24 JAN 2020 BY MILES ROWLAND

Wiltshire Council is looking for a contractor for a five-year, £70m surfacing-works contract.

The winning firm will perform works on the county’s roads encompassing regular maintenance, safety repairs and improvement works. Tasks will include civils work, road markings, cats’ eyes, loop cutting and any associated traffic management.

According to the tender notice, the contractor will also have to maintain records of the carbon footprint of works and “implement alternative ways of working that demonstrate reductions in the carbon footprint over the course of the contract”.

The deadline for tenders is 26 February. The winning contractor will begin in July 2020, working with the council for five years until 2024.

Modern Construction Materials

Standards Promote Advances in Construction Technologies

For virtually any product, standards are a critical step along the way from research and development to adoption in the marketplace. Without standardization to streamline production processes, ensure quality and safety and provide benchmarks for regulators, the marketplace and public acceptance of new products would be difficult to achieve. Many industries today are faced not only with managing the march of technological development, but with pressures to do so efficiently, cost-effectively and with public and environmental safety in mind. The construction industry is no exception.

The appearance, component materials, energy efficiency and environmental impact of habitable structures has changed dramatically over recent years due in large part to the successful standardization of new materials, processes and technologies. This article provides a sampling of some more recently developed construction technologies and shows where ASTM International’s technical committees have provided needed standards that have swept new construction technologies off the drawing board and into our built environment.

A Building’s Skin

EIFS

Exterior insulation and finish systems were first used after World War II in Germany to resurface buildings damaged by the ravages of that conflict; since the 1960s, their use has become widespread. EIFS are lightweight, multi-layer barrier systems that help keep moisture from outer walls. With several components, from panels of foam insulation fastened to a substrate and a base coat, to a reinforcing mesh and finishing coat, EIFS are complex systems with materials that have to successfully connect for years in order to keep moisture at bay. Standards are critical for all components to ensure proper interaction and long life.

Developing standards for EIFS has been a key activity of ASTM International Committee E06 on Performance of Buildings since the 1990s. Subcommittee E06.58 on Exterior Insulation and Finish Systems published its first EIFS standard, E 2098, Test Method for Determining Tensile Breaking Strength of Glass Fiber Reinforcing Mesh for Use in Class PB Exterior Insulation and Finish Systems, After Exposure to a Sodium Hydroxide Solution, in 2000. Since the meshes component of EIFS are embedded into base coats containing portland cement, they may be weakened by the alkali action. E 2098 helps laboratories comparatively evaluate the alkali resistance of EIFS glass fiber reinforcing meshes.

Since that standard’s development, Subcommittee E06.58 has followed up with several more test methods and specifications that help users evaluate and specify the quality and efficiency of these systems. The subcommittee also has 10 more standards in the pipeline.

Stone Masonry Veneer

The cost savings and design freedom offered by stone masonry veneer products have led to their increased use in architectural projects. In fact, sales of manufactured stone, specifically, are expected to reach $900 million by 2009. Compared to natural stone, manufactured stone veneers can be reinforced with steel, can be precisely colored, and have a predictable, durable life. The manufactured product’s consistency of appearance makes repetitive use of the material as a trim or ornament economically feasible. In addition, older structures can be rehabilitated with manufactured stone veneer that replicates the appearance of deteriorating stone.