A Comprehensive Guide to Essential Scaffolding Components and Their Use

A Comprehensive Guide to Essential Scaffolding Components and Their Use

A couple of planks and a pair of trestles are generally enough for a DIY wallpapering, painting, or plastering job and the freedom to work when you have some spare time. However, professional builders must adhere strictly to promised completion schedules. Only a well-designed, carefully assembled scaffold tower can provide the safety and convenience they rely on when working at height. For them, understanding the various scaffolding components and their uses is essential to optimise safety, efficiency, and productivity.

In the following sections, we will focus on the most frequently used scaffolding parts and their uses. For this exercise, we will refer to the components of Southern Africa’s most popular scaffolding system, Kwikstage.

The Four Primary Kwikstage Scaffolding Components

While the system has many additional components, the following are the minimum scaffolding parts needed to erect a basic tower:

  • Standards: Also known as uprights, these are the vertical tubular parts that bear the weight of the entire structure. Groups of four “V” pressings at 50cm intervals provide the attachment points for other scaffolding parts.
  • Ledgers: These essential Kwikstage scaffolding parts slot into the “V” pressings to provide the horizontal connections between the upright standards. A reinforced version is available for use in loading areas.
  • Base Jacks: As the name suggests, these scaffolding components are located at the base of the scaffold, where they are inserted into the standard tubes, acting like feet to support the entire structure.
  • Hook-On Boards: These robust steel boards hook onto the ledgers to create a stable working platform and complete the fundamental structure of a Kwikstage scaffold tower.

Some Additional Kwikstage Scaffolding Components

Kwikstage is a modular system that allows the degree of flexibility essential to mould its structure to that of any building, regardless of the environmental circumstances. Furthermore, it is designed for ease of use, enabling rapid assembly and disassembly, plus convenient transportation and storage. Here are some other valuable scaffolding parts available for the Kwikstage system:

  • Toe Boards: These steel boards are a safety feature to prevent loose objects from falling and endangering those below. They are securely attached to the standards with toe board clips.
  • Diagonal Braces: These braces can provide additional diagonal support where necessary.
  • Cantilever Brackets: When ground-level support is suspect or unavailable, cantilever brackets extend horizontally from a building to support the work platform, an ideal solution when working over water.

Scaffolding Components in South Africa

Trap doors, staircases, handrails, stillages, and hook-on ladders made from SABS-approved materials add to Kwikstage’s versatility. Contact us at Disc-O-Scaff for more information about these and other scaffolding parts to ensure your construction projects’ safety, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness.

Advances in the Development of Formwork for Concrete

Advances in the Development of Formwork for Concrete

The precursor of modern concrete was invented in around 1300 BC by Middle Eastern builders who used it to coat the outer surfaces of their clay buildings to reinforce their walls. Six centuries later, an improved mix was used to create solid floors and line underground cisterns. However, it was the Romans who later introduced the use of column formwork for concrete moulding, a step that also shaped the future of construction.

Alternatively known as shuttering, the design and uses of formwork continue to evolve as technological advances present new possibilities, offering innovative solutions that enhance the overall efficiency, safety, and cost-effectiveness of modern construction projects.

That said, the modern product bears little resemblance to the reeds and fibre used by Rome’s builders to shape the Colosseum, Pantheon, and St Peter’s Basilica or the wooden boards still favoured by many smaller building companies.

