Safety and sustainability are of utmost importance in formwork systems

Safety for the site operator and the integrity of the formwork system is always paramount. All innovations developed are undertaken with stringent on-site trials to ensure safety standards are maintained and improved, says Manikandan Mahalingam, General Director, Paschal FormWork (India) Pvt Ltd.

When it comes to large scale infrastructure projects which are either overhead or underground, what kind of formwork solutions are required?
The infrastructure projects comprise complex concrete structures requiring extensive technical design competence. The formwork material which is versatile and self-supported and cranes independent will be preferred for such projects. Sometimes there will be many cases where the formwork design has to be changed according to the site condition and requirement. Few cases may include moving the formwork as an assembly and customising the formwork to suit the purpose.

The main objective behind the design of Paschal products was to create an extremely safe working environment and high-speed erection with minimum cycle timings, as well as optimising the cost of material by using an economical system and maximum utilization of available labourers. All of the above objectives have been met by Paschal products with the following systems:
• For vertical formwork: Paschal Modular Universal system
• For slab formwork: e-deck lightweight slab system and Paschal Deck system for any slab thickness

Likewise, what kind of shoring systems is required for such projects?
Proper shoring installation will ensure sound construction. Hence selection of shoring should be well suited for the type of structures it is meant for use. The shoring system should be simple and quick to understand, utilize less space for assembly and dismantling and adaptable to the required structure.

The most common shoring methods used are hydraulic or pneumatic. However, the hydraulic method tends to be preferred because it is the safer and easier option. But most of the construction companies use other shoring methods which are lightweight and with few components and have relevant safety parameters. Keeping this in mind Paschal formwork offers a wide range of shoring solutions for different structures for underground projects such as tunnels, single-sided walls and overhead projects like piers, culvers, drain walls and abutments etc.

When it comes to overhead projects like bridges, what kind of safety features are a must for the formwork solutions being used for such projects?
Safety and sustainability are of utmost importance in formwork systems. Safety for the site operator and the integrity of the formwork system is always paramount. All innovations developed are undertaken with stringent onsite trials to ensure safety standards are maintained and improved.

Formwork with few components will be ideal for the productivity and safety of labour. The utilization of hydraulics and gantries for moving assembled formwork gives safe working environments because of little labour involvement. The use of wind protection systems provide working areas with high job safety, working platforms surrounding the structure are key to the overall safety of operatives.

The site risk management team should analyse the site condition and bring awareness by conducting pep talks, safety programs and maintaining safety sign boards throughout the site to ensure all aspects of safety are conformed to during site management.

What are some of the products you offer for such large scale infrastructure projects?
Paschal has products to fulfil different project needs. The Paschal Modular Universal formwork is economical and has a well-balanced panel selection which allows the user community to have the best possible understanding even for complicated layout plans.

Paschal Modular formwork is designed for handset applications as well as crane dependent large-size formwork. As our modular formwork can be reused over 300 times, we redesign our clients existing formwork to suit their next project, maximizing the number of reuses that our formwork can achieve. In case of slab formwork requirement, the Paschal Deck system is a versatile slab formwork solution for any slab thickness.

Paschal e-deck is a good lightweight slab system that can cater to major flat slab structures where the thickness of the slab can be cast below 300 mm. Based on the project requirements; Paschal also provides formwork solutions for various structures.

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