Record concrete pours in Singapore
Pan-United achieve Singapore’s two largest continuous concrete pours within the space of a month
PAN-United Corporation Ltd have achieved Singapore’s largest two continuous ready-mixed concrete pours in casting the raft foundation for a development project in the Labrador area.
Group subsidiary Pan-United Concrete set a national record when they poured 18,916 cubic metres over 57 hours non-stop from 31 October to 2 November 2020. This was followed by a second pour of 18,342 cubic metres in a shorter time of 42 hours non-stop from 27 to 29 November 2020, to complete the raft foundation.
To achieve this, the truckmixer convoys delivered one truckload of concrete non-stop every 60 seconds.
At 37,258 cubic metres, the total volume of the two pours is equivalent to filling 14 Olympic-sized swimming pools. The previous record of 18,000 cubic metres was in March 2015 for Singapore’s Marina One raft foundation.
Whilst ready-mixed concrete is produced just in time and typically has a brief two-hour workable lifespan, Pan- United designed a special concrete that remained workable for six hours, to ensure the layers bonded integrally to form a solid raft.
The complex logistics planning for the production, delivery and casting of the raft foundation extended over several months in close collaboration with main contractors Hyundai Engineering & Construction.
Mr Ken Loh, chief operating officer of Pan-United, said: ‘We are thankful to Hyundai for taking all the measures necessary to ensure safe distancing and to greatly reduce any health risks to the teams handling the massive pours.
‘We also used our own contactless processes, such as e-delivery orders, e-concrete sampling, e-sign-offs, and our customer portal, to minimize physical interaction at the work site.
‘Both mass pours went very smoothly, thanks to the excellent co-operation with Hyundai, and the tremendous team effort of all parties involved. We had full confidence of success in executing this feat, supported by our concrete innovation specialists and with the advanced logistics managed through our digital optimization platform, AiR.’
‘AiR (Artificial Intelligence for Ready-Mix Concrete) optimizes our supply chain, managing the efficiency of our batching plants and ensuring a seamless relay of trucks delivering the concrete.’
Mr Chan Wai Mun, operations director at Pan-United Concrete, commented: ‘Technology-enabled precision was absolutely crucial in both mass pours to ensure zero disruptions to concrete placement. The continuous supply allowed the concrete raft foundation to set uniformly within the required temperature properties.’
Highlighting the sustainable aspects of the massive operation, Mr Chan added: ‘A sustainable Grade 55 temperature-controlled flowing concrete (PanU Cool) was chosen to improve the structural integrity and durability of the raft foundation. Chiller systems developed in house were used to maintain the low temperature of this special flowing concrete so as to prevent cracking during the setting of the huge raft.
‘Our custom concrete ‘recipe’ for PanU Cool comprised sustainable raw materials, such as ground granulated blast-furnace slag, a by-product of steel production. We also used silica fume, a by-product of silicon wafer production.
‘Stringent durability requirements were designed to ensure the concrete met high performance criteria, such as strength and water-tightness, whilst virtual quality testing was conducted remotely using e-sampling to ensure safe distancing,’ emphasized Mr Chan.
