SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
CONCRETE TODAY III
PHOTO: COURTESY OF DOKA
Opinions expressed are those of the advertisers.
Doka’s interlocking shaping timbers fitted
tightly together to create and support the
formworks required shape for a grand
staircase in Smyrna, Tenn.
Welcoming the New
New mixes and new technologies are increasing sustainability and
understanding
By Karin Tetlow
One night during London’s devas-
tating blitz in World War II, Prime
Minister Winston Churchill was impa-
tient to see the new bombproofing of
the Cabinet War Rooms. He set forth
with just a flashlight on his walking
stick and, as reported his secretary,
promptly sank up to his ankles in thick
liquid cement.
Eighty years later, with climate
change up front and center, stories
about cement—or rather concrete—
concern the more serious issue of carbon
footprint and efforts by state DOTs to
reduce its proportion in concrete mixes.
Meanwhile, a handful of concrete
contractors are adopting technologies
that have considerable potential for
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their own future and for society at large.
One intriguing development is
3D concrete printing, where concrete
is “printed” (i.e., extruded) to create
a building component. Better suited
to mid-size buildings at present, 3D
concrete printing has higher building
speed, reduces waste and costs less. The
world’s first 3D-printed concrete arched
bridge opened in Venice last year. In
March, ICON unveiled House Zero in
Texas, a 3D-printed house with curved
walls that created structurally efficient
self-stability.
Another development is merging
and expanding BIM (Building Infor-
mation Modeling) and VDC (Virtual
Design and Construction) technologies
that add powerful tools for manage-
ment, communications and marketing.
Beginning in 2014, Baker Concrete
began 3D modeling and a year later, it
added 4D scheduling. “Starting with
a Revit 3D model, we can use it to
analyze complex areas of the building
all the way down to site logistics or a
crane layout—or even deliveries on tight
sites,” says Shaun Fratangelo, director
of preconstruction for Baker Concrete’s
Southeast Region. “Now we add a
schedule to analyze time in relation to
different aspects of construction.”
In 2017, having earned his drone
pilot’s license, Ani Anjana, regional
BIM/VDC manager for Baker
Concrete’s Southeast Region, added
November 14/21, 2022 | 27
CONCRETE TODAY III SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

drone mapping videos to the workflow throughout construction, the model

that provided an accurate real-time
view of the site (Google Earth can be
outdated), related data such as adjacent
building heights and potential clashes
with property lines. Merging the
schedule and drone map with the BIM
model allowed Baker to show pour
sequences and see how other sequences
come into play so they do not interrupt
critical paths, especially on projects that
are property line to property line. The
merged model will also show the close-
ness of streets and power lines.
The final phase is printing the
BIM model—a 3D printer was added
in 2020. Feeling, touching and seeing
how the building will look can be
could be useful for coordination with
other trades and the general contractor,
provided they have the relevant
interactive software. Equally valuable
is how the model provides the means
to communicate complex steps in an
accessible, visual way. An example is
Baker’s 4D schedule construction video
of the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and
Casino in Hollywood, Fla. (https://bit.
ly/3T2EyJa)
Baker Concrete has used 4D sched-
uling for about 1,000 projects and has
printed some 15 models. Earlier in
Baker Concrete used its 3D-printed model
year, Ihsan Gin, regional BIM/VDC to make a marketing video for the Semi-
manager of Baker, D.C., began experi- nole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hol-
menting with printing 3D formwork for lywood, Fla. (https://bit.ly/3zldQV4)

surprising—one project had a large unique shapes, saving time and labor “We are virtually constructing

PHOTO: COURTESY OF BAKER CONCRETE

overhanging section that no one
anticipated. Nearby buildings can be
3D-printed to check how logistics will
function in real space, and the model
itself can be manipulated to phase a
project or broken down to show how
formwork is stacked. Used in the field
for what usually is a manually intensive,
time-consuming process. Gin sees this
as particularly applicable for smaller
complex forms. Baker’s next step is
adding virtual reality (VR). Already
Anjana is working with an Oculus
headset.
a building and solving most of the
problems ahead of time,” says Fratan-
gelo. “All this brings more value to our
clients. For people who can’t think or
visualize at a 3D level, this provides a
whole new level of expertise and under-
standing.” ◆

