There is no doubt that construction has formed the basis of modern civilization. Whether it is a house, a building, a road, tunnel, or bridge, construction has helped humans to evolve by providing the means necessary to make their lives easier and more comfortable. Modern technology has played a crucial role in the construction industry. Having the ability to construct and design entire structures digitally has increased speed and efficiency and reduce costs at the same time. Cassaform Australia designs and engineers the highest quality formwork Melbourne for use in civil mining infrastructure energy and industrial sectors for supplying formwork systems in Australia and internationally.
The materials that are now used in construction are stronger, durable, and more flexible allowing more sustainable structures that are safer and environmentally friendly. Among the factors that lead to high quality commercial concrete construction is the use of formwork, and this article will tell you about the importance of formwork in modern construction projects.
What Is Formwork?
Formwork is an ancillary construction, where permanent or temporary molds are used into which fresh concrete is poured that hardens subsequently. Forms are the terms used for made-up sections that touch the concrete when it is hardening. There are many different types of formwork that can be used depending on the purpose of the structure and the project’s budget.
1.Traditional Timber Formwork – This formwork is made from Timber and Plywood. It is easy to produce, it has a short lifespan and the process is time-consuming so it is not suitable for large structures. It is extremely flexible and is ideal to use in complicated sections of construction.
2.Engineered Formwork System – This is an evolved type of formwork made out of prefabricated modules with metal frames- steel or aluminium. Compared with traditional Timber formwork, it is much faster to construct and is cheaper because it can be reused thousands of times before it needs to be replaced.
3.Reusable Plastic Formwork – This formwork uses interlocking and modular systems that are used to build highly variable but simple structures. Using lightweight and robust panels, it is particularly suitable for similar structure projects such as mass housing schemes.
Importance Of Formwork
The use of formwork has brought many advantages that cannot be substituted with other Technologies. Firstly the safety of workers is paramount in the construction industry and formwork offers proper exercise and working platforms that ensure the safety of workers during construction. Also, modern formwork ensures the structural safety of the project by providing custom solutions against all superimposed loads which produce extremely sustainable and safe structures.
Good formwork greatly reduces the amount of time it takes to construct a project by minimizing floor to floor construction cycle time. Due to the huge cost included in construction, using good formwork is critical in decreasing costs and meeting budget requirements. The use of formwork enables project managers to facilitate accurate on-time mobilization and demobilization of resources which increases efficiency and decreases cost.
Lastly, the quality of the surface finishing of the concrete structure is attributed to the quality of formwork used during construction. The use of an engineered formwork system removes the need for plastering for any roller-compacted concrete RCC surface. Defective concrete finishing is expensive to repair so it’s crucial that high-quality formwork is used.
The quality of formwork used in construction projects affects the cost and efficiency of each project and worker safety.