Grouted Macadam and Jointless Surfacing

Globe Civil Engineering supplies and installs grouted macadam and ultra high performance concrete surfacing for heavy duty pavements and industrial floors. These are jointless systems used where concrete, asphalt or block paving would struggle: heavily trafficked yards, warehouse floors carrying racking loads, bus depots, aircraft stands, waste transfer stations and refuelling areas.

The grouted macadam contracting capability is now being undertaken by Globe Civil Engineering, carrying a long history of successful projects, and now bringing more up to date installation techniques and wider resources to these products. The capability came into the business from Civil and Industrial Products Ltd (CIP), who specialised in this work in the UK.

What grouted macadam is

Grouted macadam is a jointless surfacing system that replaces concrete, asphalt and blocks in both new build and refurbishment, internally and externally. It is a two part process. An open graded asphalt is laid first, typically between 30mm and 50mm, then flooded with a high strength microsilica based mortar that fills the void structure. The microsilica improved cement binder penetrates the voids more completely than a traditional cement grout, which is what gives the finished slab its density and strength.

What that buys you in procurement terms is the durability of a high specification concrete without the joints, and without concrete's programme. There is no joint layout to design, no joint sealing to maintain and no joint failure to repair later. The surface is trafficable within 24 hours of laying at normal ambient temperature, against seven days of curing for a new concrete slab, so the area comes back into use inside the same working week. It is also less weather dependent than concrete, and the completed surface needs no further finishing.

On refurbishment the case is usually stronger still. Existing construction can often be retained and overlaid rather than dug out and carted away, which removes the excavation and disposal cost entirely, adds to the structural integrity of the pavement and allows new levels and falls to be accommodated without excavating.

Where it is used

The systems suit anywhere the surface takes punishment that ordinary construction will not survive. In airports that means aprons, aircraft stands, taxiing and de-icing areas, hangars and refuelling points, where fuel resistance and a jointless surface both matter. In ports and harbours it is container and terminal areas, loading and unloading aprons, washing and tanking areas.

In warehousing and distribution it is high bay floors carrying rack leg loads, service yards, access roads, lorry parking and turning areas, and loading docks, internally and externally on the same site. Bus depots and stations use it for lanes, laybys, standing areas, refuelling and washdown, and the surface can be coloured where bays need marking out permanently rather than painting.

Manufacturing and production sites use it in production areas and container and turning areas where solid tyre traffic would chew through a normal floor. Waste and recycling facilities use it because the jointless construction stops waste working its way beneath the surface, and the slab is impermeable to fuel and chemical spillage. Retail and refuelling sites use it for service yards, filling station forecourts, cold stores and as an internal alternative to terrazzo.

Why it sits with Globe Civil Engineering

On most of these schemes we are already on site doing the work underneath. The sub base, the drainage, the basecourse and the hard surfacing are a Globe Civil Engineering groundworks package, and the specialist surface is the last layer of the same build up. Bringing it into the same appointment removes an interface: one contractor is responsible from formation level to finished surface, and there is no argument later about whether a failure sits with the base or the topping.

It also fits the way these jobs actually run. Grouted macadam depends on the layer beneath it being right. The open graded asphalt has to be laid to a specified aggregate size and void ratio, and rolled without vibration so it is not over compacted, or the mortar will not penetrate properly. When the same team is accountable for the base and the surfacing, that specification is controlled rather than hoped for.

Where a scheme needs more than civils, the wider Globe Group covers the adjacent trades, so a single point of contact can cover the package rather than splitting it across separate appointments.

A track record going back over two decades

This capability has been installed in the UK since the early 2000s, across bus depots, airport stands, distribution centres and waste facilities. The five case studies below are documented installations delivered by CIP, the earliest dating from 2001. They are historic projects rather than recent Globe Civil Engineering work, and they are published here because they show how the systems have performed in service and what the design build ups actually looked like.

Get specialist surfacing priced

Send us the location, the area in square metres, what will be running over it and the programme you are working to, and we will come back with a design build up and a price. Contact Globe Civil Engineering and one of the team will pick it up.