Types of Formwork for Concrete 

The following sections will help construction professionals understand the nature and purpose of formwork systems used today:

  • Modular Systems: This type of concrete formwork consists of prefabricated parts that can be securely interlocked to form various shapes. Modular formwork is designed to be easily assembled and dismantled, significantly reducing setup times and cutting labour costs. Modular formwork is versatile and can be adapted for a wide range of projects, from large-scale commercial builds to more modest residential projects.
  • Self-Climbing Systems: For construction companies regularly working on high-rise buildings and other tall structures, self-climbing or sliding formwork is a game-changer. This innovative shuttering system is designed to automatically raise itself to the next required level without the aid of a crane. Hence, the system saves the cost of crane hire and eliminates the risk to workers when performing these adjustments manually at height. In addition, the self-climbing mechanism ensures the formwork remains securely attached to the structure, further enhancing on-site safety.
  • Integrated Systems: These systems combine formwork for concrete with other construction elements like insulating materials or reinforcing bars and are valued for their ability to streamline construction processes. Integrated formwork can reduce the number of steps in the construction process, improving efficiency and reducing the incidence of errors. For example, insulated concrete forms (ICFs) serve as formwork while simultaneously inserting the thermal insulation materials used to construct energy-efficient buildings.

Purchasing Top Quality Formwork for Concrete

We at Disc-O-Scaff are a leading manufacturer and supplier of scaffolding and steel concrete formwork to construction companies in Southern Africa. Our products are made exclusively with SABS-approved materials to guarantee safety and durability. Contact us if you need column formwork or want to learn more about the use and purpose of formwork systems.

The Benefits of Prefabricated Concrete Shuttering

The Benefits of Prefabricated Concrete Shuttering

Also known as formwork, concrete shuttering is essential for moulding freshly poured concrete into the often complex shapes typical of modern construction. That said, the origins of formwork can be traced to when the Romans built the Colosseum, Pantheon, and the Arch of Constantine. While they used fabric and fibres to form their moulds, other materials have since proved more effective. These include timber, plywood and, most recently, steel.

The owners of smaller building companies are often reluctant to meet the initial cost of modern prefabricated steel shuttering, preferring to make their own from timber or plywood. However, by doing so, they are forsaking a highly cost-effective, long-term solution for short-term savings. In the next section, we will compare the merits of this DIY solution with those inherent in modern prefabricated formwork:

Plywood vs Steel Concrete Shuttering

The primary function of formwork is to maintain the shape of freshly poured concrete structures while they harden, so how does a construction company decide which type is best? The following comparisons should help simplify the decision:

  • Time-Saving: Prefabricated shuttering is delivered ready for use, significantly reducing the time spent on measuring, cutting, assembling, and fitting plywood or timber formwork. In construction, time is money, so every hour saved is cash in the bank.
  • Precision and Quality: Commercially manufactured steel shuttering is produced in a controlled factory environment with stringent quality control to ensure precise measurements and high-quality finishes beyond the scope of the hand-crafted alternative.
  • Durability and Reusability: When maintained with care, the superior durability of prefabricated steel concrete shuttering should be good for a hundred uses or more without loss of integrity. By contrast, warping and swelling from contact with water degrades wooden formwork after a few uses, leading to higher material costs in the long term.
  • Labour Efficiency: Unlike the labour-intensive assembly and dismantling of wooden formwork and the associated cost, the ease with which one can manage these actions when employing steel shuttering eliminates the need for suitably skilled labourers, thus reducing costs.
  • Environmental Impact: Construction is one of the world’s least sustainable industries, and, in many countries, companies face heavy fines for non-compliance with green requirements. Because it is reusable, prefabricated steel concrete shuttering is considered a more sustainable option than wooden formwork.
  • Logistics and Storage: Due to its modular design and durability, steel formwork is easy to transport and store. By contrast, wooden shuttering requires more space and careful handling to prevent damage.

Concrete Shuttering in South Africa

We at Disc-O-Scaff are an acknowledged leader in the manufacture of steel scaffolding and formwork. We invite you to contact us for more details about our products, which are made exclusively with SABS-approved materials.

A Comparison of Residential and Commercial Formwork in Construction

A Comparison of Residential and Commercial Formwork in Construction

The role of formwork in construction is to serve as a temporary mould to shape concrete. However, its use in commercial and domestic projects differs significantly. Formwork has been used since Roman times. Structures like the Pont du Gard in France and the Library of Celsus in Turkey are proof of its efficiency. 

