HOLLOW-CORE SLABS OFFER MUCH MORE THAN PRECAST FLOORING :
Article Date: 17 September 2007
 Originally developed for precast flooring on multi-storeyed buildings, several alternative uses for hollow-core slabs have been developed by Concrete Manufacturers Association (CMA) members. The result is always the same, superior functionality, quicker construction times and maintenance-free properties. Some of the applications are described briefly below.
Slabs can be used as a complete precast hollow-core foundation and ground slab system for the economic housing market, a system which has been developed and tested by the CMA. An Agrément certificate for the system is pending.
Designed for a standard 40m˛ masonry-built house, with a floor area of 6,6m x 6,2m, the system is competitive in soil conditions which require foundations that provide more than a simple and conventional strip footing.
Security walling is another application, examples including prisons, military bases, airports and storage facilities. Tests have proven that it is almost impossible to break through this type of wall and 100 linear metres per day/per team can be erected. Furthermore, there is no requirement for shuttering, propping, on-site curing or formwork.
Prestressed hollow-core slabs are also being successfully used as retaining wall structures in which high-strength high-quality concrete panels, meet very high horizontal loading requirements. Up to 300 – 400m˛ of walling can be erected daily.
Finally, hollow-core slabs are being used to cover water reservoirs. Slabs are lowered directly onto reservoir walls, greatly reducing the time of construction as well as guaranteeing quality.
Picture
A reservoir is enclosed using hollow-core concrete slabs.
|
