Making slippy tiles grippy tiles

Following a successful trial of sandblasting and resealing to make Whangarei’s Central Business District pavers less slippery, work has begun on the rest of the pavers in the CBD.

WDC road Maintenance Engineer Mike Batchelor said tests on the pavers that were sand blasted and sealed in March year showed they were still very grippy and had maintained their grip factor, or roughness, over the past 12 months.

“One of the effects of sandblasting the glazing from the tile was to make them more porous, so more inclined to discolour. Sealing them and giving them a weekly scrub has reduced that problem.

Mr Batchelor said the sandblasting was taking place in the evenings after shop hours.

“We have had a couple of complaints from two restaurants about disruption, and we will be working through the issues with them – to see if times can be switched around. We want to make this as easy as possible for everyone.

“We may decide to complete some of the work during the day, but only if we can ensure that it doesn’t affect businesses or pedestrian access,” he said.

“The wet blasting process will generate some dust, so all gaps around openings into buildings will be taped up and the site will be tidied up each evening.

“We expect to have completed all the pavers throughout the CBD in about 8 weeks time,” Mr Batchelor said.

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