Design Mag Vol 3

design

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Lighter. Faster. Safer. Flexible. Economical.

Those are the five key advantages claimed by

Austral Precast for its Austral Deck flooring system.

But first, what is the Austral Deck system and how

does it work?

Conventional suspended concrete floor slabs are cast

in situ on a formwork base, sometimes timber, more

often a metal ‘tray’, supported at frequent intervals by

a forest of props.The formwork is then fitted with

reinforcement mesh, and concrete poured and

screeded to the finished height.

It sounds simple and basic ... and it is. It’s also very

slow, and time is money, no more so than on a large

commercial or multi-residential project.

The Austral Deck system combines the speed of

precast elements with the considerable structural

qualities of a monolithic floor slab.

Here’s how it works.The Austral Deck elements, let’s call

them planks, are precast in lengths up to 12 metres

and a standard width of 2.5 metres.Thicknesses vary

from 60mm to 75mm and 90mm, to suit the required

loading specification. Each unit is custom made, with

dimensions to specification.

The plank is reinforced and also has multiple rows of

triangular truss reinforcement (steel lattice girders)

following the length of the plank.These are

embedded into the precast plank and project

through the upper surface.

Cast-in items such as ferrules, conduits, and other

service fittings and penetrations can be incorporated

during manufacture.The system also allows for void

formers to be placed and secured on top of the

planks to reduce the concrete required for the in situ

pour, typically by 30 percent.

After curing, the Austral Deck planks are then

transported to site and craned into position, instantly

creating a strong, safe working surface that will easily

carry the load of trades and their materials.Work on

routing floor services can begin immediately.

A layer of reinforcing mesh is then positioned and tied,

and a layer of concrete poured and screeded to the

finished height.The result is a strong, composite floor

slab with the structural benefits of a conventional

monolithic slab.