Sika has provided a complete flooring refurbishment solution for the iconic Sydney Fish Market. Installed during a live trading period, the eight stage project delivered a new food-grade standard floor that withstands heavy traffic and excess water.
The Sydney Fish Market is the largest working fish market in the southern hemisphere, trading 50 tonnes of seafood each day. It is also home to six seafood retailers, a bottle shop, grocer, restaurants, gift shop and deli.
As part of a large facility upgrade, Sika and Danlaid Contracting Sydney were appointed to refurbish the fish market’s deteriorating floor. The project required the new floor to meet food grade standards, withstand heavy foot and forklift traffic, and tolerate excess water on its surface. As an added challenge, the floor had to be demolished, prepared, re-graded and laid in stages while the market continued to trade.
“Despite several previous upgrades, the existing floor was in a poor state which was impacting trading conditions. To remedy this, the floor was hydro demolished to depths of up to 50 millimeters to provide a sound substrate on which to re-build. The floor was then re-graded to create positive falls for water displacement. An epoxy sub-fill mortar was used to re-create the levels,” says Anthony Lewis, market field manager – flooring at Sika.
Sikafloor® 22 PurCem®, a low VOC water-based polyurethane screed, was selected to finish the floor. Certified for the food industry, it is slip resistant, heat resistant and is easy to maintain and clean. It is particularly suited to food and beverage processing plants, wet or dry process areas, freezers, coolers and thermal shock areas.
The job faced a host of unique challenges. “This was our most difficult project ever. Upgrading the floor during a live trading period meant effective project management was critical. It was also important to use a flooring solution that minimised disruptions to trading operations,” says Matthew Dall of Danlaid Contracting Sydney, the contractor appointed to the project.
To allow trading to continue, the existing floor was cordoned off in sections and the upgrade was completed in eight stages. As a fast application solution, Sikafloor 22 PurCem allowed each section to be re-commissioned quickly and efficiently, reducing down time.
“Each completed section was quickly re-opened for trading, which meant the floors were constantly wet as seafood was moved around the markets. Sikafloor 22 Purcem is able to tolerate high levels of moisture in the concrete, making it ideal for this project,” says Mr Dall.
“We also had to consider how the upgrade could impact customer experience. As a low odour product, Sikafloor 22 Purcem didn’t taint the fish and customers didn’t experience smells that could impact sales.”
The floor refurbishment formed part of a larger and more complex overall facility upgrade, so meeting project budgets and timelines was critical. “Sika was able to deliver a high volume of stock on time and on budget. By offering the whole system, I had the convenience of a single point of contact without needing to work with multiple suppliers,” says Mr Dall.
