Updated 2006.05.17
Over the past decade and more, Pavatile has developed many techniques to improve the durability and quality of its products. The test of time has proven that even in the early days, Pavatile's products were of an exceptionally high standard compared to similar-looking products in the market.
At the Foreshore
The picture below was taken in October 2005, a block away from the Cape Town International Convention Centre. This part of Cape Town has seen a high volume of pedestrian traffic over the years. When this section of pavement was laid some years ago, the installers obtained similar-looking concrete cobblestones from two different suppliers.
The cobblestones on the right are from Pavatile. Note how the passage of time and the scuffing of feet has improved the appearance of the undulating Lava surface. The product on the left was sourced from another manufacturer. The decorative undulating surface has been scuffed away completely, exposing the aggregate (stones) within a bland-looking concrete mix.
| Product composition ensures durability
 A Pavatile paving product consists of two layers, each with a different concrete mix formulation — a strong base layer of consisting of concrete, containing coarse aggregate and other ingredients, and a surface layer of concrete containing inorganic pigments and fine aggregate. The base layer has a supporting function, and depending on the project engineer's requirement, may be cast to an MPa specification which differs from that of the surface layer, which is specifically designed to resist abrasion.
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In Somerset West
Cobbles from another manufaturer were used in both pedestrian and vehicular traffic areas in heavily used areas near Somerset Mall. Within just a few years, all these products had to be removed and replaced by cobbles from Pavatile.
The reason for this was twofold.
Firstly, the design of the cobbles which were used originally were inappropriate to their intended use. Their domed surface was designed to create an aesthetic effect similar to that of certain cobbled areas in old Europe, where horses' hooves and wobbling cartwheels clattered loudly through villages. This design means that a small apex section of each cobble takes the full force of wheels (of shopping trolleys or vehicles), and the wobbly surface provides an unpleasant walking experience, made worse by high heels, wheelchairs and prams. (Another manufacturer of a similar domed cobble range has subsequently launched a new, flatter range to counter some of these problems, using Pavatile's usability criteria as a guideline in their own marketing.)
Secondly, the concrete mix design of the product originally used was not suited to this kind of traffic. By contrast, the composition of Pavatile's cobbles has been developed in consultation with leading concrete technology experts to ensure maximum engineering benefits.
Pavatile's products had been used with success for some years before in the main road, and are now specified by the local municipality for all cobbled road areas.
| Homeowners benefit from commercial product development expertise
Although domestic cobbled paving, such as driveways, is not subjected to the same intense stresses as commercial paving, Pavatile has used technologies developed for commercial products in the development of paving products aimed at homemakers. The EuroCobble 50 and EuroBlok 50 ranges have been specifically developed to provide durability within the domestic context, whilst also offering an array of module sizes and shapes (nearly 100 within these ranges alone) to accommodate advanced patterning and edging configurations. |
At Portswood Square
The extremely busy service lane and parking area next to this Waterfront office complex shows how two different types of cobbles have performed under the same conditions during the same time.
The cobbles on the left were domed cobbles. Abrasion has caused the top surface to be worn down completely, exposing the aggregates beneath; Pavatile's flattish cobbles on the right show some wear, but have maintained their swirled, slightly undulating surface texture.
In Buitengracht Street
 In this project, the installer mixed cobbles from Pavatile with those from another manufacturer, laying both in a traffic island running down this busy boulevard. The Pavatile cobbles (on the left in both pictures) were manufactured using light-fast inorganic pigments in the abrasion-resistant surface layer. These cobbles maintained both their surface texture and colour, while those adjacent faded and the surface texture was worn away.
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| Independent laboratory testing in Product Development and Quality Assurance
"You have an easy life," Pavatile's owner was once told. "You just pour cement into cupcakes and sell it at a massive profit." We all chuckled when we heard about this, knowing that if we were indeed to use a method as naïve as was suggested, within a few short years we would be able to boast a vast number of unhappy former customers!
The development of a new Pavatile product is a complex, 57 step process — that is, before it even comes to casting the "cupcakes". (Indeed, even the moulds for these "cupcakes" are manufactured from a specialised material developed by Pavatile to prevent warping which leads to inconsistently sized products.) Pavatile also engages the external consultants in concrete technology when developing new products which have special engineering requirements.
Regular strength tests are also conducted by independent laboratories to ensure that products emerging from the factory are of consistent integrity.
Engineers and civils contractors: Contact us to request a technical document explaining Pavatile's specialised double-layer casting method and its quality control method for product durability. |
At the V&A Waterfront
 The Waterfront is a benchmark area for cast concrete cobbles in South Africa, being one of the longest-used areas where this type of product has been installed, and with an exceptionally high traffic flow of heavy and light vehicles as well as pedestrians.
As the Waterfront was extended, Pavatile became one of the main suppliers, and through the years, installations of similar-looking products in new road sections were frequently replaced by Pavatile's more durable cobbles after after a year or two, having failed to withstand the compressive and abrasive stresses. Pavatile's heavy-duty 75 mm thick V&A Double Cobble has been further perfected over the years, and today it is widely used in commercial projects.
 In the early days of the project, Pavatile also developed special cobbles impregnated with traffic colours to form white, yellow and red traffic lines in cobbled road sections. These lines have maintained their integrity, while painted lines in other portions of the road have had to be repainted several times.
After more than a decade of constant pounding by traffic, even some of the Pavatile sections of road are in need of repair, and it's not difficult to guess what the engineers have specified. Pavatile's products were also recently used in several sections where it was not expedient to close the roads to traffic during installation. Here, Pavatile's new Personalised Delivery Service was able to bring cobbles to the point of installation, positioning palletloads next to traffic islands using its agile dismountable all-terrain forklift.
| Are Pavatile's durable cobbles suited to all road conditions?
No. Certain conditions are not favourable for the use of wet-cast paving products. In particular, steep roads and driveways require a type of traction best afforded by tar or by dry-press concrete interlockers. Another uncommon yet noteworthy situation where such products should not be used, is at stop-start areas frequented by heavy vehicles on a moderate gradient. The push-away motion of the tyres causes a specific type of abrasion to which the decorative surface texture is not resistant. Dry-press pavers do not have a decorative surface texture and thus signs of abrasion are not apparent.
 The picture shows how grouting lines have shifted as a result of a combination of poor sub-surface preparation and the inappropriate use of wet-cast paving products next to a pedestrian crossing on a slope. Being chamfered due to demoulding requirements, wet-cast paving products do not naturally lock together, and are therefore not recommended for such conditions.
What about pavements?
Pavatile's high MPa cobbles can be used for pavements — find out about the special requirements.
It is worth noting that wet-cast paving products exhibit discolouration and other forms of surface deterioration if subjected to "water torture", i.e. by constant exposure to water containing dissolved solids and/or a low pH. Exposure areas include pavements beneath air-conditioners (typically next to large buildings), or around large planter pots with drainage holes. |
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