Delivering Intricate Forms

A world leader in providing innova-
tive formwork, Doka reports high
demand for intricate preassembly and
custom formwork applications—a
niche that many companies avoid. One
recent example is the “Bark Bar,” a
dog-friendly bar in a new 7-acre urban
park in Carey, N.C. Another is a curved
monolithic concrete staircase at Smyrna
Ready Mix Concrete’s new headquar-
ters in Smyrna, Tenn.
The unique design of the roof for
the Bark Bar and the sloped gable
radius roof of the courtyard called for
Doka’s engineering department to
develop specialized two-part solutions.
Dokaflex was used for the flat roof of
the bar and for supporting the bottom
of the ring beam. For the serpentine
program, Doka cut shaping timbers to surface, as per the design spec.
build variously shaped custom Dokaflex For further information, please visit
tables for the bar that echoed the geom- www.doka.com. ◆
etry of the structure.
For the grand staircase at Smyrna
Ready Mix Concrete’s new headquar-
ters, Doka engineered the custom
stair formwork for Nashville-based
contractor Charter Construction with
easily assembled pieces, thereby making
the construction of the architectur-
ally demanding staircase relatively
effortless. The team’s first step was to
create a detailed 3D model. Next, the
stair’s formwork system was divided
into five sections for easy transport.
When the first form’s shaping timbers
went to preassembly, the team cut and
fitted the timber sheets together in a
PHOTO: COURTESY OF DOKA

roof, Doka worked closely with Briegan
Concrete, to design and build the
different pie-shaped slab panels in its
Lawrenceville, Ga., assembly ware-
house. Using the same CNC machine
lattice pattern to hold the curved form’s
shape, and label and sequence them for
nesting and easy construction on site.
The epoxy-coated forms were removed,
leaving behind a smooth concrete
Doka designed and built slab panels
for the serpentine roof and assembled
various shaped tables for the Dog Park in
Carey, N.C.

28 | November 14/21, 2022 enr.com/SpecialAd

Reduce your carbon
footprint and get
performance-driven
results with
EcoCemPLC TM.

EcoCemPLCTM was developed as part of

Lehigh Cement’s ongoing commitment to
significantly diminish CO2.

Visit lehighhanson.com and learn how your

project can benefit from EcoCemPLCTM,
reducing its carbon by as much as 10%!

As recently announced, Lehigh Hanson,

Lehigh and Hanson are becoming Heidelberg
Materials in 2023 to emphasize our
connection to our global brand and reflect our
much broader and innovative approach to
serving our customers.
CONCRETE TODAY III
More Sustainable Concrete Pavement
in New York With PEM
The success of a recently completed
concrete pavement intersection in
rural New York has confirmed that a
first-time-use performance-engineered
mixture (PEM) is a major step towards
increasing road durability and compli-
ance with the state’s policy of reducing
concrete’s carbon footprint.
The PEM was designed by Hanson
Aggregates to meet NYSDOT’s
performance requirements. It reduced
the cement content by 24% to 39%
as compared to NYSDOT Class C
concrete and included 25% fly ash.
Contributing to the more sustainable
mix, reports Hanson’s Quality Control
Manager Craig Green, was the use of
EcoCemPLC, an innovative, greener
blended Portland limestone cement
from Lehigh Cement.
PEMs were developed through the
30 | November 14/21, 2022
National Concrete Pavement Tech-
nology Center at Iowa State University
with the goal of achieving durable
concrete mixes every time, in every
environment. But, as Bill Cuerdon,
executive director of the American
Concrete Pavement Association-NYS
points out, the key component of
durability was lower, more efficient
cement content—which also reduced
the concrete’s carbon footprint.
Another first was using the PEM
combined with a slip form paving
operation for a small project where less-
productive fixed forms are typically
employed. Not large enough to justify
a dedicated ready-mix plant, contractor
Cold Spring Construction collaborated
with Hanson, who produced the 4,100
cu yds of mix and discharged it from
ready mix trucks to open haul units for
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
Hanson Aggregates supplied PEM for a
NYSDOT intersection where Cold Spring
Construction’s slip form machine success-
fully laid full-depth, 10 in.-thick sections.
transport to the site to be more effi-
ciently run through the paver. “It was
risky, but we were able to take high
production concrete principles of prac-
tice and apply them to a smaller job,”
PHOTO: COURTESY OF COLD SPRING CONSTRUCTION
says Cold Spring Vice President Jeff
Borden. “PEM really gives the producer
a lot of flexibility.”
EcoCemPLC is one of a range of
more sustainable products by Lehigh
Hanson. Soon to become Heidelberg
Materials, Lehigh Hanson provides solu-
tions born out of creative thinking and
enthusiasm. Visit lehighhanson.com. ◆
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Superdek
Fast, safe and simple handset
drop head slab system

