Another world record was produced by Azzurri Concrete, a company from Moorebank, NSW Australia, for producing a huge 523,000 square foot Laser Screed floor that had 98 ft wide bays. Azzurri’s floor this year measured FF 109.9 and FL 112.5. That is phenomenal to be able to do this for over half-a-million square feet of floor. On top of that, the concrete contained 20kg/m3 of 4D steel fibers. When you look at F-Numbers of floors, a very high FF Number means that the floor is very flat. A very high FL Number means that the floor is very level. With the world’s best floors, sometimes one floor has a really good FF Number and a more or less average FL Number, and another floor has an average FF Number but a really great FL Number. If you add the FF Number plus the FL Number, you can get a sort of “composite” number that combines both Flatness and Levelness, making it easy to compare them. The sum for the 2007 world record in this category was 153. The sum for Azzurri Concrete’s floor is 222.4. We’ve come a long way, baby! There are many great concrete floor companies using Laser Screeds nowadays, so this category is one of the hardest ones to win. Although Azzurri has competed in the Golden Trowel contest in the past, this was their first win.

Pyman Latinoamerica, from Panama, won with their first-ever application for a Golden Trowel in the Large Laser Screed category (over 100,000 sf.). This was for a project in Costa Rica, a floor of 112,000 sf, with an FF of 98.4 and an FL of 99.3. They used a Somero S-15R. While this is not a world record, there have only been three other floors in this category that had better F-Numbers.

Miron Construction, from Neenah WI, built a 63,000 sf floor using a Somero S-15, with 58-ft wide bays. Although not a world record for this category, it is the 7th best such floor ever recorded, with an FF of 110.5 and an FL of 112.7, for a total score of 223.2.

G.J. Shaw teamed with KB Concrete of Bucyrus, KS to make this very small Laser Screed project using a
Somero SXP. The combined FL+FL was a stunning 248. G.J. Shaw has now won a total of five Golden Trowels

Producing concrete floor surfaces for ice rinks is always a challenge. The concrete is placed over multiple layers of Styrofoam insulation and over cooling pipes that will create the ice surface above the concrete. This year, D.J. Rossetti, Inc, from Ballston Spa, NY produced an NHL-sized ice rink using a Somero S-840 that measured FF 85.5 / FL 67.2. There have been ice rinks with higher FF Numbers, and other ice rinks with better FL Numbers, but there has never been an NHL sized rink produced with a higher combined score of FF + FL. This is Rossetti’s 6th Golden Trowel award, and their 5th in ice rinks.

Here’s proof that the Golden Trowel Asia is promoting excellence: Chengdu Keyixin Technology Company, from Chengdu, Sichuan, China, won a Golden Trowel Asia last year, and this year they produced a 14,628-sf floor in Pengzhou, China using a Somero Copperhead that won a Golden Trowel in the worldwide contest! The F-Numbers of FF 117 / FL 119 are great for any category, but are especially noteworthy here since the floor was produced with a small walk-behind Laser Screed (Copperhead) in 58 ft wide bays and they used both 7 Kg/m2 Dry Shake and 45 Kg/m3 steel fibers.

Alphapiso is no stranger to the Golden Trowel contest, having won a total of 12 Golden Trowel awards in the
past 8 years, including this one. Of these 12 awards, 3 were world records!

Though not a world record, this is the 8th best ever recorded in this category, not bad at all for their first
Golden Trowel award!

Florida Concrete Unlimited, from Miami, produced an Fmin Laser Screed floor with more than 140,000 sf of floor surface with 40-ft wide placements. This floor was unique in that for project schedule reasons, they used two Somero S-22 EZ screeds facing each other to be able to get the widest possible bay done in the minimum amount of time. The aisles were nearly 500 ft long, and what’s more, the concrete was for a freezer, so it had to be placed over insulation. The Fmin Numbers were Longitudinal Levelness, Fmin 126.7; Longitudinal Flatness, Fmin 119.1; Transverse Levelness, Fmin 105.2, and Transverse Flatness Fmin 107.5. The average Fmin was 114.6.

The average Fmin was 131.7. Each aisle was 235 ft long. They used a Somero S-22 EZ to win this, their third
Golden Trowel.

This is their first Award. This would have been a Golden Trowel and a world record for them, except for
George J Shaw’s even higher world record

Full-Tilt Constructors, of Sanford, Florida, seems to specialize in super-large and ultra-large 96-ft wide Laser Screed floors. This year they produced a floor with an FF of 96.9 and FL of 78.5, with a combined score of 175.4. These are great numbers for any size floor, but this floor is just short of a million square feet. It is very hard to keep making superior quality floors day after day; this is an example of how it can be done if you are among the best in the business. They used two Somero S-22 EZs. This floor would have won a Golden Trowel, and is one of the best ever in this category, except that they produced the floor this year, when Azzurri produced their world record. This is Full-Tilt’s fourth Award.

In the Ice Rink over Styrofoam category, Thompson Concrete, from Carroll, OH produced an NHL sized ice rink that measured FF 65.5, FL 85.3. This would have been the third highest overall F-Numbers and would have won a Golden Trowel, except for the rink produced by Rossetti this year. Thompson Concrete’s rink has in fact the highest FL Number for a floor of this kind, so they are being awarded the Silver Trowel in this category. This is their 2nd Award.

Higher FF- lower FL than Chendu Keyixin. Since the total scores were nearly the same, the judge awarded both Concrete strategies and Chengdu a Keyixin Silver Trowel. Concrete Strategies used a Somero S-22 EZ

In addition to their Golden Trowel at Pengzhou, China, Chengdu Keyixin also produced a large, wide, Laser Screed Large floor at the Tianfu Airport Cargo Area that measured FF 93.7, FL 95.2 for a total of 188.9. Their FL Numbers were higher than the world records of 2012, 2016, and 2017, but it could not quite match the floor produced by Pyman this year, so they are awarded the Silver Trowel in this category. They used a Somero S-15R.

Chengdu Keyixin also produced a small, wide, Laser screed floor at the Sichuan Airlines Warehouse that measured FF 109.1 and FL 101.1. This included 30 Kg/m3 steel fibers. They again used their Somero S-15R. When the judges were considering who should get second place behind Miron Construction in the small Laser Screed category, they had a hard time deciding between Chengdu Keyixin and Concrete Strategies, LLC, out of St. Louis, because although Chengdu Keyixin had an FF of over 109, Concrete Strategies had a whopping FF 119.5. However, Chengdu Keyixin had a great FL that is over 101, and Concrete Strategies had an FL of only 86.8. Since the total scores were nearly the same, the judges have awarded both Chengdu Keyixin and Concrete Strategies Silver Trowels. Concrete Strategies used a Somero S-22 EZ.