Luge, bobsled track at Winter Olympics slides to exciting finish with Canadian hemp content
Calgary-based company sent more than 27,000 kilograms of its hemp fibres to China for the construction of the track
It’s been a bit of a wait, but hemp-processing technologies company Canadian Greenfield Technologies Corp. can enjoy the Beijing Winter Olympics knowing that its NForce-Fiber product is lining parts of the luge and bobsled tracks in China.
Men’s luge events kicked off Feb. 5, and the women have their first heats starting Feb. 7. As for bobsled events, they’re scheduled to begin on Feb. 10.
According to Marijuana Business Daily, the Calgary-based company sent more than 27,000 kilograms of its hemp fibres product to be used instead of plastic fibres. The company provides hemp fibres for outdoor construction projects that use sprayed concrete, commonly called shotcrete, and sometimes used in outdoor pools and skate parks, the publication reports.
In a statement almost four years ago, the company announced that it had been specified for the Beijing Olympics “by an international team of engineering and construction experts.” The first shipment of the product was set to be sent in mid-May 2018, Canadian Greenfield Technologies reported at the time.
NForce-Fibre is being used at the games as a concrete strengthener during concrete construction of the bobsled and luge track. The company claims the product helps, among other things, mitigate plastic shrinkage cracking, improve flexural strength, better surface finish and is sustainable.
In its statement, the company noted the product “demonstrated its high performance in numerous applications requiring concrete with superior integrity and surface quality.”
The company notes on its website the product “has been proven far superior in performance to plastic and glass fibre in concrete. This performance is driving its demand, successfully replacing plastic and glass fibre in high-value concrete construction” and most shotcrete projects that require higher concrete integrity.
The American Concrete Institute notes that “although the hardened properties of shotcrete are similar to those of conventional cast-in-place concrete, the nature of the placement process results in an excellent bond with most substrates, and rapid or instant capabilities, particularly on complex forms or shapes.”
The promise of hemp was apparently high enough to attract interest, with Canadian Greenfield Technologies announcing earlier in February that its Hemp Products Division “has been acquired by a business group comprised of prominent businessmen with a distinguished history of success in the cannabis industry.”
“It is essential for hemp businesses to aim at high-value, mass markets, and away from low-value commodities, to build a successful hemp industry in the current world,” the announcement notes.
Per MJBiz, the newly formed HempAlta is also based in Calgary and is led by former Inner Spirit Holdings CEO Darren Bondar.