The following paragraphs explain the differences in the use of formwork in residential and commercial construction and the unique challenges and solutions of each.

The Challenges of Residential Construction

Although residential projects are typically smaller and less complex than commercial ones, they still present challenges, such as:

  • Cost Constraints: Budgets for small projects are usually tight, calling for cost-effective formwork solutions that won’t compromise quality or safety.
  • Customisation: Curved walls, intricate cornices, and other complex design elements are frequent features of residential buildings, creating a need for equally complex formwork in construction projects.

The Solutions: Formwork has evolved since Roman builders used fabric and reeds. Residential builders now have the following options to overcome their routine challenges:

  • Modular Formwork: The availability of modular formwork that can be easily assembled into multiple shapes has dramatically reduced operating costs for the small builder by increasing speed and efficiency.
  • Prefabricated Panels: Circular and rectangular shuttering composed of prefabricated bespoke panels are ideal for the ornate columns often required in residential buildings.

The Challenges of Commercial Construction

The markedly larger dimensions of commercial buildings pose the following challenges when using formwork in construction projects:

  • Scale and Load: Structures like office blocks and shopping malls must support much higher loads than the average home. Consequently, all formwork must be sufficiently robust to cope with the added pressure without compromising structural integrity.
  • Speed and Efficiency: Time is frequently a crucial factor for companies engaged in commercial construction. They often face stiff financial penalties for failing to meet agreed milestones and completion dates, so their formwork must enable rapid construction.
  • Height and Complexity: Commercial buildings frequently combine complex designs with high-rise architecture. Hence, the formwork used must cater to these requirements safely and efficiently.

The Solutions: The designers and manufacturers of modern formwork have developed the following options to circumvent the above challenges:

  • Advanced Systems: New developments in the industry include tunnel, jump, and climbing formwork to handle high-rise commercial construction projects safely and efficiently and help companies avoid costly delays.
  • Automation: Automated and self-climbing formwork cuts labour costs and significantly reduces construction times.

Sourcing Quality Formwork

If you use formwork in construction, you need quality, safety, efficiency, and versatility. These are the hallmarks of all steel scaffolding and shuttering products at Disc-O-Scaff. Please get in touch if you would like to learn more.

The Use of Sliding Formwork and Its Benefits in Construction

The Use of Sliding Formwork and Its Benefits in Construction

Shuttering is vital to shape tall concrete structures, but static shutters are impractical above a certain height, and sliding formwork is the only option. Skyscrapers have long been a familiar part of the skyline in cities worldwide. However, until the early 1900s, their construction was an extremely time-consuming and costly task. Each floor had to be built separately and given time to stabilise before removing and relocating the shuttering to start building the next.

Slip forming, as the technique is commonly known, employs a formwork system that can be raised gradually as the concrete cures without the need to assemble, dismantle, and relocate it repeatedly. Because the shuttering moves continuously, the process eliminates visible joints. Also, the shuttering can be adjusted to change the taper or thickness of the structure on the fly. The technique was first used in 1910 for building silos, cooling towers, bridge piers, and dams in the US. In 1969, the method was adopted to create the Sheraton Hotel in Waikiki, Hawaii, heralding a new era in construction history.

The Evolution of Sliding Formwork

Though unsuitable for all concrete structures, in addition to the abovementioned applications, slip forming has since been adapted for use in horizontal structures like pavement kerbs, airport taxiways, and cycle paths. However, the technology underpinning slip forming has also evolved considerably.

The initial use of manual labour to operate the hydraulic systems required to raise the shuttering is no longer necessary. Instead, modern slip-form shuttering employs motorised jacks, automated control systems, and advanced materials to ensure smoother and more precise operation.

In general terms, slip forming is an efficient and economical option for structures over 16 metres high and at least 15 centimetres thick. When appropriate, the form can be raised by 5 to 30 centimetres per hour or between 1,2 and 7,2 metres per day, a build rate well beyond the capabilities of any other current construction method.

