Consultancy offers advice to producers
With the increasing popularity of precast concrete construction, there is a need for tighter quality controls and further research and development to meet future market demands, according to Gerard Bourrelly, an industry expert and Jean Paul Sourd, managing director of the Bahrain-based Building Precast Industrial (BPI) Consultancy.
01 October 2003
Over the past decade, there has been an upsurge in the use of precast concrete in construction in the Gulf, especially due to tighter construction schedules and quality control requirements.
Precast concrete also offers a number of advantages in terms of durability and reduction of site costs, in on-site space requirements and of maintenance.
In the past few years, the construction industry has been pushing for enhanced quality in response to client demands and due to competition in the market. In addition, increasing use is being made of sophisticated equipment in structures, which need provision to be made in the precast element design such as housings for embedded networks, tunnels for boring machines, and installation of advanced equipment in industrial buildings.
This trend will only increase further in the near future and call for the integration of insulation, waterproofing, accurate embed locations in precast elements while giving due attention to the maintenance criteria.
A precast concrete production, at site or at the factory, is an ideal solutions for special infrastructure projects and sophisticated industrial projects - where the concrete durability or the maintenance-free operation of the structure over the long term is important, or where the tolerance in the concrete dimension is less than one millimetre; or where traceability is a must for maintenance in the future. It ensures that thorough quality control checks are maintained and top quality concrete is achieved.
To meet these client requirements, precast concrete producers must continuously enhance the quality of their products. This can be done through maintaining strict production procedures, including improvement of the mix design, the process itself and quality control and introduction of newer technologies.
Stringent production procedures can be introduced at an early stage through an accurate design of the product. It can be followed up by improving or developing the production line, by process analysis, productivity control, setting up ISO procedures, and computerising the production management. It also involves research in concrete components including aggregates, fine and cementitious elements, water control, use of new admixtures, mix design adjustment, research on demoulding agents and handling equipment to reduce internal stresses, curing process analysis and improvement, vibration analysis and improvement, accurate design and control of moulds and shuttering, quality control in reinforcement and steel production, accurate positioning of reinforcement and embed, research on corrosion and alkali reaction, use of different fibres, shrinkage analysis, research on testing, and use of new embeds and connections of elements.
A good knowledge on concrete at its limits is a prerequisite in solving the problems on the basic and common production, and will improve the general efficiency of the precast concrete production. On the other hand, the use of state-of-the-art precast concrete products will help contractors achieve greater efficiency.
It is obvious that all this research and development cannot be handled entirely in-house by producers. It is advisable to do it with a new approach - in partnership with an engineer really experienced in latest technologies and in the production contingencies of the Gulf region.
The fact remains that improving quality will have a bearing on the cost of production, and ultimately the sale price of the product, and hence a global approach must to taken to costs, taking into account all the savings made during construction stage, and over the long term in maintenance.
In addition, the use of accurate procedures and efficient quality control will help the producer in the reduction of its costs, by reducing wastage and unessential costs.
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