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The £4 million project, which involves the provision of a new filtration system, will supply drinking water to residents within the Glasgow conurbation when completed in August 2008.
Main contractor Gallifordtry/Morgan Est Joint Venture (GMJV) is using the Frami system to cast the concrete chambers and channels that will house the new treatment plant. “It’s basically a series of eight or nine large concrete tanks located together within a fairly small area of the site”, comments Mark Whitmore, general manager with Easiform. But from the concreting point of view it’s less like a series of tanks and more like a maze of concrete walls”.
The tanks make up a series of chambers of varying size, with walls of varying height. “We cast the bases first and then erect the formwork to cast low walls for the chambers” explains Mr Whitmore. “We then fly in the formwork to cast the higher wall sections” he adds.
Technically, the concreting process is not especially complicated, despite the apparent complexity of the design. But the relatively confined space available meant that handling large formwork panels would have been awkward and potentially hazardous.
“In most cases you’d expect to use larger panels on a job of this size” says Charlie Rattrie, GMJV’s general foreman on the project. “But there’s not much space in which to store panels on site and the Frami panels are easier to handle. The guys on site really like it”, he adds.
The £70,000 formwork contract was awarded following negotiations between Charlie Rattrie and Groundforce regional sales manager Richard Cherrie. “Richard was asked to go and look at supplying sheet piles for this project on behalf of our piling division, Piletec” explains Mark Whitmore. “Richard and Charlie have worked together on previous projects and Piletec was chosen to supply Larssen piles for this project. While he was there, Richard mentioned the Frami system and Easiform was invited to bid for the formwork contract”.
Launched in April 2006, Groundforce’s Easiform division is still something of a newcomer, eager to establish a reputation in the market. But despite being relatively unknown, Easiform was chosen by GMJV against competition from two large and well-known formwork suppliers. “The Stewarton contract is our largest so far” says Mark, “and it’s going extremely well. The panels are easily handled by one person and the assembled forms are easy to move”.
Charlie Rattrie agrees: “One of the main reasons for choosing this system was manual handling. These panels are small and light and when they’re assembled for a 5m wall they can be lifted with a crane far smaller than the one we’d need with a larger-format system”.
“This is the first time I’ve worked with the Frami system and I’m absolutely delighted – it’s a very good system”, adds Charlie.
The Frami system is quick and easy to use even on sites without a crane. Ideal for basements, tanks and small, complicated concreting jobs, the Frami panel size-grid comprises five different widths and two different heights of panel, making it adaptable to virtually any site requirement.
In addition to the Frami panels, Easiform is supplying GMJV with tripod props and timber beams to support the formwork for the roof slabs on the Stewarton project. The first Frami panels were delivered to site in July 2007 and the equipment will remain on hire until the New Year.
