Gulf Construction Online - A towering challenge for Hunnebeck

Germany & the Mideast

Hunnebeck has supplied the formwork plan and materials for the Burj Dubai tower.

A towering challenge for Hunnebeck

German technology and skills are helping shape numerous projects in the region. Gulf Construction takes a look at the formwork expertise that is going into the creation of the world’s tallest tower.

01 March 2006

German formwork technology is currently being used for the construction of the Burj Dubai, which is designed to be the world’s tallest building at an estimated height of 800 m.

Hunnebeck has supplied the plan and materials for the entire wall, soffit and joist formwork for the five to nine-storey podium area, as well as the first 10 storeys of the tower of the prestigious development.
The Burj Dubai is being built by a joint venture of the Korean Samsung, the Belgian Besix and the local Arabtec. The finished height of the tower is currently targeted at 728.6 m, however, it is widely expected that the inverted Y-shaped structure of the several different high tower wings erected on a 7,000 sq m ground area will in fact be taller, says a spokesman for Hunnebeck.
The tower comprises 314,000 sq m of gross floor space and the surrounding podium area is 170,000 sq m, which includes three five to nine-storey building units, featuring underground parking lots and shopping malls along with fitness, wellness and spa areas.
For the soffit areas in the podium and tower alone, Hunnebeck is providing 9,500 sq m of Variomax wooden beam formwork, almost 5,000 sq m of table forms, 900 ID 15 frame supports and 12,000 tubular steel props to the site. All this is joined to the walls and columns by about 1,000 sq m of Manto giant frame formwork, 14 Manto column sets and almost 700 sq m of Ronda circular formwork.
“For us, this construction site is like a huge trade fair. Many of our products are in use here and are revealing their potential and efficiency,” explains Frank Odzewalski, CEO of the newly-founded subsidiary Hunnebeck Middle East, who closely monitors the site in Dubai. “For instance, the formwork plan drawn up by Hunnebeck for the podium area has proven so effective in theory and practice, that the contractor has awarded further parts of the building to Hunnebeck.
Hunnebeck is currently providing slab formwork material for the slabs in the tower for the Levels 2 to 8 in the nose area of the tower and for Level 4 and 5 in the wing areas of the Tower, work on which is expected to be completed by June this year.
“For the podium area all formwork materials used in Podium ‘B’ have been shifted now to Podium ‘A’ and are being used there. Furthermore, the JV Samsung-Besix-Arabtec has awarded Hünnebeck another additional contract for the supply of single-sided wall and slab and beam formwork for Podium ‘D’, where the following systems will be used:
• Support frames for single-sided walls;
• Manto steel frame panel systems for single and double-sided walls;
• Suspendend scaffolding as working platforms for outer side elements;
• Variomax slab formwork system with steel props and H20 timber beams;
• ID 15 support towers for heavy concrete beams and floor heights more than 5.90 m.
Materials for the construction of Podium “D” will be in use until mid-September,” he says.
Odzewalski continues: “The easier the handling of the formwork equipment employed, the smoother the operations on site. Things are going fine.”
In the construction of the Burj Dubai, many of the form setters – mostly from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh – are working for the first time with steel frame systems.
“For instance, the big advantage of the Manto giant frame formwork – which is being used on the walls – is its aligning clamp, which connects the Manto panels flush with tension-and vibration-resistant joints in a single action,” explains the spokesman. “This permits the multi-panel erection, lining and moving of up to 40 sq m of Manto elements with a single crane lift without having to fit extra stiffeners. Another benefit of Manto is its unique frame thickness of 14 cm. This and the interior stiffening ribs make the panels extra rugged and permit full-speed concrete-pouring up to a height of 3.3 m. The many columns of different thickness are being produced with the 14 sets of Manto column forms kept available on site. Whether 90 by 90 cm, 90 by 80 cm, 75 by 75 or 60 by 60 cm in cross-section, columns can be shuttered in increments of 5 cm with the Manto VZ panels.”

Successful premiere
The production of the spindle-like entrances and exits of the multi-storey parking lot calls for sophisticated formwork engineering. Their wall surfaces are being poured with Ronda circular formwork, which permits the creation of circular radii from 2.75 m upwards with millimetre precision.
“The form setters were using this system for the first time and were delighted just how easily the ready-to-use Ronda elements can be assembled into the desired shape,” adds Odzewalski, commenting on initial experience.
“In those areas where relatively large slab surfaces have to be shuttered – such as the parking decks – Hunnebeck project planners recommended soffit table forms as the system that makes the most technical and economic sense. On the other hand, Variomax wooden beam formwork is ideal for some slab areas in the podium and particularly the first 10 slabs in the tower – where confined and small areas have to be shuttered. In the tower especially, many joists of entirely different dimensions have to be shuttered. This calls for systems with great adaptability and versatility, which is right up Variomax's street and the reason for its success,' he says.

Adaptable Variomax
This wooden beam system is suitable for room widths of less than 2.65 m, slab thicknesses of more than 30 cm and room heights of over 4.5 m. Variomax formwork derives its versatility, among other things, from the variable distances between props and primary and secondary beams, says the spokesman.
“When shuttering with Variomax, the distance between props can be up to 2.94 cm. The primary beams can be up to 4 m apart and the distance between secondary beams can vary up to a maximum of 75 cm. All this saves materials and time. In Dubai, it is mainly H 20 beams that are being employed as the primary and secondary beams. If the loads are extreme however, Variomax can also turn to the R 24 lattice girder range. A choice of props cam be used for the formwork, ranging from the tubular steel prop to the ID 15 tower for the heaviest loads,” he says.

ID 15 frame support
For the Burj Dubai project, the wooden beam formwork is being supported by the widely-used tubular steel props as well as ID 15 towers. In the multistorey parking lot, for instance, these heavy-duty power packs with a footprint of only 1 by 1 m are supporting the inclined ramps of the large entrances and exits. The load supports have an articulated bearing plate on the head and base jacks, permitting trouble-free adaptation to pitches of up to 6 per cent, he explains.
Odzewalski, who is particularly impressed by the simple handling of the frame support, says: “Since none of the small number of parts weighs more than 19 kg, they are particularly easy to erect and dismantle. An ID 15 tower can be comfortably assembled to the desired height on its side on the ground, before being lifted upright and positioned by the crane.”

Continuous monitoring
Odzewalski and his German team were faced with a logistical challenge when delays caused the joint venture to change the concreting cycle for the first 10 tower slabs. “Instead of pouring the slabs in succession, as originally envisaged, the second and fourth slabs were leapfrogged at short notice. This gave rise to slab heights of almost 10 m, which demanded the rapid extension of the required number of ID 15 supports,” he says.
“However, with the necessary effort, we managed that as well,” Odzewalski points out. “Despite the tough requirements, the work on the Dubai site is enormously satisfying because German engineering enjoys a good reputation here. Adapting quickly to changing construction deadlines, cycles and plans is of course top priority and a genuine challenge. But motivation and skill are acknowledged and the effort to achieve good and constructive cooperation is rewarded.”
To enable the shuttering work on the Burj project to proceeds smoothly, Hunnebeck has set up its own site office. Six engineers working closely with site management draw up work and assignment schedules and coordinate the use of materials and continuously monitor all operations.
The Hunnebeck team is committed to excellence and is pulling out all stops to ensure that it delivers superlative expertise for a superlative project, he concludes.