retarder for that run.
Jebel Ali is on our regular ready-mix concrete Dubai runs out of Al Quoz.
Questions from Jebel Ali sites
- Can you supply piling concrete over several days?
- Yes. We schedule against the rig's daily pile count and adjust the volume as the piling contractor reports over-break.
- What do trucks need to enter JAFZA?
- That depends on the free zone and your site. Ask site management for the gate and pass requirements and share them with us in advance.