Case Studies
Waiheke Island
390 Metre Remote Fibre-Reinforced Pavement Solution
Concrete-It recently expanded its services to Waiheke Island for a large-scale driveway project. The task involved pouring over 390 lineal metres of driveway using 181 cubic metres of 150mm thick, fibre-reinforced concrete, supplied by Firth Concrete. With challenging logistics and a multi-stage pour required, the project demanded precise preparation and expert execution to ensure durability and longevity.
Concrete It was engaged to deliver a substantial 390-metre concrete driveway servicing a high-end beachfront property on Waiheke Island. The project presented an exceptional combination of scale, difficult access, remote logistics, challenging terrain and the requirement to maintain a consistently high standard of finish across multiple staged pours.
Rather than approaching the project as a conventional mesh-reinforced driveway, Concrete It adopted a 150mm-thick fibre-reinforced pavement system, incorporating RADFORCE structural synthetic fibre reinforcement into approximately 181mÂł of Firth concrete.
The reinforcement strategy was particularly suited to the project’s scale, terrain and island location. Transporting, handling, cutting, positioning and supporting conventional reinforcing mesh across 390 metres would have introduced significant additional logistical and construction complexity. Instead, Concrete It transported boxes of RADFORCE by truck and trailer from Auckland to Waiheke Island, delivering the reinforcement directly to the batching plant where it was incorporated into the concrete prior to dispatch.
Additional foundation strengthening was provided through a series of 450mm-diameter augered foundation holes. The driveway was divided into carefully planned sections and constructed through a sequence of coordinated pours. During finishing, tooled contraction joints were formed at planned intervals to divide the extensive pavement into controlled sections to accommodate shrinkage movement.
The result was not innovation for innovation’s sake. It was the application of materials, methodology and logistical planning to solve a genuine construction problem.
The completed driveway provided the client with durable, reliable access through difficult terrain while demonstrating how fibre-reinforced concrete, thoughtful foundation preparation and carefully sequenced construction can provide an effective solution for complex and remote residential infrastructure.