Some Benefits of Sliding Formwork

Slip formwork offers multiple benefits, including the following:

  • Economy: The process significantly reduces construction timelines, resulting in considerable cost savings.
  • Precision: The automated adjustment of sliding formwork enables the precise control necessary to ensure uniformity and structural integrity, thus minimising the need for remedial work.
  • Speed: The continuous process allows work to continue around the clock and in all weathers.
  • Safety: Eliminating the need to assemble manual formwork at heights reduces the risk of accidents.

Sliding formwork has transformed the process of building tall structures, improving their quality while cutting costs. Contact us at Disc-O-Scaff for all your formwork and scaffolding requirements and transform your building projects.

The Nature, Use, and Benefits of Concrete Shutters in Construction

The Nature, Use, and Benefits of Concrete Shutters in Construction

While the invention of concrete revolutionised construction, this would not have been possible without concrete shutters to mould it into walls and columns. This greyish mixture of cement, water, air, and aggregate may lack the more attractive appearance of red brick, but it is equally strong and durable while being far more versatile.

In its uncured, wet state, the mix can be readily formed into any shape an innovative architect can dream up. However, maintaining that shape during the curing process requires using a support system known as formwork. The term is generic. It applies to any means of forming shapes from concrete and includes a type of temporary mould known as shuttering, the system used to create vertical structures from poured concrete.

Because shuttering must usually be removed once the contained structure is stable, it must be composed of separate interlocking parts. However, the freshly poured concrete will exert extreme pressure on the surrounding formwork, so it must be made from a suitably durable material. Furthermore, the joints between its component parts must be tightly sealed to prevent the wet concrete from leaking.

Historically, first timber and, later, plywood were used for this purpose, and the latter is still used today by some builders. However, although wood proved strong enough for the task, it is subject to warping and rot from repeated exposure to dampness. Consequently, concrete formwork made from wood has a limited lifespan.

The Benefits of Using Steel to Create Concrete Shutters

Materials science is a constantly and rapidly evolving field responsible for advances in areas as diverse as joint replacement surgery, battery design, aerospace, and the components of formwork used by construction companies. In the latter case, there are three contenders for a more effective alternative to wood.

  • Plastic: PVC shuttering has several attractive benefits. It is light, water-resistant, easily assembled and dismantled, and reusable. However, it’s more expensive than timber or plywood and has lower rigidity, strength, and bearing capacity than metal alternatives.
  • Aluminium: The metal is abundant and is, therefore, a more sustainable option than plastic. However, although it is also a lightweight material, it is easily dented, significantly more expensive, and its production has a high environmental impact.
  • Steel: Despite being the heaviest of the three, steel concrete shutters are also the toughest and most durable. It is also the most versatile and easiest to assemble and disassemble, making it the preferred choice of leading construction companies worldwide.

Purchasing Quality Concrete Shutters

We at Disc-O-Scaff are South Africa’s foremost manufacturer and supplier of steel formwork. Contact us for more information about our SABS-approved products for the construction industry.

How Column Formwork Revolutionised the Use of Concrete in Construction

Concrete appeared in 6500 BC when Jordanians and Syrians used it to lay floors. Later, the Romans’ use of column formwork transformed construction forever. For almost seven millennia, due to its semi-liquid nature when first mixed, the use of this aerated mixture of cement, water, sand, and gravel was limited to two dimensions.

The iconic building material only began to reveal its full potential when Roman ingenuity led to the use of simple moulds made from materials like reed and fibre to secure the uncured mix in place until set. Gradually, Rome evolved from a brick-and-mortar city to a concrete metropolis. The fact that much of the Pantheon and Colosseum remains standing today is ample proof of the value of even this primitive formwork. Surprisingly, it was only after the fall of the Roman Empire that timber was first used for this purpose.

Column Formwork in Modern Construction

Columns and pillars are frequent features of modern construction products, like bridges, tunnels, motorway overpasses, and multi-storey car parks. These vertical elements must support and transmit the compressive and bending forces from the infrastructure above to the foundations below, so their integrity is crucial. Longitudinal steel bars and brackets within these structures help resist flexion and prevent buckling, while the external column formwork determines the desired shape.

