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.
Project Profile
Sector: Logistics and freight forwarding — Free Zone industrial Scale: 8,400 m² Scope: Full floor system specification, surface preparation, anti-static dissipative coating, demarcation lining, and cove detailing to loading bay interfaces Timeline: 22 working days, phased to maintain partial warehouse operations throughout
A regional logistics operator managing bonded freight within the Tema Free Zones enclave commissioned a complete floor system upgrade across their primary receiving, sorting, and dispatch hall. The facility operates under continuous throughput — palletised cargo, heavy forklift traffic, and time-critical turnaround cycles that leave no margin for floor system failure.
Specification Challenge
The existing concrete substrate had accumulated 18 years of operational stress: surface laitance, hairline cracking from thermal cycling, residual hydraulic oil contamination across forklift lanes, and uneven surface porosity from prior patch repairs. No single problem dominated — the compound condition of the substrate required a layered diagnostic approach before any coating specification could be responsibly fixed.
Beyond substrate condition, the operational brief imposed two further constraints. First, anti-static dissipation was non-negotiable: the facility handles electronics components in transit, and electrostatic discharge events represented a real cargo liability. Second, phased handover was required — the client could not surrender the full floor area simultaneously, requiring the installation team to work in coordinated zones while forklift and pallet jack operations continued in adjacent bays.
The Tema coastal humidity profile introduced an additional variable: ambient moisture during the curing window required active monitoring to prevent delamination risk at the primer-to-midcoat interface.
Approach
Preparation began with mechanical shot blasting across all bays, followed by localised crack injection and grinding of patch boundaries to re-establish substrate continuity. A moisture vapour assessment was conducted prior to each zone’s primer application, with readings logged and held within specification tolerance before coating progressed.
The system specified was a three-coat epoxy build: conductive primer to establish the dissipative ground plane, a pigmented anti-static midcoat applied at 300 µm, and a chemical-resistant polyurethane topcoat selected for abrasion resistance under loaded forklift tyre contact. Yellow and white demarcation lining — pedestrian lanes, bay boundaries, hazard zones, and emergency exit corridors — was applied as a final integrated layer rather than as a post-coat addition, embedding sightlines directly into the floor plane.
Cove details at loading bay skirting were formed in epoxy mortar, eliminating the debris and moisture traps that typically accumulate at slab-to-wall junctions in high-throughput logistics environments.
Phasing was executed in five sequential zones, each handed back within 48 hours of topcoat application — a cycle that sustained client operations without a single full-facility shutdown.
Outcome
- 8,400 m² delivered to specification across 22 working days
- Anti-static dissipation values confirmed within IEC 61340-4-1 compliance range at handover
- Zero delamination incidents recorded at final inspection across all zone interfaces
- Full demarcation network installed — pedestrian, forklift, and hazard zoning — to client safety brief
- Cove detailing completed at all loading bay interfaces, rated to facility cleaning protocol
What This Project Demonstrates
High-throughput logistics facilities present a distinct specification category: substrates that have absorbed years of chemical and mechanical stress, operational continuity requirements that preclude full shutdown, and compliance thresholds — anti-static, chemical resistance, load-bearing — that must be met simultaneously rather than traded off against one another.
This project established that performance epoxy, specified and installed with institutional rigour, can be delivered in phased sequence without compromising system integrity or client operations. It is a pattern that repeats across the Free Zones industrial corridor — and one that Epoxy GH has delivered, with specification-grade precision, since 1981.