Modern precast architecture is changing building methods all over the world. New residential and office complexes, universities, hospitals, logistics centers and car parks are emerging in the growing megacities of Asia, South America and the rest of the world with industrially prefabricated walls, slabs/floors and special components. However, using this building system economically in high-risk seismic zones requires new technologies.
In 2015, Vollert, together with the construction company BauMax, developed a special construction system, based on solid concrete elements, for earthquake-prone Chile. At bauma 2019, an earthquake-resistant construction system with prestressed hollow-core slabs will be presented for the first time. These hollow-core slab elements are no longer produced in an extrusion or slip forming production process, but in a pallet circulation system. Reinforcement meshes and connection reinforcements produce friction-locked, earthquake-resistant connection of the slab parts later on the site, resulting in greater floor spans, which reduce the installation time and crane lifts on the job site. In addition, scrap costs, which would previously be incurred due to offcuts, and the costly sawing process are eliminated. The manufacturing process has already been nominated as a bauma Innovation Award finalist. By mid-2019, the Uzbek DSK Binokor will be producing wall and slab elements with a surface area of up to 500,000 m² annually on the basis of the innovative construction system and an intelligent combination of special sandwich concrete parts, solid concrete parts for the interior walls and the new hollow-core slabs. Residential buildings of up to 12 stories are currently in the further planning phase in close cooperation with Vollert civil engineers.
Precast concrete parts for mega construction projects worldwide
There are also new interesting plant projects in Europe. Kerkstoel 2000+ and Vollert with Prilhofer Consulting are currently working together in Belgium a highlight in the industrial series production of architecturally sophisticated precast concrete parts. Various precast elements of the Kerkstoel Group can be found in modern residential and office complexes, but also in shopping centres, railway stations and airports. "This ranges from Ericsson headquarters in Zaventem, Eurostation II in Brussels to the Justice Building in Antwerp. Pascal Kerkstoel describes a "real architectural highlight". In order to continue setting trends, the Belgian building materials specialist in Grobbendonk is investing in a production facillity for solid, double and sandwich walls for a wide range of geometries and customer designs. This means that precast elements with very different degrees of complexity can be produced in the same period of time, and this without reducing the plant productivity.
Baku is booming as well. The capital of Azerbaijan on the Caspian Sea is one of the fastest growing cities in the CIS. The infrastructure of the 2.2-million-metropolis can barely keep pace with this rate of growth. A central feature of the urban development plan currently underway is the renewal of the metro network by 2030. The French engineering firm Systra developed a master plan for the 5.6-billion-euro megaproject. Vollert has been a participant since the beginning of 2016 as a concrete and equipment specialist. In cooperation with Büro für Verkehrsingenieurbau in Berlin, Vollert engineers redesigned the track system and tested it on a test track. The newly developed Vollert Rheda system is used for the solid railway track in the new track sections. At the same time, a modern concrete sleeper production plant was built, which produces up to 30,000 concrete blocks per year for the new underground railway lines.
Experience new robot technology live
"We would like to offer bauma visitors a real close-up live experience," says Björn Brandt, Vice President at Vollert. With the help of virtual reality, Vollert's bauma 2019 stand will give visitors graphic 360° tours of current plant projects at bauma 2019. "In addition, we will show highly efficient robot technology for precast concrete production at our new booth 311 in hall B1." The new SMART SET robot line, for example, has significantly optimized the processes in the Oschatz concrete plant. Shuttering and deshuttering processes as well as magazine storage of the shuttering profiles are completely automated, which demonstrably increased the productivity of the system.
But it's not only the right machine technology that's crucial. Today, production control systems are also called the brain of a modern precast concrete plant. They ensure optimal and punctual supply of the necessary precast concrete parts to construction sites and customers and form the central interface for the exchange of data from the preliminary planning and the technical design stages as well as for existing BIM and/or ERP systems. "This will be also a topic at the bauma 2019 in Munich."
