Construction time optimisation through comprehensive working safety and crane-independent climbing

With the ambitious Barangaroo Redevelopment Project, Sydney's city centre is being redefined in a westward direction. On the 22-hectare former container port facility, the greenest global residential, shopping and business centre in the world is currently being realised. Three office towers, the International Towers Sydney (ITS), form the centre of the Barangaroo South sub-project which is being promoted and developed under the lead management of Lend Lease.

The ITS high-rise complex consists of three towers with 39, 43 and 49 storeys respectively, and rises up to a height of 217 m. Together with the 3-storey base construction, the building has a total gross floor area of 320,000 m². Among other things, several thousand employees of the Australian Westpac Bank and KPMG audit and management consultancy company will enjoy ideal working conditions with optimal transport connections here from 2016 onwards.

Formwork and safety concept

In order to comply with the tight building schedule, PERI Australia engineers developed a comprehensive formwork and safety concept that was based on the LPS-climbing system. Through the use of mobile hydraulic units, the PERI solution has saved valuable crane time and thus accelerated working operations on this major construction site. In addition, the floor slabs of the base construction could be quickly and cost-effectively formed right from the beginning with the help of the lightweight GRIDFLEX aluminum girder grid slab formwork and PEP slab props with the systematic assembly sequence.

Project-specific enclosure

The housing with the lightweight LPS climbing protection panel units from PERI reliably protects site personnel working in the upper floors under construction against falling. The very light grid elements ensure, on the one hand, a high level of safety and wind-protected working areas due to the close-mesh design while, on the other hand, the permeable structure allows enough light into the building and simultaneously reduces the load on the anchoring in the building. For the ITS high-rise complex, the protection panel units are an impressive 18,50 m high and provide extremely safe working conditions for up to 5 floors at the same time.

Thanks to the high flexibility of the LPS system, PERI engineers could easily adapt the screens to suit the respective project-specific conditions as well as the stringent safety requirements. The girder grid units are telescopically arranged here for ensuring variable adaptation to the building floor plan. With the help of customized detailed solutions, even the smallest of gaps are closed which thus avoids any safety risks during all phases of construction. For example, foldable covers at the base of the climbing protection panel guarantee safe working operations in the areas below.

In particular, the comprehensive PERI solution took into consideration the varying floor heights of between 3.80 m and 5.50 m. And not least, working platforms on the slab edges with up to 75 cm work space have ensured that the reinforced concrete slabs could be reliably pre-stressed.

Crane-free

The mobile hydraulic climbing devices of the LPS system guarantee a high level of safety along with optimised construction processes. As a result, no crane is required for moving the protection panel units. This speeds up construction progress significantly as forming and concreting as well as climbing can take place at the same time early in the morning. Integrated into the PERI climbing solution are two RCS landing platforms which serve as temporary storage and moving of materials. Added safety is ensured by protection panel equipment above and below the RCS platform.

LPS climbing protection panel

PERI LPS stands for Light Protection Screen and is thus a weight-saving alternative to conventional, closed enclosures. Similar to the proven RCS system, the LPS climbing protection panel is also rail-climbed. This means that the units are connected to the building at all times by means of climbing shoes also during the climbing procedure – when climbing with or without a crane.

The lightweight LPS grid elements can be easily and very quickly assembled - and, compared to conventional enclosures, completely rentable. In addition, the integrated telescopic function of the grid allows the delivery of complete climbing units in stacks by truck to the construction site.