Formwork giants form close ties to meet demands of complex designs

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Formwork is no longer ‘one size fits all’. Suppliers must create solutions that match the design needs of each development.

Offering bespoke solutions to contractors and developers is one of the latest trends to emerge in the formwork market. With building design straining to deliver unique and stand-out projects, contractors are having to pursue more innovative and one-off solutions to match building designs.

German formwork company Peri was required to implement a novel solution for its work on the Almas Tower, located in Jumeirah Lake Towers in Dubai. The company engineered a special lifting fork for the project, a 65-storey tower, which is due for completion in mid-2007.

Oliver Weiss, technical manager, Peri says: "Normally the lifting forks are used for one or two levels of formwork, but in this case it was for three levels. At the same time, a special lifting fork was designed for the perimeter beams. These were specially designed so that as the side shutters are lifted and the beams are supported." Furthermore, he adds, the formwork was designed so that the pre-cast slabs could be installed at a fast pace. Then, during striking, instead of dismantling the system piece by piece, the shutter is just tilted away from the beam, before the whole table is removed with the special lifting fork. "It was actually the reason why we won the contract," Weiss says.

Such requirements from the contractors means that communication between the two parties is paramount to overcome any potential pitfalls in the construction process further down the line.

Weiss is also aware there has been a distinct shift towards a more ‘one-off' nature of formwork contracting. "This is something we have realised. We have noticed that contractors are approaching us because of the special solutions required. It isn't happening too much yet, but the trend is pointing upwards I would say."

One further trend is also the proliferation of self-climbing systems, which is not a new technology as such, but is becoming more prominent due to the short construction periods being adhered to. A further example of innovative design is Peri's work with ALEC, which is working on Emaar's Dubai Marina Mall. This is a large-scale construction project, covering 150,000 m², which also features the Dubai Marina Mall Hotel and Dubai Marina Serviced Apartments.

The scale and design of this project again required a novel approach between formwork company and contractor, as Wayne Randall, commercial manager, ALEC explains: "The project itself is large scale; there are a lot of circular elements to it. One of the main features of the job was a transfer girder that spanned 24m, was 10m in depth and 48m off the ground, which has probably never been done in the UAE. That took $380,000 of formwork from Peri," he adds.

As this post-tensioned beam was to be poured with self-compacting concrete, a lot of attention was paid to its strength. This involved a lot of up-front engineering with Peri and a third-party to structurally assess the work. "Because self-compacting concrete doesn't have the same consistency as normal concrete, we had so much post-tensioning and reinforcing within the beam itself - to put conventional concrete in just doesn't work," Randall adds. Therefore, a number of off-site tests were carried out on the concrete and formwork before carrying the work out in situ.

While Weiss sees the increased construction times resulting in greater use of self-climbing systems, Randall believes the next trend will see companies setting up their own formwork divisions. "With a company that is growing, you have to have control of your own materials," he says. "To have a mix of materials is not ideal. We have decided as a group that Peri is our strategic partner as they have the back-up engineering wise and the know-how.

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