THREE NEW PRECAST HOLLOW CORE CONCRETE SLAB FACTORIES BUILT TO MEET INCREASING DEMAND:
Article Date: 22 February 2007
 The Concrete Manufacturers Association (CMA) has announced that South Africa’s precast hollow core concrete slab production was boosted by the addition of three new factories during 2006, increasing the number of CMA affiliated production facilities from four to seven and widening the technology’s footprint.
The new factories were built by Echo Prestress in Effingham, Durban, Shukuma in the Eastern Cape and by Top Floor in Cape Town. This means that this fast-track building technology has now been introduced to KwaZulu Natal and the Eastern Cape for the first time, while capacity in the Western Cape has been doubled.
Managing Director of South Africa’s largest hollow-core slab manufacturer and past vice president of the CMA’s Floor Slab Division, Monique Eggebeen, says that hollow core slabs are finding increasing favour with developers, engineers and contractors because of time saving factors and the huge lack of skills in the construction industry.
"One of the advantages of precast concrete slabs is that they are manufactured in a controlled environment which ensures the structural integrity and quality of the product. This is a big plus for an industry where a lack of site supervision is endemic,” comments Eggebeen.
Although approximately 90% of all precast slabs produced in SA are used for flooring in multi-storied buildings, other applications such as security walling, retaining walls, foundations and reservoir roofing are taking hold. For example, the technology is suitable for seating platforms in sports stadiums such as those which are due to be built for the 2010 World Cup soccer competition. Another application is pedestrian bridges and it is anticipated that many of the bridges on the Gautrain rail network will use the technology.
A further factor pushing up demand is that as suitable vacant land required for building residential, commercial and retail accommodation in and around major centres becomes increasingly scarce, affordable and low-cost housing are being forced to go the multi-storey route.
Eggebeen notes that hollow core slab technology enjoys a much higher profile in the EU, Russia and Dubai than it does in South Africa. “We are still very conservative in our approach to construction and many engineers are not familiar with the technology. But this is changing, which is why the market for hollow core precast concrete slabs is growing and will continue to do so,” says Eggebeen.
CAPTION
Prestressed hollow core concrete slabs, manufactured at Echo Prestress’ new factory in Durban, are offloaded and lowered into position at a 360m² office development in Mount Edgecombe, KZN. The slabs were installed in January shortly after the launch of Echo’s new factory.
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