Smaller builders still use timber and plywood formwork, but although it’s cheap and versatile, it absorbs water and may tend to shrink or deform, limiting its useful lifespan. However, the introduction of steel in the early 1900s provided builders with an option that was strong, easy to use, and which, with only minimal care, could be reused repeatedly.

Despite the introduction of aluminium formwork in the 1960s and the arrival of plastic versions in the early 2000s, steel has remained the option of choice for most large construction companies. While aluminium is lighter and cheaper, steel is stronger and more durable.

Column Formwork from Disc-o-Scaff

All formwork manufactured by us at Disc-o-Scaff is engineered to the highest standards using only SABS-approved materials. You may find a cheaper product but not a better one, which might explain why our products have become the preferred choice of so many leading South African construction and scaffolding companies.

We offer two high-quality column formwork products:

  • Circular Column Box: These can be supplied in various sizes to create circular columns.
  • Economy Panel Column Box: For creating square or rectangular columns of various sizes with just four components.

If you want quality and value for money, phone us, email us, or complete our online contact form to learn more about world-class formwork and scaffolding from us at Disc-o-Scaff.

Basic Working Principles of Formwork in Construction

With concrete being the main choice of building material, formwork has introduced complex geometric designs and formidable-sized construction in urban development. This symbiotic relationship has proven that the architectural landscape can be built structurally sound, sustainably, cost-effectively, and at a faster pace.

As the leading formwork manufacturer, we at Disc-O-Scaff would like to emphasise the importance of quality formwork and the possible failures that could occur if incorrect shuttering is selected to build structural elements, such as beam and column formwork.

Factors that Can Affect the Quality of a Surface Finish, Especially in Formwork Applications

The method of using and handling formwork significantly impacts the finish of concrete. Obvious surface blemishes, such as poor form joints, offsets, and the use of inadequate facing materials, occur when the formwork material selection is unsuitable for the construction of the structural element. Achieving a high-quality concrete finish depends heavily on factors such as the concrete mixture, concreting temperature and practices, as well as careful formwork considerations before and during construction.   

Freshly poured concrete exerts lateral pressure affecting the height of the concrete formwork. The pressure of the formwork increases as the height of the fresh concrete increases and only ceases when further force from above is no longer transmitted. Should the incorrect formwork have been selected, this continuous rising pressure could result in sections of the formwork bulging or deflecting.

Causes of Concrete Formwork Failure

Several factors can contribute to the failure of formwork during and after construction, which need to be highlighted to ensure that these indispensable building structures remain structurally safe supports.  

  • Lack of Inspection

Often, failures occur due to inspection by unqualified or inexperienced inspectors. A competent person or engineer should always be on-site to inspect and certify that completed formwork meets design specifications and that it is structurally sound before it is loaded.

  • Improper Connections and Defective Components

As much as formwork can fail due to design flaws that do not take lateral forces and stability into account, a lack of maintenance will also lead to failure. Shuttering is used multiple times, and often, corrosion sets in and damages occur which, during assembly, are not always considered. If components are insufficiently connected with the proper wedge and clip assemblies, it can lead to progressive collapses and compromise the integrity of the formwork.     

  • Premature Removal of Components

Tight scheduling and budget constraints may lead to the premature removal of the shuttering. Formwork must only be removed once the concrete has adequately cured.

To safeguard against formwork failure, we at Disc-O-Scaff would advise that the correct procedures are followed during the assembly when the concrete is being poured, and once the concrete has cured, the formwork has been deemed safe to remove.

Armed with this knowledge and trusting your formwork solutions with the experts in the industry, we at Disc-O-Scaff will ensure that your choice of circular, economy panel, and column shuttering will provide ample structural support. Contact us for superior-quality steel scaffolding and formwork solutions.