Concrete roads – coloured black with a Bayferrox inorganic pigment imported from Germany-based iron oxide pigments manufacturer Lanxess – were selected above asphalt or other alternative road surfaces for the extensive road network in the new R220-million Sunward Lifestyle Centre shopping complex in Boksburg, in March.

Bayferrox pigments are imported by chemical solutions provider Chryso Southern Africa, which is the sole distributor of the Bayferrox range of pigments to the Southern African construction industry.

Chryso Southern Africa technical sales representative Dumaine Els says the developers of the upmarket and strategically situated new convenience and lifestyle shopping facility, Netrac Investments, had no hesitation in opting for concrete roads to handle the heavy vehicular traffic expected to visit the 27 stores spread over 17 000 m2 on the corner of Kingfisher and Trichard roads. The roads inside the shopping centre grounds lead to over 1 000 parking bays constructed from interlocking concrete blocks without pigmentation.

“The developers were seeking the exceptional durability and long life that concrete roads can provide for a shopping complex that has over 340 000 people living in its catchment area and, therefore, can expect to carry far above normal vehicular traffic. Bayferrox 330 black pigment was selected so that future tyre marks and oil spills on the dark concrete surfaces would not be too conspicuous,” Els explains.

A dosage of 16.6 kg Bayferrox pigmentation for every cubic metre of concrete was used for the mix of the concrete roads at the Sunward Lifestyle Centre. In total, 47 t of pigments were used to achieve the required black shading of the roads constructed by main contractor, Boksburg-based renovations company Mikon Construction.

The mix for the 3 000 m3 of pigmented concrete used to construct the roads were designed by concrete producer AfriSam’s technical department and supplied from the company’s Wadeville operations. AfriSam team production leader in charge of the concrete requirements for the project Matthews Setlhodi says 80 m3 to 100 m3 of ready-mix concrete was delivered daily to the Sunward Lifestyle Centre construction site by AfriSam over a period of about eight months. “Roughly 500 concrete mixer loads were required for the road building,” he adds.

Based in Krefeld, north-west of Düsseldorf, Lanxess manufactures Bayferrox 330 pigment using the 85-year-old Laux Process, which offers high quality and application advantages, such as colour intensity and colour consistency. The patented production method involves controlled oxidation of iron in a two-stage process.

“Bayferrox pigments are weather- stable, light-fast, and nontoxic or irritating to the skin or mucous membranes. In line with the Chryso Southern Africa Group’s emphatic move towards dustless product technology, the free-flowing iron oxide pigmentation is supplied in granular form, which is virtually dustless,” Els notes.

Following training provided by Lanxess in Germany a few years ago, Chryso Southern Africa installed a colour laboratory at its head office in Jet Park, which can measure the colour strengths of pigmentation and provide customers with specifications to colour match available concrete masonry production lines.

Large quantities of Bayferrox 330 black pigmentation were also used recently to conceal spillage staining on the bunded concrete areas surrounding the fuel storage tanks on Transnet’s new Multi-Product Pipeline project, which runs between Durban and Heidelberg to Gauteng.