Newmarket Rail Station

Project:	Newmarket Railway Station
Client:	Ontrack - Auckland City Council
Contractor:	Clearwater Construction
Location:	Remuera Road - Newmarket
Date:	October - December 2009
Brief:	Form groove for non slip strip in stair treads

The recently opened Newmarket Railway Station is the centrepiece for the newly refurbished Auckland rail network.
Ground concrete pavers will cover the public walkways and stairs creating an attractive durable pavement that will last many years.

The scope of work Lowery undertook included:
• The cutting of 316 grooves 42mm wide x 3mm deep x 600mm long.

In order to provide a non-slip finish and a visual cue to the stairs, a black strip needed to be fitted into the treads.

Cutting 42mm wide in one pass was deemed impractical (though not impossible) due to the shallow depth of cut and possible deflection. Instead the stair treads were cut in two passes using a 24mm wide blade cutting the full 3mm. Two treads were cut at a time one first cutting, the other finishing to size. The slabs were then moved over and a new one commenced.

Lowery have a saw bench specifically designed to accept one of our wall saws for such jobbing works. Alignment of the cuts is critical in these cases and an accurate machine combined with a jig and tool design background ensured a satisfactory outcome that will endure for years to come.