This enabled floor plates to be constructed more quickly, with less reinforcement material, lower embedded CO2, less labour and with significant health and safety improvements for the rebar fixers.
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Duffy Construction was the contractor for the structural frame.聽 Seeking to offer a competitive proposal they approached Hy-Ten, about the application of finite element (FE) analysis and Bamtec reinforcement to the floor plates.聽 Hy-ten referred them to Qube Design, an independent structural design consultancy that is familiar with the application of FE analysis and Bamtec reinforcement.聽 Qube鈥檚 calculations, subsequently verified by project structural engineers Walsh Associates, permitted a 25 per cent saving in reinforcement bar.
Bamtec is made by reinforcement specialist Hy-Ten.聽 Application starts with the use of FE analysis to precisely define the zones of stress around the vertical columns and within the floor plate.聽聽 This process, allied to the fact that Hy-Ten have a greater range of re-bar sizes available, allowed more precise detailing of structural steel.聽聽 Reduction in the quantity of steel also directly reduced embedded energy within the building by 42 tonnes carbon equivalent.
Data from the FE analysis was ported to automated machines in the Hy-Ten factory where reinforcement carpets were produced by spot welding each re-bar to flexible tapes in the precise position required.聽聽 Each roll of reinforcement was tagged and colour coded in the factory in accordance with the engineer鈥檚 floor plan to indicate both the position and depth in the floor slab.聽 Reinforcement carpets were manufactured and shipped to site to meet Duffy鈥檚 stringent fixing and casting programme.
On site, the reinforcement carpets were positioned and simply rolled out in a simple two-man operation.聽聽 The need for back breaking labour to manually position and wire-in each bar is eliminated by Bamtec steel reinforcement.聽 Continual referral back to the engineer鈥檚 drawings is not needed as once the carpet is correctly placed all the re-bars on the roll are automatically positioned accurately.聽
Bamtec enabled Duffy to save 30 percent on labour and still complete each floor plate in less time than with conventional methods.聽 The Bamtec system is greatly appreciated by re-bars fixers who are less prone to back strain and injury.
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