Find out more!

www.doka.com/superdek

Fast 8’x8’ grid means Safe setting of the Simple handset slab
less posts, re-shoring stringer and joist formwork system with
and crane picks from below 4 main components

/DokaUSA /Doka_USA /company/DokaUSA /Doka_USA /DokaUSA

USA | T 877 365 2872 | usa@doka.com | Canada | T 866 923 6629 | canada@doka.com | www.doka.com

The Formwork Experts.

 CONCRETE TODAY III
Curing a Concrete Slab in Winter
Adds Value
Faced with curing a massive
1-million-sq-ft concrete slab in
Ontario’s winter-spring, a large North
American general contractor turned
to Aggreko, the global leader in
temporary power, heating and cooling.
The customer was the world’s largest
e-commerce company.
The contractor needed to quickly
thaw out the ground, provide prop-
erly cured sections and protect those
sections from freezing while waiting
on walls and roof structures to be
installed. But weather conditions,
major delays on the planned structures
and the customer’s own prelimi-
nary heating design concepts were
predicted to impact the overall tight
fixed schedule.
Aggreko’s technical team reevalu-
PHOTO: COURTESY OF AGGREKO
ated the initial heating and tempera-
ture control plan and implemented
a phased approach of ground thaw/
concrete cure/frost prevention.
Working with the contractor’s
Choosing the Right Partner for
Concrete Floors
Blair Duron has been polishing
concrete floors for 25 years, with
a portfolio of accomplishments
that includes new construction and
retrofit/rehab work for universities,
large warehouses, outlets, retail stores,
PHOTO: COURTESY OF BLAIR DURON RESTORATION
Blair Duron delivers aesthetically pleas-
ing, strong and durable polished concrete
floors for a variety of industries, including
educational facilities as shown here.
32 | November 14/21, 2022
technical teams, the revised plan
optimized the project’s total cost of
operations (TCO) for the phased-in
equipment during the entire project’s
life cycle. Achieving precise heating
and temperature control for each
phase allowed the project to stay
within the planned timeline while
managing the heating equipment’s
footprint and fuel consumption. A
critical factor in the success of the
project was the strong partnership and
communication between Aggreko and
the contractor and customer teams. ◆
Despite challenges, Aggreko’s techni-
cal expertise and customer partnership
cured a 1-million-sq-ft concrete slab.
hotels and restaurants, office build-
ings and auto showrooms. Unlike the
competition, Blair Duron does not
subcontract work. Everyone on the
project is on company payroll.
The right partner brings safety,
quality and on-time delivery creden-
tials. Blair Duron is ISO 9001
certified and employs the largest
direct labor force performing concrete
polishing in the Southeast. The firm’s
project managers and field service
professionals safely deliver over 450
projects per year to a Who’s Who of
owners and owners’ reps (architects,
engineers and general contractors)
with 100% on-time delivery.
For more information, visit www.
blairduron.com. ◆
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
Laying the
Groundwork With
3D Printing
One River North will be unlike any
other structure in Denver—or possibly
in the U.S. Located in the River North
neighborhood, the 16-story, mixed-use
development will marry concrete and
steel with native landscaping to create a
living residential tower.
An accessible “canyon” will cut verti-
cally and horizontally into 10 levels of
the facade to create an urban landscape
inspired by the mountain ranges scattered
along Denver’s western horizon. Defined
by wavy, organic shapes, the canyon will
include landscaped walkways, water
features and native plantings.
Bringing the many elements
together has demanded an excep-
tional level of planning and coordina-
tion between project partners. Baker
Concrete Construction, Inc., the
project’s concrete contractor, pulled
in its building information modeling
and virtual design and construction
specialists during preconstruction to
assist with the planning process. In
addition to building a virtual model of
the project, the team printed a 3D static
model of the structure to better under-
stand the intricacies of the canyon.
Because the shape of the cutout varies
by floor, the 3D model made it easier
to visualize the shoring requirements at
the leave-out areas.
The 343,000-sq-ft building is sched-
uled for completion in late 2023. ◆
PHOTO: COURTESY OF BAKER CONCRETE
A 3D-printed model of a Denver tower with
a complex facade served as a valuable
visual aid for the construction team.
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