Gresser Companies Becomes Licensee for Primekss Rabine's PrimeComposite Steel Fiber-reinforced High-tech, Cut-free Flooring System
Innovative composite floor is jointless, stronger and thinner than traditional concrete slabs
SHAKOPEE, Minn. — Gresser Companies, a full-service concrete and masonry contractor, signed a license agreement with Rabine Group/Primekss (pronounced Prime x) of Chicago to provide PrimeComposite, a jointless, steel fiber-reinforced, composite flooring system. The company is currently licensed to engineer and install PrimeComposite flooring in Minnesota, North and South Dakota, northern Iowa and western Wisconsin, with potential future geographic expansion.
Stronger, yet up to 60 percent thinner than traditional reinforced concrete floors, PrimeComposite flooring is jointless and has virtually no shrinkage or cracking. These characteristics make this composite flooring system ideal for distribution centers, food processing plants, automotive and aerospace manufacturing and other facilities benefitting from jointless floors.
"Concrete is the world's most ubiquitous building and flooring material," says Janis Oslejs, CEO of Primekss Group. "PrimeComposite is a better-quality floor that reduces building and usage costs. Gresser Companies, together with Primekss Rabine, is building the most durable, leanest, jointless and environmentally friendly floors the world has ever known. PrimeComposite takes concrete to a new quality and environmental level."
"Traditional concrete slab design is still based on analysis from the 1950s and ‘60s. Even though slabs are a main complaint of building owners and maintenance managers, there has been very little design effort to improve it," explains Kevin A. MacDonald, Ph.D., PE (MN), FACI, principal engineer at Benton Consulting Engineers, LLC and former chair of ACI 223 "shrinkage compensating concrete."
Concrete dries from the top down resulting in curling at the joints and around the perimeter. This can cause the slab to loose contact with the base material, making it susceptible to fracture. Curling also increases maintenance and repair costs of forklifts, other equipment and the slab. In warehouses, forklifts crossing the step in elevation often results in the forks scraping the floor and jarring impacts.
High-reach stackers operate with decreased accuracy and need more maintenance, impacting productivity. Also, storage rack position needs to be planned around uneven flooring at the joints.
Each PrimeComposite floor is specifically engineered to exceed load requirements of the specific floor by Gresser's experienced engineering team. The PrimeComposite floor is virtually maintenance free and has a significantly longer life cycle than conventional concrete slab floors. The no-curl, no-control joint properties reduce equipment maintenance costs, increase material handling productivity and allow storage racks to be placed and moved wherever needed—creating complete design flexibility compared with traditional concrete.
"Conforming to International Building Code, PrimeComposite jointless floors are a different way to approach slabs on ground. Comparable to solutions that have been around for over 20 years, this is a more modern construction," continues MacDonald. "Conceptually similar to carbon fiber, the steel fibers and expanding construction spread out the load over a large area. A thinner slab of PrimeComposite flooring is stronger than traditional concrete slabs and requires no joints. While some cracking may occur, the steel fibers prevent sheering."
To view a safety factor analysis or learn more about PrimeComposite, visit www.gresserco.com. To schedule a personal tour of a PrimeComposite floor, call 651-454-5976 or email info@gresserco.com.
"Stronger, lighter, thinner and better than concrete, PrimeComposite is a true innovation in commercial and industrial flooring. We traveled halfway around the world to research this system and inspected millions of square feet of flooring," explains Mike Gresser, president and CEO of Gresser Companies.
"We were so impressed with PrimeComposite that we placed nearly an acre of it in our new facility here in Shakopee. For nearly a year we have stressed our 4-inch PrimeComposite floor with loads, such as fully loaded semis, that would have needed 8 inches of traditional reinforced concrete. A traditional concrete slab this thin would be broken apart. The conventional concrete floors in our facility are already showing joint deterioration and damage, while the PrimeComposite looks like it was placed yesterday."
Eligible to earn LEED credits, PrimeComposite steel fiber-reinforced floors offer many sustainability benefits over conventional concrete slabs. Less material is needed, hazardous silica dust from joint sawing is eliminated and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from cement production are reduced by up to 50 percent over traditional concrete slab floors.Â
About Rabine Group
Rabine is committed to delivering quality and innovation, while exceeding our clients' expectations. Rabine Group is a provider of pavement, roofing, snow removal, flooring, fuel and other construction services. Rabine Group companies include: Rabine Paving, Rabine Paving America, Pavement Solutions, Rabine Utility Paving, Roofing Solutions America, R. Commercial Roofing Solutions, Crawford Roofing Experts, Rabine Snow Pros, Pipe View, Palatine Oil Company, and Rabine PrimeComposite as well as the Rabine Group Foundation. For additional information, visit www.rabine.com.
About PrimekssÂ
Founded in Latvia in 2000 Primekss developed the PrimeComposite jointless concrete floor system and has placed millions of square feet of the flooring system throughout Europe. They continue to be involved in mix design and materials analysis to ensure that each PrimeComposite floor is designed to exceed load and performance requirements.
Rabine Group and Primekss (pronounced Prime x) have joined to bring the PrimeComposite system to the Western Hemisphere.
About Gresser Companies
A full-service concrete and masonry construction company, Gresser was founded by a craftsman nearly 50 years ago. The company attracts and keeps the best, most highly trained tradespeople, project managers and supervisors in the industry. Experienced people, combined with advanced technology and old-world craftsmanship, allow Gresser to provide top-quality finished products and meet or exceed difficult schedules and demanding requirements. For more information visit www.gresserco.com or call 651-454-5976.
Gresser Companies
3 Checkered Flag Blvd.
Shakopee, MN 55379
651-454.5976
www.gresserco.com
info@gresserco.com
