TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION ITEM 03100 CONCRETE FORMWORK 1.0 GENERAL 1.1 DESCRIPTION This section defines requirements and limitations for design, construction, erection, and removal of concrete formwork for this project. 1.2 REFERENCE STANDARD American Concrete Institute; ACI 347, "Recommended Practice for Concrete Formwork." 2.0 PRODUCTS 2.1 MATERIALS a. Forms for As-Cast Finish (1) Rough Form Finish. Dressed or undressed lumber free of knots, splits, or other defects; plywood; metal; other approved material. (2) Smooth Form Finish. Plywood, tempered, concrete-form hardboard; dressed lumber faced with plywood; metal; plastic; other approved material. Do not use material with raised grain, torn surface, work edges, patches, dents, or other defects. b. Form Accessories (1) Use commercially manufactured ties, hangers, and other accessories for embedding in concrete. Use of wire which is not commercially fabricated as form accessories is not permitted. (2) Install form ties so that ends or end fasteners can be removed without causing spalling of concrete faces. (3) When formed concrete face will not be permanently exposed to view, form ties may be cut flush with formed surfaces. (4) When formed concrete face will be exposed to view and after ends or end fasteners of form ties have been removed, the embedded portion must be at least ¾-inch (¾") or twice the minimum dimension of the tie from formed concrete faces. c. Form Coating. Use commercial formulation of form oil or form-release agent having proven satisfactory performance. Coating must not bond with, stain, or adversely effect concrete surfaces. It must not impair subsequent treatment of concrete surfaces, including bonding agents and curing compounds. 03100-1
d. Chamfer Strips. Provide in corners of forms to produce beveled edges on permanently exposed surfaces. Size of chamfer is ¾-inch (¾") unless shown otherwise. Interior corners and edges of formed joints do not require beveling unless otherwise shown. 2.2 DESIGN OF FORMWORK Design formwork for loads, lateral pressure, and allowable stresses as described in the reference standard (ACI 347). Allow for design consideration, wind loads, allowable stresses, and other applicable requirements of controlling local building codes. a. Tolerances. (1) For concrete surfaces exposed to view, the maximum allowable deflection is 1/240 of the span between structural members. (2) When necessary to maintain specified tolerances, chamfer formwork to compensate for anticipated deflection during concrete hardening. (3) Design forms sufficiently tight to prevent loss of mortar. b. Earth Cuts For Forms. For beams under slabs on grade, use earth cuts for forms where beams are shown to have sloping sides and are integral with slab. Earth cuts may be used for sides of footings if sides of excavation are in stable condition to prevent caving or sloughing. c. Slip Forming. Not permitted. 3.0 EXECUTION 3.1 NOTIFICATION At least 24 hours prior to scheduled concrete placement, notify the Engineer that formwork may be inspected. Do not place concrete until forms have been inspected and approved. 3.2 PREPARATION a. Anchor, brace, and tie formwork to shores, members, or other supporting surfaces to prevent upward or lateral movement to any part of formwork system during concrete placement. Tighten forms to close joints and insure conformance to specified lines and shapes. Remove and rebuild forms that cannot be tightened properly. b. Arrange facing material in an orderly and symmetrical fashion. Keep the number of seams to a practical minimum. Support facing material adequately to prevent deflection in excess of specified tolerances. c. For flush surfaces exposed to view, overlap previously placed, hardened concrete with form sheeting by approximately one-inch (1"). Hold forms against hardened concrete to maintain true surfaces, preventing offsets or loss of mortar. d. Provide temporary openings at the base of column and wall forms and at other points required. The openings facilitate observation and cleaning immediately before concrete is placed. e. If runways are required for moving equipment, provide for support of runways with struts or legs resting directly on the formwork or structural member. Do not allow runways or supports to rest on reinforcing steel. 03100-2
3.3 ADJUSTMENTS a. Use wedges or jacks to provide positive adjustment of shores and struts. Wedges used for final adjustment of forms should be fastened in position after final inspection and before concrete placement. b. Securely brace forms against lateral deflections. Prepare to compensate for settling during concrete placement. c. For wall openings, construct wood forms that facilitate any necessary loosening to counteract swelling of forms. 3.4 TOLERANCES a. Construct formwork so that concrete surfaces will conform to tolerance limits as listed in the appropriate table at the end of this section. b. Establish sufficient control points and bench marks as references for tolerance checks. Maintain these references in undisturbed condition until final completion and acceptance of the project. 3.5 PREPARATION OF FORM SURFACES a. Before placing concrete, clean surfaces of forms and embedded materials. Remove accumulated mortar, grout, rust and other foreign matter. b. Coat forms for exposed or painted concrete surfaces with form oil or form-release agent before placing reinforcement. Cover form surfaces with coating material used in strict accordance with the manufacturer's printed instructions. Do not allow excess coating material to accumulate in forms or to contact hardened concrete against which fresh concrete will be placed. Remove coating material from reinforcement before placing concrete. c. Other than retained-in-place metal forms, forms for unexposed surfaces may be wet with water immediately before concrete placement in lieu of coating. One exception is that when a possibility of freezing temperatures exists, use of a coating is mandatory. 