Paving: Introduction
South African National Standard for concrete paving bricks explained The South African National standard for concrete paving blocks is SANS 1058: 2012. Bosun’s factories in Midrand, Brits and PE are amongst the first manufacturers of concrete paving blocks to be awarded the SANS 1058: 2012 mark. All our factories manufacture products according to the required specifications and product guarantees are based on them. Bosun kerbs and retaining wall blocks also comply with the South African National Standard as tested by the CMACS and other independent accreditation bodies.
What does it mean if paving blocks comply with the National Standard? • The manufacturer has an equipped laboratory and tests batches of manufactured blocks. • Blocks comply with strength specifications which are tested by means of tensile splitting. • Blocks comply with abrasive resistance specifications. TThis means that they are only permitted a specified amount of “damage” due to friction. • Blocks are permitted only minimal dimensional variances. • The visual quality of the blocks must be acceptable. A customer has recourse if necessary when it comes to the quality of paving blocks.
The fully equipped testing facility at Bosun Midrand. (All Bosun branches have fully equipped testing facilities.)
Bosun is a proud member of the Concrete Manufacturers Association, the American Interlocking Concrete Pavement Institute (ICPI) and the American National Concrete Masonry Association (NCMA). The principles of the design and installation of segmented paving, kerbs and retaining walls are greatly standardised across the world and the American associations did a sterling job in creating technical specifications, design manuals and training courses based on these principles. Bosun is committed to sharing the knowledge gained from these associations with our local market. In fact, much of the technical material purchased by Bosun is available to our customers through our website, free of charge. (www.bosun.co.za) Good infrastructure is expensive but it lasts a lifetime, is reliable, and allows society to develop on the back of it.
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