The construction industry has developed speedily with the commencement of modern technology.
Nowadays, plans and designs of large structures are created using a computer, which has improved the pace, effectiveness and safety of construction and substantially lowered costs alongside. Moreover, construction materials used these days are far more robust and lasting than those used even a short while ago, helping us to construct safer and more practical structures. When you need scaffolding equipment, parts and accessories, visit the established scaffold company near you.
To suit different purposes, different kinds of formwork are available; nevertheless, each of them serves as a mould into which concrete is dispensed, which consequently solidifies into the shape that has been crafted. These days, an array of formwork types is being used in construction. Depending on the kind of structure being built and the project’s budget – accordingly, a suitable formwork is used for construction.
Raj Lakhani, MD, PERI (India), says, “Recently, PERI introduced three new system in India i.e. PERI ALPHADECK, HANDSET Alpha and PERI UP MI to adapt the Indian construction requirements. PERI ALPHADECK is the modular aluminium slab formwork system with economic and faster cycle times. PERI HANDSET Alpha is a modular panel formwork system suited for walls and column applications, while PERI UP MI is an innovative solution among the steel shoring and scaffolding systems and stands for quick and simple assembly.”
PERI ALPHADECK allows for fast as well as safe forming operations with a systematic assembly sequence. The unique design of the system offers safe and confident erection from level below. It also ensures easier de-shuttering of panels, while the props remain undisturbed. HANDSET Alpha provides the highest flexibility in the construction of walls and different sizes of columns with optimal material utilization and easy handling by only two people. The system meets all requirements with infills up to 30cm, 90º internal and external corners, T-junctions and stop-ends.
PERI India has been growing its footprints in real estate & infrastructure sector in India. With landmark Infrastructure projects such as Mahatma Mandir, Statue of Unity, Agra-Lucknow Expressway, Hyderabad Metro, Mumbai Metro, Bengaluru metro, Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL), Lucknow metro, Trichy airport, Pune airport using our state-of-art formwork and scaffolding system, we have proved our mettle in delivering customized solutions for every complex need in a cost effective manner.
Another complex project
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN is the biggest particle accelerator in the world – and growing: to equip the LHC for new, more ambitious experiments in the next decade, the accelerator is currently being upgraded. Doka developed three different formwork carriages and numerous special formworks to help build the tunnel system required for the upgrade.
The building work is being done during a planned two-year maintenance shutdown of the accelerator since vibrations during operation of the LHC could affect the experiments. The specialist in conventional and mechanical tunnel advance, Marti Tunnel AG, has built a custom steel formwork carriage for the 300m main tunnel. For the formwork for the cross passages, connecting components and stairwells, however, the Marti Tunnel specialists called in Doka’s expertise. The formwork engineers developing these solutions scored points partly thanks to the international cooperation between the engineering teams at Doka’s branches in Zurich and Bern and the tunnel experts in Amstetten.
At CERN, though, the construction site team faced rather different challenges. Natalie Schweizer explains: “We faced a special challenge when it came to coordinating and planning each construction stage, the construction process and the materials, machines, and human resources available.” What made this site particularly challenging was that, although usually there is access at both sides of a tunnel, at CERN the access was constructed as a 60m deep shaft with a diameter of 12 m. It’s not just the tunnel spoil and 17,800 m3 of in-situ concrete that have to pass through this one bottleneck – the tunnel formwork carriages are also lowered up and down through this shaft.
Doka developed the vault formwork for the four 50-70 m long cross passages, using both standard formwork methods and three formwork carriages. The largest of these SL-1 tunnel formwork carriages is 10 m long, with a diameter of 6.30 m. This carriage had to be designed so that it could be separated longitudinally, or it would not have been able to reach its destination – something that would not have been an issue on a standard tunnel construction site.
The Doka engineers accordingly planned four discs 2.5 m wide, with extra attachments that could be secured to the crane. Element by element, the 50 t gantry is lowered through the shaft into the depths. Once it reaches the bottom, excavators shunt it to its work destination with excavators, and it is assembled ready for use.
A nerve-wracking, laborious undertaking in the cramped conditions and given the limited crane capacity. The crane is assembled and positioned in the tunnel under the supervision of and with assistance from the Doka formwork instructor. Usually, formwork carriages only have to be pushed in one direction – but not so in this case. To resolve this, the Doka engineers used the bolt-on wheel sets from a Doka supporting construction frame.
With these, the four elements can be manoeuvred accurately inside the tunnel. The bolt-on wheel sets are then removed in the tunnel, and the formwork carriage is set back on its heavy-duty rollers. At the client’s request, the formwork carriage is raised and lowered hydraulically, since it would be extremely laborious to work with a manual pump in the cramped conditions.
Surely, there are different types of formwork available to suit different scaffolding types; however, the most suitable formwork type that needs to be used on any given project will hinge on numerous factors. Nevertheless, you can get high-quality aluminium or steel scaffolding for your construction project, which is a durable and cost-effective alternative..