3.6 REMOVAL OF FORMS a. On vertical surfaces when repair of surfaces defects or finishing is required before concrete is aged, remove forms as soon as concrete has hardened sufficiently to resist damage from removal operations. b. Remove top forms on sloping surfaces of concrete as soon as concrete has attained sufficient stiffness to prevent sagging. Loosen wood forms for wall openings as soon as this can be accomplished without damage to concrete. Formwork for columns, walls, sides of beams, and other parts not supporting weight of concrete may be removed after 12 hours provided that concrete has hardened sufficiently to resist damage from removal operations. When shores and other vertical supports are arranged so that nonload-carrying, form-facing material may be removed without loosening or disturbing shores and supports, facing material may be removed at an earlier age. c. Keep in place all forms and shoring used to support weight of concrete until concrete has reached the minimum strength specified for removal of forms and shoring. In no case shall forms be removed in less than four (4) days. 03100-3
3.7 REMOVAL STRENGTH a. Control Tests. Suitable strength control tests will be used as evidence that concrete has attained specified strength for removal of formwork or shoring supporting weight of concrete in beams, slabs, and other structural members. (1) Field Test. When field cured test cylinders reach the specified removal strength, formwork or shoring may be removed from the respective concrete placements. (2) Laboratory Test. When concrete has been cured as specified for cast-in-place concrete for the same time period required by laboratory cured cylinders to reach specified strength, the formwork or shoring may be removed from respective concrete placements. Determine the length of time that the concrete placement has been cured by totaling the number of days or fraction of days, not necessarily consecutive, during which the air temperature surrounding the concrete is above 50 F and the concrete has been damp or thoroughly sealed against evaporation and loss of moisture. b. Compressive Strengths. The minimum concrete compressive strengths for removal of all formwork not specifically covered under the previous paragraph on Removal of Forms shall be 75 percent (75%) of the specified minimum 28-day strength of the class of concrete involved. 3.8 SHORING a. When reshoring is permitted or required, plan operations in advance and secure approval of such operations. While reshoring is under way, keep live load off the new construction. Do not permit concrete in beam, slab, column or other structural member to be subjected to combined dead and construction loads in excess of loads permitted for developed concrete strength at the time of reshoring. b. Place reshores as soon as practicable after stripping operations are complete but in no case later than the end of the working day on which stripping occurs. Tighten reshores to carry the required loads without overstressing construction. Leave reshores in place until tests representative of concrete being supported have reached specified strength or strength specified for removal of reshores. c. Leave original supporting shores in place or reshore those floors supporting shoring under newly placed concrete. Reshoring system capacity must be sufficient to resist anticipated loads and in all cases have a capacity equal to at least ½ of the capacity of the shoring system above. Locate reshores directly under shore positions above unless other locations are permitted. d. Extend reshoring over a sufficient number of stories to distribute weight of newly placed concrete, forms and construction live loads in such a manner that design superimposed loads of floors supporting shores are not exceeded. 3.9 FORM REUSE Approval is required before reusing any forms. Do not reuse forms that are worn or damaged beyond repair. Thoroughly clean and recoat forms before reuse. For wood and plywood forms to be used for exposed smooth finish, sand or otherwise dress concrete contact surface to original condition or provide form liner facing material. For metal forms, straighten, remove dents and clean to return to original condition. 03100-4
TABLE 3A TOLERANCES FOR FORMED SURFACES CONCRETE IN BUILDINGS Variation Form Plumb or Specified Batter Variation in Lines and surfaces of columns, piers, walls, and arrises Exposed corner columns, control joint grooves, and other conspicuous lines For Any 10 Foot Length For Any 20 Foot Length or Any Bay Maximum For Entire Dimension ¼" -- 1" ¼" ¼" ½" Level or Specified Grade Slab soffits, ceilings, beam soffits, and in arrises (measured before removal of shores) exposed lintels, sills, parapets horizontal grooves and other conspicuous lines ¼" _" ¾" -- ¼" ½" Drawing Dimensions Position of linear building lines, columns, walls, and partitions Size and location of sleeves, floor openings and wall openings Cross section of columns, beams, slabs, and walls -- ½" 1" -- -- ±¼" -- -- +½" -¼" Footings* in plan -- -- +2" -½" Footing misplacement or eccentricity of direction error (the less of) -- -- 2% of width or 2" Footing thickness decrease -- -- 5% Footing thickness increase -- -- no limit Step rise in flight of stairs -- -- ±_" Step tread in flight of stairs -- -- ±¼" Consecutive step rise -- -- ± 1 / 16 " Consecutive step tread -- -- ±_" * Footing tolerances apply to concrete dimensions only, not to positioning of vertical reinforcing steel, dowels, or embedded items. 03100-5
TABLE 3B TOLERANCES FOR FORMED SURFACES CONCRETE IN BRIDGES, WHARVES AND SIMILAR STRUCTURES Variation Form Variation In Maximum Plumb or Specified Batter Level or Specified Grade Surfaces of Columns, Piers, and Walls Top Surfaces of Slabs, Curbs, & Railings Drawings Dimensions Cross Section of Columns, Caps, Beams and Similar Members * Same as footings for buildings - See Table 3A. Thickness of Deck Slabs ½" in 10_ 3 / 16 " in 10_ +½" -¼" Footing * +¼" -_" 03100-6