Re: Enginehouse Floors

The aluminum rolling mill where I work has floors made with the wood blocks that Jim describes. With over a quarter square mile under roof, that is a lot of blocks. Heavy rainstorms that over flow roof drains raise havoc with the wood block floors. They swell up into bulges that sometimes get to be several feet high before they collapse into a pile of soggy blocks. The blocks are impregnated with a creosote-like material that does indeed make them dense. They also raise cain with the sewer system when they reach the outfalls and clog up the lift station pumps. In recent years, in some areas prone to water damage (in the winter, metal trailers, racks and skids come in from outside storage with snow that melts off), the wood blocks have been replaced with an asphalt cinder block. The main reason for the block surface here is the high volume and weight of traffic would soon wear a normal concrete surface down. The blocks are cheaper to replace.