Thursday, March 31, 2011

Cleaning and straightening out formwork


With hundreds of pours during their lifetime, steel or aluminum system formwork are exposed to heavy strain. No worker on site treats the formwork like a raw egg.
After each pour, concrete residue clings to both the siurface and the metal frames of the formwork element. With cleaning machines, the surface and the frames can be cleaned automatically, fast and precise. PPS Dietle of Haiterbach (close to Stuttgart, Germany) produces these custom machines that help to keep the equipment clean. Not only formwork, but also props for scaffolding.
Once the frames and props are clean, they usually need to be straightened out as well. Otherwise those bent props wont fit for the next pour. To get them back in shape, PPS Dietle manufactures specialized, automated machines for the straightening of props.
The process of cleaning and repairing is in general "unproductive" time for the equipment and every hour or day the equipment is not on site, it basically loses money for the owner.
To get the most out of the formwork investment, cleaning and repair times have to be as little as possible. Automated cleaning and fast repairing are key to a productive and profitable formwork ownership.

watch this video of the cleaning process with a Dietle machine.


click HERE to watch the video

image: PPS Dietle GmbH

and of course, the formwork surface needs repair as well. See our Website Emplica for more information about easy repair of surfaces.


Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Pritzker Price Laureate Eduardo Souto de Moura likes concrete

The 2011 Pritzker Price Laureate Eduardo Souto de Moura has designed some nice structures in his life. Many of them with concrete surfaces.
See the images below for my favourites of his work.

private house for luis vala das fernandes

Especially the Paula Rego Museum has drawn my attention to it since he used pigemented concrete. Also, the chimneys are open on top to let natural sunlight into the museum rooms. this gives the rooms a very special athmosphere.

image: dezeen.com
Paula Rego Museum
image: dezeen.com
Paula Rego Museum
Inside the Braga Statium
image: dezeen.com


Outside Braga stadium

image: dezeen.com
private house in Braga

Monday, March 28, 2011

Emplica announces partnership with PPS Dietle

Zurich / Haiterbach, March 2011. Emplica AG, a formwork repair systems specialist and PPS Dietle GmbH, an automation engineering company have agreed to work closely together. The cooperation aims, according to the directors Jan Herud and Holger Dietle, to venture new markets and clients within the formwork industry together.
The portfolios of the two companies are perfectly complementary. Emplica specializes in repair systems for formwork surfaces. The company offers systems that allows formwork owners to repair their formwork easy and cost effective. PPS Dietle develops and manufactures automation solutions for the formwork industry. Highly innovative automated machines for repair of frames and cleaning of formwork surfaces are among their product range.
The aim of the cooperation is to develop new markets together and offer products to a wider customer base. In addition, both companies plan to work together in the area of process optimization, since cleaning and repair of formwork systems are closely related processes. In the future, development of new products will be mutually coordinated. Through the cooperation, Emplica and PPS Dietle can provide customers interesting solutions for the re-use of formwork.
"The cooperation with Dietle PPS is a logic step, since the strengths of our companies complement each other," says Jan Herud, managing director of Emplica. "Customized solutions provide crucial competitive advantages over market companions. Emplica and PPS Dietle can realize such solutions" continues Holger Dietle, CEO of PPS Dietle.



image: emplica AG

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Dubai forecasting growth of up to 5 per cent in 2011

According to Abdul Rahman Al Ghurair, chairman of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dubai is expecting a real growth of 3-5 per cent in 2011 after a promising rise in the economy in 2010. Dubai suffered severly in 2008 after the financial crisis.


wikipedia


The direction of the real estate market, which has suffered especially over the last 2 years, is not yet clear. But the low prices have attracted many new businesses which in the end will lead to growth again.






emplica formwork repair

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Japan desaster

I found this wonderful piece of poetry by Kokan Shiren (1278-1346) and i very much like it in these hard times:


Still things moving,
firm becomes unfirm,
land like ocean waves,
house like a boat --
a time to be fearful,     
but to delight as well;
no wind, yet the wind-bells
keep on ringing.

he wrote this after a devastating earthquake in Japan 700 years ago!
I strongly believe in the power of the japanese people to stand up again! Seiichi, keep it up!!!

Rebuilding Japan


Who hasn't watched the news the last few days since the earthquake and a following tsunami hit Japan's eastern coast. As a teenager i saw tchernobyl explode and now something similar is happening in one of the most developed countries of this world. I feel very sorry for all my friends in Japan and the helplessness that we all experience at this moment is very annoying.
Aside the nuclear drama happening at the 3 nuclear powerplants in Fukushima, Onagawa and Tokai, there are some 100.000 buildings damaged or destroyed, infrastructure is severly damaged and the flood has made life in many towns impossible for the next few weeks and months.
As if this wasnt enough, it seems that in this case, the new social media channels are not really providing anyone with reliable information. Most of what can be read is rumor and opinion. I have the feeling that official information is very scarce and maybe withholding the worst.

I found a few sources though, that i believe can help get clearer picture on the nuclear desaster in Fukushima:

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/

http://www.world-nuclear-news.org

http://bravenewclimate.com/2011/03/15/fukushima-15-march-summary/

http://mitnse.com/

http://www.jaif.or.jp/english/

image: nytimes


image: nytimes

Rebulding Japan will, according to Air worldwide, a risk analysis company cost around USD 40bn. This is a very early estimate and i believe it will be much more.

http://www.khl.com/magazines/international-construction/detail/item62541/earthquake-damage-could-exceed-us$-34-billion/

What bothers me is that Japan's economy has been struggling for almost 20 years in a row now and this hit is definitely no help to get the country back on a winning track. Lets just hope that it can recover fast with the help of the rest of the world.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/14/business/global/14yen.html


emplica formwork repair http://www.emplica.com

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

and tieholes can look good!

Just recently i stumbled over a producer of concrete and formwork accessories who really has an artistic and appealing touch.
Maro concrete accessories can improve concrete wall with concrete cones in many colors. Not only that, their whole business approach is very thoughtthrough and should appeal to any architect who works with fair faced concrete.
See their range of products here

image: MARO

A closely connected company is selling and trading products to improve fair faced concrete quality.

have a look at http://www.matec-gmbh.com/



we do everything for a good fair faced concrete formwork: http://www.emplica.com

Baluarte Bridge in Mexico new landmark

The Baluarte Bridge in Mexico, crossing the gorge of the river Baluarte will connect the citie of Durango and Mazatlan with a new highway, closing a 1200 meter gap in the 230 km long, four-lane motorway.
The Puente Baluarte became the highest bridge in Latin America upon opening for traffic in late 2010. The mexican Government spend USD 1.2bn for the complete infrastructure project connecting the pacific coast with Durango.
The bridge spans 1200 mtrs wide over the gorge and traffic crosses 390 mtrs high above the river.





images: Grupo Triada

Article about the bridge in Geo-Mexico, highest bridges, video on youtube


Formwork system used: Peri



we care for good concrete surfaces: http://www.emplica.com

article about emplica in german construction magazine

bpz, a german contractors magazine has printed an article about the emplica formwork repair system.
bpz 01/02 2011, feb 17 2011