Steeling a march 
on concrete

Mladen PetrovModern structures cannot exist without steel – and warehousing is no exception. But concrete – which still rules the roost in warehouse construction – can be replaced by steel, with its variety of advantages, including greater fire safety It is a material which can be used for almost any purpose and can be recycled; even a warehouse assembled from it can be dismantled and turned into motorcars. It is environmentally-friendly and when everything has to be completed “yesterday”, it speeds up the construction process. We are, of course, talking about steel. The warehouse industry has two clearly distinct philosophies – the pro-concrete and the pro-steel, with the first still taking pride of place. Marta Dziarnowska, Central Europe director of Arcelor Mittal, comes down firmly on the side of steel: “Unit cost is not the most important thing. You have to remember that the