Hyperlast Finds its Eden

The ‘Traffideck’ ® range of waterproofing and anti-slip surfacing systems is being applied to pathways at the Eden Project in Cornwall.

‘Traffideck’, the anti-slip and waterproofing surface system for car parks, car ferry decks, malls, roads and bridges is now to be found on the network of paths that service the Eden Project.

This polyurethane based surface is designed by Hyperlast Limited, a previous Queen’s Award winning company with a global customer base that specializes in polyurethane formulations for many applications to all industry sectors. .

Incorporating the ‘Hypercrete’® range of polymer formulations, ‘Traffideck’ is a seamless membrane that has high tensile strength and excellent crack bridging capabilities. It also has great adhesive properties and is resistant to fuel oil and chloride attack.

But above all, the ‘Traffideck’ surface is safe and protective, durable and hard-wearing - and it needs to be! The Eden Project, near St Austell, Cornwall is the South-West’s premier tourist attraction with an average of 1.8 million visitors per year and over 4 million since it first opened in March 2001. These figures provide an insight into the calibre of The Eden Project’s enterprise, its acclaim and international recognition for a vision that celebrates on a grand scale man’s relationship and dependence on plants.

The Eden Project is built in a disused pit where once china clay was mined for use in the ceramics and crockery industry in St Austell. The total site covers some 50 hectares, 10 hectares of this being the external, landscaped area around the famous Biomes. These create the habitats and house the plant species of the world.

Visitor safety was one of the client’s principal commissioning considerations. The ‘Traffideck’ anti-slip surface has in all senses a proven track record, and,significantly, Hyperlast systems are being applied to those pathways that zig-zag the steep slopes out of the basin. These demand those gripping, hard-wearing and water-resistant qualities in a region also remembered for above average rainfall! An excess of water blights the Eden Project’s construction story: they had to pump 43 million gallons of flood water out of the pit and then install a drainage system that can handle 22 litres per sec of water flow into it.

With plenty of opportunity for moisture to ingress, ‘Traffideck’ is being applied over the existing Bitmac and concrete with an intervening membrane, and to areas of significant movement and a need for a crack bridging product,whilst combining excellent wear characteristics and good appearance. The application was carried out by leading specialist surfacing contractor Prismo Limited who were asked to return to Eden because of the success of work carried out the previous year.

The Eden Project, is a prestigious commission, and Hyperlast Limited can now add Cornwall to the very extensive list of places where this versatile polymer has been installed. The ‘Traffideck’ surface is used throughout the world on multi-storey car parks, roads, bridges and boats from Sunderland to Shimonoseki, Japan; from Ellesmere to Australia and Cheshire to British Columbia.

Ref: 22- 1537 January 2004