The Negative Effect Of Abrasion On Your Maintenance Bills?
The abrasion of construction materials used in marine facilities is a fact of life given the harsh conditions they are exposed to.? Abrasion is caused by the constant assault of sand and pebbles caused by wind and tide and, in some cases, constant use by humans or machines.
The inevitable result is an unwanted investment in the maintenance, or replacement, of the boards installed in marine facilities. With money increasingly scarce for maintenance projects, this takes valuable resources away from new projects that add value to your real estate.
Material abrasion may also be very uneven, which can make it very difficult to plan maintenance schedules.?
What information, therefore, is available to let you compare the resistance to abrasion of hardwood which is the predominant material in marinas, with its alternatives?
Not much!
Most of the comparisons you get are not based on hard data, and you may be a bit sceptical about the claims made by some raw material providers about the resistance to abrasion of their products.
This article gives you an accurate comparison of the resistance to abrasion between Greenheart timber and recycled plastic, and gets you a step closer to making the right decisions that reduce the whole life costs of your marine or building facilities.
Cranfield University Study Shows Higher Abrasion Resistance In Recycled Plastic Boards Compared To Hardwood
Some tests were done by Cranfield University comparing the resistance to abrasion for hardwood and recycled plastic boards. The tests equate to a minimum time in service of at least 20 years in extreme conditions.
For the tests, six 28 mm cubic samples were made from 28 mm thick recycled plastic decking and six samples of the same size were cut from Greenheart (hardwood) timber at room moisture content. All the samples were soaked in water until their weights were constant.
Each set of samples was placed in one of two cylindrical wire baskets of a polished stone test apparatus with an equal weight of 20 mm single-sized aggregate. The baskets were immersed in a water-filled bath with sand that could penetrate into the basket and have an abrasive effect on the samples in conjunction with the aggregate. The tests run at the same time for 50 hours, and the weights of each sample measured both before and after abrasion.
For the full results of the tests, please contact the author. What the results showed was an 8% loss of Greenheart timber with a corresponding loss of 0.98% for recycled plastic, when the same volume of material was subjected to the same duration and severity of abrasion. The ratio of timber abrasion to recycled plastic abrasion in this wet environment is 8.2.
Recycled Plastic wears 8x Less Than Greenheart Timber
These tests provide an excellent snapshot of what would happen if you installed hardwood timber or recycled industrial plastic decking in extreme environments. Greenheart timber is amongst the hardest hardwoods you can get, and far harder than any timbers used in decking. So imagine the effect on other timber varieties.
The whole life costs of your marine facilities will be affected by the resistance to wear and tear over time. In order to ensure your marine infrastructure maintains safety standards and is fit for purpose, you will need to spend more on maintenance, or replacement, if you installed hardwood as opposed to recycled plastic.
Until now, most information provided about the various construction materials for marine facilities has excluded data on their performance in extreme conditions. The results of the tests make it clear that you will incur maintenance or replacement costs much sooner if you install hardwood in marine facilities instead of recycled plastic.
What Else, Other Than Abrasion, Should You Be Looking At?
Resistance to abrasion is one of many factors you need to consider when buying materials for pontoons and marinas. It has a huge impact on whole life costs, with a higher resistance to abrasion extending the time before essential maintenance or replacement has to take place. This in turn will help you save money and give you peace of mind as your marine facilities are fit for purpose for a longer period of time.
Other things to think about are:
Product sustainability and environmental impact
Sustainability is becoming a big issue. The Marine Coastal and Access Act 2009 focuses on the sustainable development of marine infrastructures, and a lot of the debate here will inevitably focus on the sources of raw materials.
The deforestation of known hardwood reserves, and their inadequate replenishment, means that marine professionals need to think carefully about the alternatives to hardwood. Recycled plastic now has favourable cost comparisons, and added benefits that help in the sustainable development of marine infrastructure.
The oil-based polyesters used to bind the components in composite materials together require setting agents. These agents give off greenhouse gases and, therefore, have a negative environmental impact. The composites themselves need a lot of energy to produce as well, which is a factor that increasingly will need to be addressed.
Finally, fully recycled industrial plastic is the only product that completes the virtuous cycle. The feedstock is 100% recycled plastic that is manufactured without producing greenhouse gases. It has a long life in use, and at the end of its life can be taken back by the manufacturer and re-manufactured into new products. This has a positive impact on sustainability which is within the goals contained in forthcoming legislation.
Tongue and groove boards need fixing once, and only once. The tongue and groove alignment also supports the boards very effectively. With square-edged boards, you need a fixing at every point of contact with the bearer which makes installation more difficult.
To summarise, anyone considering installing any type of decking or boards in extreme or wildly fluctuating environmental conditions should think about lower whole life costs offered by fully recycled industrial plastic. Its greater resistance to abrasion, and the fact that it remains fit for purpose for a much longer period of time, means that it offers better value to marine and construction professionals. For case studies that support the information in this article, please contact the author.
David Croucher is the Managing Director of Plasti Limited, providers of fully recycled industrial plastic products in the marine, building and civil engineering sectors. Plasti products are manufactured using feedstock from approved sources. They are also extremely safe, have very long lives, are environmentally friendly and require zero or low maintenance. This means they have excellent whole life costs when compared to hardwood and composite alternatives.
David's expertise in the specification and design of marine, building and civil infrastructures is recognised within the marine and construction industry. His technical advice and input into projects is highly valued, which is a result of his great experience as a senior procurement leader in complex, global organisations.
For more information about Plasti Limited, please visit http://www.plasti.co.uk.
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