Benefits of Cassaform’s steel formwork over Traditional ways of formwork
Traditionally formwork used to cast vertical or horizontal concrete elements consists of timber bearers, joists and formply lining to give concrete its smooth or textured finish. This traditional method of assembling formwork could be faster and more labour-intensive. To meet the cycle times of the construction program, formworkers resort to putting on extra labour to achieve the result. They then resort to fabricating formwork tables to speed up their process and rely on the ability to reuse the timbers and formply components across a few projects to amortise their costs.
This philosophy is dramatically changing as formworkers better understand the hidden costs of their business. For example
- Timber and formply material wastage costs.
- Storage facilities required to house idle building materials and formwork tables between projects.
- The suitability of their owned equipment to suit every project.
- Labour costs incurred to clean, repair and handle conventional formwork systems.
- Costs associated with stock control, management and accounting/depreciation of owned equipment.
- Rented equipment can be fully expensed to the project.
On the other hand, Steel Modular systems provided by Cassaform can provide up to and, in some cases, even over 50% labour and time savings to your project. These systems are available for rental or sale.
There are a variety of modular systems available in the market. Some are suited to casting vertical concrete elements such as walls and stair or lift cores, and others are suited to casting horizontal concrete elements like suspended slabs.
In the case of modular walling systems, as the name suggests, the systems consist of a series of modular panels of varying sizes that can be joined together quickly and easily to fit the desired shape to be cast. These panels typically come in heights of 3.0m, 1.5m or 1.0m and vary from 200mm up to 1000mm in width but can be joined to achieve wall heights of up to 9.0m. They can be assembled and positioned horizontally or vertically to suit best the final shape required. They are extremely versatile and can be joined together or dismantled with clamps with a simple hammer. To put this into perspective, a typical wall where six men would be required for five days to assemble a conventional formwork wall can be achieved in less than one day with three men using modular walling panel systems.
In the case of modular slab systems, there are a few different types of systems available, but irrespective of which system is used, they are generally much faster and easier to use than conventional formwork systems. For example, three men can erect approximately 500m2 in one day using an aluminium slab panel system. In contrast, the same area formed using conventional systems with timber bearers, joists, and formply could take six men up to 4-5 days to complete.
Due to these systems’ modular nature, they are light, easy to assemble, and fit most flat plate slab areas. The primary components consist of steel beams, props and panels. The panels come in various sizes and contain an aluminium frame with formply inserts.
These modular slab systems have a built-in drop head mechanism, which allows the aluminium beams and panels to be removed earlier than the shoring props. This enables the reuse of the beams and panels, which can be used to form subsequent floors. Apart from significantly saving in the cost of equipment required to service a project, it has a significant labour savings benefit by eliminating the need to remove formwork shoring and re-shore or back prop.
Australia needs more skilled labour and skilled sub-contractors. Modular steel formwork systems, whether for walls or slabs, reduce the requirement to have such skills on projects as the systems are easy to assemble, and the manufacturer or supplier will generally provide you with construction drawings as to how it is to be assembled.
Why We’re The Best Formwork Company
When you combine innovation & unique, effective procedures & experience – you get a dangerous combination. And that’s exactly what we’re doing. Utilising steel modular systems in formwork is the leading innovative way to increase profitability – some even reaching a 50% increase in profitability. If you want assistance with your formwork needs – get in touch today.
