HIGH SPEED CONCRETE
FORMING in Caloocan

        One 2-storey townhouse units of 47.25 sqm. floor area being casted in place monolithically and completed every day with only 20 men. The townhouse structure is virtually solid concrete poured at one time each floor, including all walls, ceilings, even the door and window openings are made of cast in place concrete completely eliminating wood or metal frames. In fact, the finishing crews complain that they cannot keep pace with the concrete work. 

        The work is being done in Bagumbong, Kalookan City by a private developer, Hammercon Inc, which already has to its record a long list of completed commercial and industrial projects in the Visayas and Mindanao. Prior to the acquisition of the Western Forms System from USA, the construction was primarily made with conventional, locally available materials and skills. However with the 1) increasing demand for housing, 2) competitive bidding from conventional construction method, 3) and limited availability of skilled labor, 4) and scarse supply of lumber, the company was compelled to search for a more industrialized method of building, which would accomplish the following important objectives: 

  •   Speed up production of units
  •   Utilize unskilled labor efficiently
  •   reduce finishings works
  •   lower construction cost
  •   improve structural integrity, quality and appearance
  •   eliminate the need for heavy equipment (cranes, trucks)
  •   simplify inventory control of required building materials
  •   versatility, which would allow frequent changes in floor plans
  •   high reuse, minimize the use of lumber
      Hammercon Inc. concluded that  by utilizing WF System, they could satisfy all of the major objectives. 
  •         A typical day begins at 7:00 am with 20 workers stripping and moving forms by hand to the next unit. Erection of walls forms for the next unit normally starts at 9:00 am. The forming crew is divided into groups. Each group is responsible for a particular part of the plan. When all walls forms have been erected and aligned, the ceiling forms and shoring system is erected.
  •         At 2 pm the concrete pour begins and is completed by 5 pm. The next morning at 7 am the process starts again, completing one unit per day. Depending upon the placement of concrete, the pour can take from between 80-120 manhours placed by hand, to 20-30 manhours if a pump or crane is used.

        Hammercon points out that this choice of concrete placement is important since in many jobsite locations, maintenance, service, and even the availability of such equipment (concrte pumps and cranes) may dictate not only concrete placement methods, but also the forming system. The Western Forms System is not dependent upon heavy cranes and equipment in order to be used productively. 

        The concrete is consolidate by small vibrators with 10 ft long shafts and 3/4" diameter heads. A small vibrator is required since the maximum wall thickness of these and with 10 mm rebars, and the welded wire fabric, little room is available for larger vibrators. 

        Request for changes in the floor plan can be accomplished easily due to the versatile modular design of the forming system. This feature is an important sales feature for builders and developers. 
  
        All finish work in labor and materials normally required in installing wood and material door frames is eliminated. The use of prefabricated door molds and window molds allow contractors to pour monolithic with wall, door, and window concrete frames. By using these exclusive molds, the normal problems incurred in custom fitting levels and attaching window and door frames are eliminated. The same forms can also be used for a wide variety of other concrete forming applications. 
 

        Through the use of this new technology,
owning a 47.25 sqm. townhouse in Metro Manila is now possible
at a cost of less than P 10,000.00 per square meter.
email: westside@mozcom.com