Logistics Warehouse — Free Zones Tema
Port-adjacent logistics warehouse commission requiring 5000 sqm FF50 self-levelling epoxy with polyurethane topcoat for sustained 10-tonne forklift traffic. Epoxy Flooring Ghana coordinated phased installation against active logistics operations with documented 10-year warranty.
Project Profile
Sector: Logistics and Warehousing — Free Zones, Tema Industrial Corridor Scale: 8,400 m² Scope: Full structural substrate assessment, joint preparation, broadcast anti-static epoxy base coat, high-build polyurethane-epoxy wear layer, demarcation line marking to OSHA-aligned layout, cove skirting to racking bays Timeline: 22 working days, phased to accommodate live inbound freight operations
A multinational logistics operator managing bonded warehousing and last-mile distribution within the Tema Free Zones enclave required a performance-engineered floor system capable of sustaining continuous heavy-forklift traffic, chemical-resistant washdown protocols, and statutory safety demarcation — all without halting the facility’s inbound freight cycle.
Specification Challenge
Free Zones logistics environments impose compounding stresses that standard industrial coatings cannot address in isolation. The existing concrete slab exhibited differential settlement at three forklift corridor intersections, creating surface undulation that would accelerate delamination in any conventional epoxy overlay. Moisture vapour transmission readings across the slab averaged 4.2 kg/m²/24h — a threshold that eliminates off-the-shelf moisture barriers without custom primer formulation.
Beyond substrate pathology, the client’s operational covenant with the Free Zones Authority mandated zero full-facility shutdowns. Every square metre of floor had to be returned to forklift service within defined shift windows, meaning installation sequencing required precision-mapped zone logic and cure-schedule engineering to hold within the live-operations constraint.
Anti-static performance was a further non-negotiable: the facility stores electronic components in bonded transit, and electrostatic discharge events carry both product-loss and regulatory consequences.
Approach
Specification began with a slab survey covering moisture mapping, tensile pull-off testing, and crack-width documentation across the full 8,400 m². Differential settlement zones were diamond-ground and filled with a rigid polyurea crack-arrest compound before any coating work commenced.
A two-component epoxy moisture-mitigating primer, formulated for slabs reading above 3.5 kg/m²/24h, was applied at 250 µm DFT across all zones. This was followed by the anti-static conductive base coat — a carbon-path system maintaining surface resistivity within the 10⁵–10⁸ Ω range — and a high-build polyurethane-epoxy hybrid wear layer applied at 3 mm system thickness. The wear layer was selected for its combined abrasion resistance (Taber CS-17: 42 mg/1000 cycles) and resistance to diesel, hydraulic fluid, and alkaline washdown chemistry.
Demarcation marking — pedestrian lanes, forklift corridors, rack-bay boundaries, and emergency-exit indicators — was applied in solvent-free lane-marking epoxy, colour-coded to the client’s internal logistics protocol.
Installation proceeded across six sequenced zones, with each zone exiting the 24-hour cure window before forklift re-entry, preserving live freight operations throughout.
Outcome
- 8,400 m² delivered within a 22-day programme, zero operational shutdowns recorded
- Surface resistivity confirmed within specification on third-party post-installation test
- Zero delamination incidents at 18-month post-completion inspection
- Washdown cycle compatibility confirmed across both alkaline and neutral detergent regimes
- Demarcation geometry accepted on first Free Zones Authority inspection, with no remedial line work required
What This Project Demonstrates
High-throughput bonded warehousing within Ghana’s Free Zones corridor represents one of the most technically demanding flooring environments on the industrial spectrum — combining heavy-wheeled traffic loads, chemical exposure, electrostatic risk, and zero-shutdown operational covenants. This project demonstrates that each of those constraints is addressable through methodical substrate investigation, system selection calibrated to actual site readings, and installation sequencing engineered around the client’s operational calendar rather than the contractor’s convenience. Facilities that cannot afford floor failure require floors that are specified never to fail.