Beta Tops in the USA

Traditionally, US concrete flooring contractors use timber(lumber) formwork when pouring concrete floor slabs however, for this project - a suspended floor slab on piles was required by the client engineer - the structural integrity for this type of floor usually requires a top and bottom layer of bar reinforcement at very close centres. Fixing the steel for this type of floor is an art-form in its own right but the formwork requirement using timber is very difficult to install and hold stable as it has to be built up and around the continuous bar reinforcements. After concreting on one side of the form, the timber has to be removed which often proves to be even more difficult than the installation. 

For this project, Permaban BetaTop formwork system was used in this 300mm deep slab and Permaban were able to customise the BetaTop to provide holes in the rail at the centres specified for the top and bottom reinforcement bars and to provide the top and bottom cover required.

Altogether over 4500m of the formwork system was supplied to the project site in New Jersey, all the way from Ivybridge, Devon.

A Somero Power Rake was used to gain an initial strike-off and move the excess concrete away from the screed. After this, a Somero Copperhead  was employed  to achieve the final tolerances.