Compaction concept for the production of 47-m long girders
The team of consultants from Wacker Neuson concrete solutions specializes in assisting customers with unconventional, straightforward measures on everything to do with concrete compaction, be it at the precast concrete plant or during concrete placement on site. This was also the case when a functional compaction concept for the production of 47-m long girder elements was developed and implemented for Max Aicher Bau GmbH & Co. KG within just a few days.
Max Aicher Bau GmbH & Co. KG is a construction company based in the Bavarian town of Freilassing and part of the Max Aicher group of companies which employs a total staff of over 3,500 in 18 countries. The company has an own precast concrete plant comprising a 100-m long production line and a tensioning bed measuring around 80 m in length.
Out-of-the-ordinary production of precast elements
For the roofing of a scrap yard, Max Aicher Bauunternehmung had been commissioned to produce girder elements measuring an impressive 47 m in length as precast elements. The tremendous size of the girders was a typical case requiring a production line on site: for a project like this, the transport and logistics effort required between the precast concrete plant and construction site would be just too great and therefore too time-consuming and associated with extremely high costs.
The special formwork – a timber-beam formwork with H20 beams – was supplied by Doka Schalungstechnik GmbH. Due to the extremely high percentage of reinforcement, conventional concrete compaction using internal vibrators was not or only in part an option in this highly challenging project, however, so that an alternative solution needed to be found as quickly as possible.
Taking stock on site
“Following the customer’s inquiry, I immediately contacted Dennis Hoos from Wacker Neuson concrete solutions,” says Wolfgang Stengel, “and we visited the construction site together shortly afterwards. Based on the formwork and reinforcement plans, a detailed concreting concept was drawn up within a very short period of time, and the order was placed with us on the following day.” Dennis Hoos adds: “The concept specified the use of external vibrators and, on a supplementary basis, internal vibrators for concrete compaction. This enabled the customer to use conventional internal vibrators for compaction in the upper, less heavily reinforced part of the formwork; whilst our small, flexible external vibrators of the AR 26 series were used for the lower section where access was difficult.”
No time was wasted in completing this project: two days later, Wacker Neuson delivered five exposed concrete kits to the construction site. Rainer Wewers from Wacker Neuson concrete solutions and Wolfgang Stengel supported the team on site in commissioning the equipment and instructed the customer in its use – on the very next day, Max Aicher Bau GmbH was able to independently begin production of the large concrete girders. Site manager Kurt Einsiedl is highly satisfied both with the way this project was handled and with the results: “Wacker Neuson has responded to our inquiry quickly and with extreme flexibility, and has solved our problem in the best way possible. And we are more than satisfied with the results: the completed concrete girders are of a very high quality.”
Small, lightweight, flexible: the AR 26
The lightweight AR 26/6/042 formwork vibrators for in-situ concrete from Wacker Neuson can be easily repositioned by means of fastening clamps and ensure high concrete quality and process reliability even in challenging and complex concrete applications. The scope of delivery for this project included five exposed concrete kits, each comprising six AR 26/6/042 external vibrators, six SV53 universal fastening clamps and one FUE-M/S 75A 6CEE frequency converter.