5 Huge Mistakes to Avoid When Working with a Concrete Formwork

20 February 2023

Construction companies rely on formwork to ensure that their projects will become successful. Formwork is generally a mould or a frame where concrete or other materials can be precast or cast in place. Once the materials dry or settle, contractors are greeted with a structure needed by a specific construction project.

As mentioned earlier, one of the materials often cast into the mould or a frame is concrete. Concrete formwork takes advantage of concrete as once it solidifies, it can effectively make a structure that is durable and reliable. Concrete formwork can be great for projects as it is quick and efficient. This type of formwork is often maximised in constructing buildings, bridges, highways, tunnels, wastewater treatment plants, and many more.

But concrete formwork can still ruin a project if some things have been applied or done by the construction companies. Some mistakes that must be avoided when working with concrete formwork are the following.

1. Insufficient Bracing

Insufficient cross-bracing and horizontal bracing can easily lead to formwork failure. The lack of proper bracing can easily produce a lateral force that generates lateral deformation of supporting components. Once this mistake happens, a large portion of a structure may collapse, which can lead to extensive damage.

2. Poor Concrete Placement Control

Formwork failure may also happen if the control of concrete placement is poor. The practice of poor concrete placement control can effectively yield unbalanced loadings, which then makes the formwork fail altogether. To ensure that this mistake does not happen, the contractor should consider concrete temperature, concrete chemistry, rate of concrete vertical placement, and vibration of concrete. Once concrete temperature drops, the contractor should decrease the rate of concrete placement to avoid overloading the formwork.

3. Impact and Vibration

Impact and vibration are elements that can easily affect the quality of concrete formwork. Too much impact and vibration from passing traffic, movement of works and equipment, and concrete consolidation can displace the supporting shores or jacks of the concrete formwork, which then leads to its total failure.

4. Assemblage Errors

Assemblage errors like failure to tighten the locking devices on metal shores, insufficient nailing, inadequate provisions to deter beam form rotation, inadequate anchorage against uplift, and lack of bracing or tying at corners can all lead to concrete formwork failure, even with optimised design. To avoid these errors from occurring and affecting concrete formwork conditions, the contractors should assemble the system under proper supervision.

5. Unstable Soil

Placing concrete formwork on top of unstable soil may lead to differential settlement. It can also decline the ability of out-of-plumb shores to support the load. All these things may lead to faulty concrete formwork. Hence, contractors should ensure and check first that the soil will be stable and can support loads first. They must also not place formwork elements on frozen ground, as the concreting operations may generate moisture and heat that can overload or shift the concrete formwork. Ultimately, site drainage must be adequate to minimise failure.

Contact us at Cycon Monero Group today to ensure a successful concrete formwork project.

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