Roman Stone Construction, based in Bay Shore, New York, is introducing MiniBars, a next-generation reinforcement product made from basalt fibre reinforced macro-fibres to the US precast concrete industry, via a partership with RockFiber, of Houston Texas.

MiniBars are engineered to replace or reduce traditional steel reinforcements, offering a non-corrosive, lightweight and sustainable alternative. Designed to mix evenly throughout concrete, they provide uniform reinforcement and deliver exceptional post-crack strength, impact resistance and fatigue durability, without the drawbacks of other macro-fibres.

For contractors and municipalities, the benefits are immediate, inclusing strength and durability without rust. MiniBars deliver four times the strength of conventional rebar at just 30% the weight and flood the concrete matrix, delivering strength and ductility throughout while being immune to corrosion, ensuring longer service life in harsh environments such as marine, wastewater and de-icing salt exposure.

In addition, they eliminate the need for rebar cages, saving labour and fabrication time while enabling thinner, lighter precast units.

The precast products arrive crack-free, withstand long-distance shipping and provide superior structural integrity under load.

“By bringing MiniBars to our precast portfolio, Roman Stone is giving the industry a smarter, faster and more durable way to build,” said Daniel Murray president and CEO of Roman Stone. “The addition of this novel reinforcement gives us the ability to streamline our manufacturing processes and allows us to offer a more sustainable and durable product for our customers far beyond a traditional precast product. Through our extensive engineering and testing, we proved that the performance of the MiniBars allows us to develop, engineer and launch new products in a fraction of the time compared to traditional product development.”

Rock Fiber is pioneering the development and commercialisation of emissions-free basalt fibre technologies for concrete reinforcement and composite applications. Through its joint venture, ReforceTech Americas (RFTA), it is bringing European-proven solutions such as MiniBars to the North and Latin American markets. MiniBars is a trademark of ReforceTech of Norway.

www.rockfiber.com

www.romanstoneco.com