Welded Wiremesh, or “BRC Fabric”, is a pre-fabricated steel reinforcement material manufactured from cold reduced, deformed, high yield strength steel wire rod, electronically welded into flat sheets with square or rectangular grid patterns. The automatic electronic welding process assures uniform spacing of wires and consistent cross-sectional areas.
BRC Fabric provides designers, engineers and contractors with an established, convenient and economical reinforcement for modern concrete structures.
Typical Applications
BRC Fabric is especially suitable for the reinforcement of concrete floors (including flat plates), roofs, walls, footings, retaining walls, swimming pools, tanks, roads, pavements, pre-cast concrete components and for the encasing and fireproofing of structural steelwork.
Standard Series
BRC Welded Wiremesh complies with the requirements of the Barbados National Standard Institute document BNS150:1990, which is equivalent to British Standards Institution document BS4483:1995. The three types of mesh fabricated are as follows:
“A” Series: Square Mesh Fabric with wires at 200mm spacing. These are ideal for short, two-way suspended slabs and pavements or canal linings.
“B” Series: Rectangular Short Mesh Fabrics with main wire spacing of 100mm and cross wire spacing of 200mm. This series is normally used for suspended slabs and similar applications.
“C” Series: Rectangular ‘Long Mesh’ fabrics with main wire spacing of 100mm and a very light cross wire spacing at 400mm centres. These fabrics are useful in long-span two-way suspended slabs and road pavements.
The reference number used in the BNSI standard gives the type as above, A, B, or C, followed by the cross-sectional area of the main wire (in mm2/m width of fabric.) e.g. Ref. A142
BRC also manufactures fabrics other than those listed in the BNSI document. Metric is the preferred measurement unit system.
Specifications for Sheets – Standard Sheet Size 4.8m x 2.0m
| Main Wire | Cross Wire | Cross Sectional Area | Weight Per Unit Area | |||||
| Ref. No. | Size | Spacing | Size | Spacing | Main | Cross | ||
| (mm) | (mm) | (mm) | (mm) | mm2/m | mm2/m | kg/m2 | lb/yd2 | |
| SQUARE MESHES | ||||||||
| A565 | 12 | 200 | 12 | 200 | 565 | 565 | 8.88 | 16.38 |
| A393 | 10 | 200 | 10 | 200 | 393 | 393 | 6.16 | 11.35 |
| A252 | 8 | 200 | 8 | 200 | 252 | 252 | 3.95 | 7.28 |
| A193 | 7 | 200 | 7 | 200 | 193 | 193 | 3.02 | 5.57 |
| A142 | 6 | 200 | 6 | 200 | 142 | 142 | 2.22 | 4.09 |
| A98 | 5 | 200 | 5 | 200 | 98 | 98 | 1.54 | 2.84 |
| A63 | 4 | 200 | 4 | 200 | 63 | 63 | 0.99 | 1.82 |
| STRUCTURAL MESHES | ||||||||
| B785** | 10 | 100 | 8 | 200 | 785 | 252 | 8.14 | 15 |
| B503** | 8 | 100 | 8 | 200 | 503 | 252 | 5.93 | 10.93 |
| B385** | 7 | 100 | 7 | 200 | 385 | 193 | 4.53 | 8.35 |
| B283** | 6 | 100 | 7 | 200 | 283 | 193 | 3.73 | 6.88 |
| B196** | 5 | 100 | 7 | 200 | 196 | 193 | 3.05 | 5.62 |
| LONG MESHES | ||||||||
| C785** | 10 | 100 | 6 | 400 | 785 | 70.8 | 6.72 | 12.39 |
| C636** | 9 | 100 | 6 | 400 | 636 | 70.8 | 5.55 | 10.23 |
| C503** | 8 | 100 | 5 | 400 | 503 | 49 | 4.34 | 7.96 |
| C385** | 7 | 100 | 5 | 400 | 385 | 49 | 3.41 | 6.29 |
| C283** | 6 | 100 | 5 | 400 | 283 | 49 | 2.61 | 4.81 |
| WRAPPING FABRIC | ||||||||
| D98 | 5 | 200 | 5 | 200 | 98 | 98 | 1.54 | 2.84 |
| ** Non-stock items | ||||||||
Special Fabrics
Where standard Fabrics do not meet a particular design requirement, BRC SPECIAL FABRICS can be specially fabricated. The use of special fabrics usually eliminates the cutting of Fabric onsite and saves time and costly waste. Cross sectional areas and design designations can be viewed on Pages 3 and 4 of the BRC Product Catalogue. Consider the following Design Guidelines:
Possible wire spacings are limited by the machine design: longitudinal wires must be spaced in multiples of 50mm or 75mm, and cross wires in multiples of 25mm.
Variation in sheet length is comparatively easily achieved. There are however limits on the diameter of longitudinal and cross wires that can be used.
Proposed special fabrics should be discussed with a senior BRC representative to confirm that they can be manufactured before being incorporated into a design.