Hospital operation

SGB’s GASS formwork has been used to reduce costs and improve concreting efficiency at the new acute hospital in Peterborough, UK.

Contractor, Buildstone, is using lightweight aluminium GASS support legs in tandem with SGB’s DU-AL beams to achieve the optimum structural support for the permanent formwork while reducing the quantity of equipment required.

Buildstone’s consulting engineer calculated that by erecting the towers in parallelogram format it would reduce the amount of back-propping required, and thereby minimise the amount of support equipment. “The GASS system was the only formwork system available that could be effectively applied in this way,” said a Buildstone spokesman.

“By using 3 m ledger frames offset at an angle of 135⁰ rather than the usual 2,1 m ledger frames at 90⁰, we’ve been able to transfer the load over a wider area via DU-AL aluminium beams positioned both above the soffit and beneath the GASS legs,” continued the spokesman.

“This propping configuration was made possible by the unique eight-point GASS connector which allows ledger frames to be attached to the leg at variable angles in increments of 45⁰,” said the spokesman.