1. CONCRETEDATASHEET
Agilia™
Horizontal’s finishing characteristics and high
quality surface finish eliminate the need to power float
concrete on site.
Applications
Slabs
Residential dwelling oversite / slabs
Structural toppings
Domestic floors
Commercial slabs such as composite deck construction (rib metal decking)
Low traffic industrial floor slabs
Mezzanine & office areas within industrial units
Characteristics
Agilia™
Horizontal enables the rapid and effortless fabrication of slabs and floors.
Lafarge technology means that surface finish is of high quality.
This can eliminate power-floating on site.
Floor finish tolerance to BS 8204 – 1 SR2.
Agilia™
is proven to improve your construction processes, after extensive
research with Loughborough University1, 2
.
Research focused on determining and clarifying the exact benefits that Agilia™
can bring to the
construction process.
The research made it clear that Agilia™
is not just a material for construction but it is in fact a method
of construction. By adhering to the Agilia™
method significant savings were shown to be achievable.
Placement with Agilia™
can reduce slab construction time by nearly 75%.
Whilst also reducing the gang size from four operatives to two.
1
Research undertaken by the Centre for Innovative and Collaborative Construction Engineering
at Loughborough University to explore and quantify the effects of SCC in construction.
2:30
Agilia™
Conventional
Placement* time of 1m2
of concrete
Construction time (mm:ss)
*Where placement includes discharge, tamping, screeding, levelling and with reference to Agilia™
, dappling
2:152:001:451:301:151:000:450:300:150
0:36
2:16
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2. Installation
Agilia™
Horizontal can be laid over any stable substrate.
Bond to substrate
When the concrete is laid unbonded to the substrate, a polythene
membrane of suitable thickness will be required.
When the concrete is to be laid bonded, steel reinforcement mesh will
be required. Bonding compound (such as an SBR type product) to be
applied.
Perimeter isolation
A compressible strip with a minimum thickness of 5mm and
maximum of 15mm should be fixed around the walls.
The isolation strip is required to be fixed around vertical features such
as columns and pipe ducts.
Particular attention must be taken at re-entrant angles such as
doorways, bays and alcoves.
Ensure the perimeter isolation is placed at right angles into all
corners of the room.
On exterior angles it may be necessary to double up the isolation to
ensure that the minimum thickness is maintained around the angle.
The most suitable material for this is a self adhesive ethafoam strip;
a small amount of steel mesh should also be placed around any
internal corner or extrusion through the slab.
Substrate preparation
In all cases, a polythene membrane of 150μm minimum thickness
and 350μm maximum thickness must be laid on the substrate.
Agilia™
Horizontal is highly fluid and this requires the membrane to be
substantially watertight to prevent loss of material.
The sheet should be laid with a 300mm overlap, adhesive tape at least
50mm wide should be applied along overlapping joints of the sheets to
seal them.
Care should be taken to ensure the membrane is folded, or cut and
sealed, into a corner.
Around the perimeter of the room, the edges of the polythene
membrane should extend well above the intended level of topping or
should be taped to the ethafoam strip.
Agilia™
Construction Method
Removal of the power floating operation reduces an aspect of the variability and unpredictability with concrete slab construction.
Agilia™
increases the predictability of construction projects with respect to project time and costs, reducing the risk of unforeseen expenses and delays.
In an example case study of a suspended
45m2
house slab, priced on average UK
material costs, Agilia™
was seen to save
£291.45 on total as-built costs when power
floating could not start promptly.
Agilia™
removes issues observed with
conventional concrete practice of water
addition, insufficient compaction and curing.
Complying with requirements of NHBC
standard 2.1 – S10 parts c, f and g.
2
The research described in this data sheet can be found in the following: Rich, D, Glass, J., Gibb, A.G.F.
and Goodier, C.I., UK Contractors’ views on self-compacting concrete in construction. Proceeding of the
ICE – Construction Materials, In press. And From reactive to proactive: quantifying the onsite benefits of
self-compacting concrete http://www.lboro.ac.uk/cice/people/alumni_theses.html J1
Conventional:
adverse weather
Conventional:
ideal weather
Agilia™
Placement* Power Floating
Curing Agent
Application
Working Day time and a half double time
24:00
23:00
22:00
21:00
20:00
19:00
18:00
17:00
16:00
15:00
14:00
13:00
12:00
11:00
10:00
09:00
08:00
*Where placement includes discharge, tamping, screeding, levelling and with reference to Agilia™
, dappling
Gantt chart of construction scenarios
Conventional
SCC
1
1
2
2
3
3
4
4
Operatives
Construction time (labour hours)
0.00 0:25 0:5 0:75 1:00 1:25 1:50 1:75 2:00
placing
labour hours: 4.27
labour hours saved: 3.37
placing
labour hours: 0.90
SPECIFICATION
Maintenance of fluidity = two
hours
Compressive strength at 28 days
= 35N/mm2
Minimum thickness = 75mm
If a greater strength at 28 days
is required Lafarge will work to
customer specification.

3. Conditions
Agilia™
Horizontal can only be laid when the air temperature is between 5oC
and 30oC.
The substrate must not be frozen and ideally should be within the above
temperature range.
Setting out levels
The thickness of the concrete from the highest point of the prepared
substrate should not be less than 50mm and should incorporate measures
to counter plastic shrinkage.
