Projects / 5/3/2023

Freight village, Bologna (Italy)

New jointless floor installed thanks to MAPECRETE SYSTEM in a logistics hub with three intermodal terminals.

Installing a new industrial flooring in a dynamic context

Bologna freight village opened in 1971 to decongest the city’s busy roads, promote the use of rail and intermodal transport options and stimulate the development in Bologna of an area specialised in freight transport and logistics. Over the years the village has become a point of reference for a number of industries operating in the area.

The hub is located in a strategic area for freight traffic, at the intersection between various key national and international motorways such as Corridor 3 (Mediterranean), Corridor 5 (Scandinavian–Mediterranean) and Corridor 1 (Baltic-Adriatic), which are all part of ERTMS (European Rail Traffic Management System), a major industrial proj-ect implemented by the European Union to make rail transport safer and more competitive.

The hub has three intermodal terminals and extends over an area of more than 4 million di m², 665,000 m² of which are used for rail facilities and 800,000 m² are dedicated to warehouse space.

And this dynamic context is the backdrop for the installation of new industrial flooring, carried out thanks to support and solutions provided by Mapei’s Concrete Flooring Solutions division.

New jointless floor installed thanks to MAPECRETE SYSTEM in a logistics hub with three intermodal terminals.

Products working in synergy to create a jointless surface

A new 9,000 m² floor with no contraction joints was installed in the freight village using MAPECRETE SYSTEM, a modular system consisting of four products that, together, make it possible to obtain concrete with very high dimensional stability and create compensated shrinkage jointless industrial floors.

The 18 cm thick floor was installed on a 1,500 m² surface with 8 mm diameter 200 x 200 mm steel mesh at the base.

MAPEFIBRE ST 50 TWISTED class II structural polymer fibres were added to the concrete mix at a rate of 1.5 kg/m³.

The concrete was also admixed with DYNAMON FLOOR 20 acrylic-based super-plasticiser, specifically developed for concrete in hot weather.

The MAPECRETE SYSTEM allowed the creation of jointless floors within pitches of 1000 m², by adding EXPANCRETE expansive agent and MAPECURE SRA 55, a liquid super-plasticizing admixture used for reducing the shrinkage of concrete, to the concrete mix.

MAPETOP N AR6 pre-blended surface hardener was then broadcast over the surfaces, while MAPECRETE LI HARDENER, a lithium silicate-based liquid surface treatment, was chosen to finish off the floor while increasing its strength and resistance to abrasion and reducing the penetration of liquids into the floor.