Tony McC
Site Agent
Group: Moderator
Posts: 10921
Joined: July 2004 |
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Posted: 12 Mar. 2014,10:49 |
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If the CBPPs are jointed with sand or the wrong type of grit, then it is bound to fail. This is largely down to poor training.
In cahoots with Interpave, I helped create a 1-day training course for CBPP, half theory, half practical, but the useless gits responsible for delivering the training never actually bothered. At one point, in a move designed purely to annoy me by refusing to let me lead the first few courses, train the trainers as it were, they had a retuired overweight, unfit bricklayer leading the course and he had to ask the lads how to set out a 90° herringbone, which then destroyed what little credibility he had with his trainees.
So, while some of the manufacturers have cannibalised the Interpave/pavingexpert CBPP course to present their own simpler, half-day courses for residential projects, there is no effective training for commercial projects, which is why we see so many problems. I've shouted as loudly as I can. It's down to Interpave to ensure the training is both available and actually delivered (by competent person rather than feckwitts or salesbods!)
When cleaning is undertaken, it *must* be done with the right sort of kit. A standard road sweeper is NOT the right sort of kit. And when cleaning is complete, the jointing must be topped-up using the right sort of grit. Again, this comes down to training.
As I've already said, I know of CBPP surfaces approaching a decade of trouble-free service because they were properly installed and then properly maintained.
As for the cost, I've been saying for 10 years that it is WRONG of the manufacturers to charge more per m² for CBPP than for conventional CBPs. Think about it: with that 6mm or so joint, there is actually *less* concrete per m² with CBPPs, so how can it be right to charge more? I've heard all the arguments about recovering R&D costs, smaller sales volumes, and so on, but it's not acceptable to whinge about poor sales voulmes whilst not actively doing very much to promote the products via sensible pricing!
And again: if I can get a grant to stuff my loft and walls with insulation, and to hang a new boiler in the kitchen, why can't I get a grant to make my new driveway permeable? Flooding and the way we handle surface water is just as important as carbon emissions and energy usage....as many have seen to their cost over the winter!
Now that I've finally got the machine-lay page finished and published, my next big project will probably be CBPPs. Like it or lump it, this is a technology that we as a society will have to adopt because dumping surface water into the sewer systems is becoming increasingly unacceptable.
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Site Agent - Pavingexpert
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