Ice Rink Floor

Placed in One Pour

Construction of the 202 x 102-foot concrete slab for the Kiel Center ice rink, St.
Louis, was complicated by requirements for a flat, level surface with no joints

BY ANNE BALOGH

lacing the ice rink floor for of polyethylene heating pipe. This Placing the Concrete

P the Kiel Center, St. Louis’

new sports and entertain-
ment facility, was one of
the biggest challenges of the build-
ing’s construction. The 664,240-
piping system, which carries warm
b ri n e, is designed to prevent frost
heave of the subgrade. On top of the
polyethylene pipe, crews placed 8
inches of sand, then covered the
Two
The pour began at 7 a.m. and
was completed at about 12:30 p.m.
truck-mounted
pumps—a 31-meter pump sta-
boom

tioned at one end of the rink and a

square-foot facility, which opened sand with 4 inches of rigid poly- 32-meter pump stationed at the
last fall, is home to the St. Louis styrene insulation as additional opposite end—placed the con-
Blues professional hockey team. protection from frost heave. c re t e. Both pumps operated con-
Because smooth ice is critical for Once the ice rink floor insulation tinuously throughout the pour.
hockey play, uniform flatness and was in place, workers began in- Placement started at one end of
levelness of the slab are essential. stalling the 14 tons of rebar required the rink, and the boom truck on
But the greatest challenge, says to reinforce the floor. This rebar mat the opposite end was equipped
Dennis Ahal, president of Ahal supports the 131⁄2 miles of 1-inch-di- with enough pipe sections and
Contracting Co., Bridgeton, Mo., ameter steel re f ri g e rant piping hose to transport concrete to the
was to pour the 202 x 102-foot, 8- needed for ice production. Finally, a pour area. As the pour proceeded
inch-thick slab monolithically. Be- layer of 4x4-inch wire mesh was in- to the opposite end, the pipe and
cause of an elaborate system of re- stalled to help minimize shrinkage hose were disconnected section by
f ri g e rant piping embedded in the cracking of the concrete. section from the first pump, then
slab to produce and
maintain the ice, the slab
could have no joints.
Ahal Contracting tack-
led the 536-cubic-yard
pour last June with joint-
venture partner Williams
Concrete Contractors Inc.,
St. Louis. The pour was
completed in just 51⁄2
hours using two pumps.

1312⁄ Miles of Pipe and

14 Tons of Rebar
Before concrete place-
ment could begin, seve ra l
layers of fill, piping, insu-
lation, and reinforcement
had to be installed. The
first layer—3 feet of sand
placed directly on top of Workers placed concrete for the joint-free ice rink floor in just 51⁄2 hours. To meet the
b e d ro c k — p rovided a critical flatness and levelness requirements, they used two laser-controlled, 52-foot-
cushion for the next layer wide vibratory screeds to strike off the concrete.
 MIX DESIGN FOR ICE RINK FLOOR
Material
Type C fly ash
Type I portland cement
Meramec sand
#67 limestone
Water
Water-reducing admixture
Specified compressive strength
Water-cement ratio
Concrete unit weight
Slump
attached to the other pump to ex-
tend its reach.
“We really only had one opportu-
nity to do the job right,” says Ahal.
Because of the heavy re i n f o rc e-
ment and miles of piping in the
floor, tearing out improperly in-
stalled concrete would have been
extremely difficult and costly.
The 5000-psi mix design for the
slab concrete included fly ash for lu-
brication (see table). “The fly ash al-
lowed us to pour a little bit higher
slump than normal and still main-
tain a good water-cement ratio,” says
Ahal. A high-slump mix was impor-
tant on this project because there is
only a 2-inch gap between adjacent
sections of refrigerant piping. Hand-
held vibrators with small-diameter
heads were used to consolidate the
concrete.
Concrete Finishing and Curing
To control the flatness and level-
ness of the floor and aid in consoli-
dation, finishers used two laser-
controlled, 52-foot-wide vibratory
screeds to strike off the concrete.
This project marked the first use of
l a s e r- c o n t rolled screeds in the St.
Louis area. Finishers monitored the
Per Cubic Yard
80 lb.
611 lb.
1,268 lb.
1,723 lb.
304 lb.
3 oz.
5000 psi
0.44
147 pcf
6 in.
levelness of the concrete surface
with a transit. Immediately after
finishing, a computerized measur-
ing device was used to gauge flat-
ness and levelness.
To retard shrinkage of the slab
and minimize cracking, a slow 14-
day cure was specified. The slab
was covered with polyethylene
sheeting to foster curing, and then
soaker hoses under the polyethyl-
ene were turned on periodically for
the first seven days to keep the sur-
face moist.
Credits
Construction manager: J. S. Alberici
Construction Co. Inc., St. Louis
Rink contractor: Cimco of Toronto
Concrete subcontractors: Ahal Con-
tracting Co., Bridgeton, Mo.; Williams
Concrete Contractors Inc., St. Louis
Ready mix supplier: Five-Star Con-
crete, St. Louis
Pump manufacturers: Elba Concrete
Pumps Inc., Rock Hill, S.C.; Putzmeis-
ter America Inc., Gardena, Calif.
Screed manufacturer: Allen Engineer-
ing, Paragould, Ark.
PUBLICATION # C950472
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