Traditional Floor Systems

In traditionally built ice arenas the secondary cooling circuit (the ice floor) is usually constructed within a concrete base using steel or plastic pipes. Steel is the most favourable pipe in this type of system due to its longevity, slow corrosion, thermal conductivity and rigidity. Whilst this method of construction is by far the most expensive, you would expect to see a floor lasting up to 20 years or more, and in most cases, outliving the primary refrigeration circuit (the chiller plant).

Concrete floor systems are popular in large ice arenas, particularly those hosting other events where the ice sheet is either removed or covered to accommodate other events and particularly where heavy vehicle movement is anticipated.

A well designed concrete floor system will incorporate a heater floor located beneath an insulated layer under the cooling circuit, an ice dam around the perimeter to house the dasher boards and an accessible header trench which accommodates the main header pipes. In recent years, due to increased use of ice arenas for other events and short turn-around times, separate dam systems have been introduced to expedite the removal and replacement of dasher boards.

Ice Tech UK have many years experience in the design and construction of traditional floor systems.