Downers Construction contracted Jagas Precast & Pavers to create pre-cast concrete stairs for the Brittomart expansion project, as part of the Auckland City Rail Link build.

At 3.4m wide, the staircase is the widest that Jagas has precast treads for to date. As with any custom design job, tailor made moulds were specially created to cast the concrete stair treads. The concrete stair treads each needed to have a 100 mm x 100 mm hole cast through the center of each end, for the hand rail fixing to be slid through.

Jagas General Manager, Warwick Smith always enjoys a new design challenge. He says “I love the flexibility of the design of concrete treads bolted to a steel stringer. It makes assembly so quick and easy – just like putting lego together.”

A mix of 45 mpa concrete was used for the stairs, batch mixed in the Jagas workshop. Being a high use pedestrian area, the stairs were finished with a a 65 grit diamond to give added slip resistance – and the timeless aesthetic appeal of honed concrete.

The large precast concrete treads are heavy to man-handle. Downers had to remove the louvers from the railway station’s ventilation shaft and lower the stair treads by crane through a very tight gap.

The steps were then fixed in place with bolts which slid easily into the stainless steel threads Jagas had cast into the concrete treads.

As always, if your architectural design project calls for tailor made custom concrete components, Jagas are New Zealand’s number one company for one of a kind, high end precast concrete. We can build custom molds, create custom concrete mixes, and will work to meet any out-of-the-box architect specifications.

You can find out more about the CRL Project here, or watch this video to see how journey times will be cut, and more trains will be available.