To adequately set out the levels before placing the concrete, the highest
point should first be found.
To easily identify the thickness to be laid a series of tripods with a height
adjustable indicator should be used. A tripod should be placed at the
highest point to denote the top of the finished floor and a nominal minimum
thickness of 75mm.
Other tripods should be placed at two to three metre intervals across the
floor and the indicators set using a laser-levelling device with the first tripod
as the datum.
Slump-flow measurement
When Agilia™
Horizontal arrives on site, the slump-flow of the material
should be 650mm – 750mm when measured using the appropriate
equipment. If the mix is outside of the target range, then advice should be
sought from your Lafarge Readymix representative as to the appropriate
course of action.
Pump priming
If the concrete is to be pumped, prior to pumping it is essential that the
pump is primed. The pipes must be systematically “lubricated” with a slurry
made up of approximately 10kg of pure cement mixed with 10l of water.
The slurry should be fed through the pipes and fully recovered at the other
end before any of the concrete is discharged.
Pumping
When placing the product, the hose should be held approximately 500mm
from the substrate. The pipe should be moved in a sweeping motion and
should not be held stationary above any fixed point. Agilia™ Horizontal
should be poured until the pre-set levels, as denoted by the tripods, have
been reached.
Dappling
When the material has been placed to the desired levels within a room/
area, it should be dappled immediately to obtain the best surface finish.The
T-bar should be moved across the surface of the concrete with a dappling
motion to generate a wave-like ripple across the surface.
The dappling should occur in two directions, the second being
perpendicular to the first. The first pass should be a deep pass to
approximately two-thirds of the depth of the concrete, the second a light
pass over the surface.
Curing
Following placement, a curing membrane should be sprayed over the
surface using a mist sprayer. Care should be taken to follow all relevant
health and safety procedures when using the curing membrane, including
goggles and respiratory equipment.
It is essential to ensure complete coverage of the surface as per
manufacturer’s guidelines.
Following placing
The surface will be suitable for light foot traffic after 24 hours and can be
worked on after a period of 72 hours from placing.
The slab should not be loaded with palletised materials until at least seven days.
Partitions can be erected after a minimum of seven days from the time of
placing. Floor finishes should ideally be applied within a 60-day period after
placing.
The slab should be protected from excessive winds or drying for 48 hours
after placing.
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4. Lafarge Aggregates Concrete UK
Granite House, PO Box 7388
Watermead Business Park, Syston
Leicester, LE7 1WA
Tel: 0870 336 8258
agilia@uk.lafarge.com
www.lafarge.co.uk/agilia
Lafarge Aggregates Limited registered in England and Wales 297905
Bay sizes (when installed without crack control mesh
reinforcement)
Saw cut joints should be detailed at 40 times the depth of the slab (in
mm) e.g. A slab that is 75mm deep = 40 x 75 = 3,000mm, therefore
joints must be at 3m x 3m.
Fibre Solutions for the replacement of Steel Mesh in Flat Slabs
Agilia™
Horizontal can now be combined with various fibre technologies
to facilitate the removal of crack control mesh in slab construction.
The fibres are distributed evenly within the Agilia™
Horizontal concrete
and the material is placed and finished in the usual Agilia™
methodology.
Depending on the volume and type of steel mesh initially specified,
either macro-synthetic or steel fibres can be added to offer a cost
effective alternative to traditional crack control mesh.
This dispenses with the need to procure traditional mesh, to take delivery
of it and store it on site, before finally cutting and placing it in the slab.
Agilia™
with macro or steel fibres can therefore provide financial, logistical
and health and safety benefits. A design service is also available upon
request if required; please contact your Lafarge Representative for
further details.
Safety precautions
The use of safety goggles, hard hat, ear defenders and gloves is
recommended when placing concrete.
First Aid
Eyes: Immediately flush eyes, including under lids, with water for at
least 15 minutes to remove all particles.
If necessary, seek medical advice.
Skin: Wash skin with cold water and a pH neutral soap as soon as
possible, except where open wounds are visible. Attention
should be paid to wounds and fresh scars which should be
covered with protective paraffin gauze. Seek medical help in
cases of prolonged contact with wet concrete.
Ingestion: Rinse mouth with clean water. If swallowing has occurred
drink plenty of milk or water. Do not induce vomiting. Seek
medical attention immediately.
Inhalation: Move to fresh air. If symptoms persist seek medical attention.
Disclaimer - The information contained in this leaflet
is based upon knowledge and experience of the
materials used in the manufacture of the products.
However, since the application of the products is
carried out by the customer and is beyond the control
of Lafarge Aggregates Limited,Lafarge does not
accept any liability or responsibility whatsoever for any
loss or damage resulting from the use or application
of the products outside the scope of the intended
use and precautions set out in this leaflet and any
accompanying data sheets.
Aspects of information contained in this leaflet have
been taken from research undertaken through the
Centre for Innovative and Collaborative Construction
Engineering (CICE) at Loughborough University
(LU). The CICE and LU do not accept any liability or
responsibility whatsoever for the achievement of these
results on the construction site as they are a factor
of the methods employed in construction. All results
presented were current as of 1st quarter 2011.
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See Agilia™
Horizontal in action