In order to safeguard the Data Processing Center, Proyecto Q, of the Satander Group, CEMEX Mexico designed a fire- and explosion-resistant concrete. The decision to make Proyecto Q fire and explosion-resistant came after a risk analysis was performed, due to the building's close proximity to a gas station, which revealed vulnerabilities in the facility.
CEMEX was chosen to design the 204-meter long and 1.10-meter thick perimeter barrier that had a maximum height of 10.30 meters. The barrier is comprised of two 50- and 20-centimeter thick walls, separated by a 40-centimeter wide air chamber. CEMEX supplied 3,000 cubic meters of the specialized concrete.
The project underwent serious testing in Netherlands:
In order to certify CEMEX’s specialty concrete for the project, a full-scale prototype of the wall was built at the Efectis and TNO research centers in the Netherlands. The wall was subjected to physical fire tests, withstanding a temperature of 1150° C for more than 60 minutes, and to impact tests of a direct overpressure wave of 1.1 bars for 80 milliseconds. The success of these experiments met the demands stipulated in preliminary studies, and the performance of the wall was awarded certification from the Bureau Veritas rating company.
