C A S E S T U D I E S O N A P P LY I N G B E S T P R AC T I C E TO I N - S I T U CO N C R E TE F R A M E B U I L D I N G S

St George Wharf Case Study St George Wharf project overview

Introduction

The European Concrete Building Project

at Cardington was a joint initiative aimed
at improving the performance of the
concrete frame industry. It led to the
preparation of a series of Best Practice
Guides, giving recommendations for
Figure 1: Architectural impression of the completed St George Wharf development
improving the process of constructing in-
situ concrete frame buildings.

This Case Study introduces the work undertaken at St George

Wharf to apply best practice to a reinforced concrete flat slab
frame construction project.

The following topics for innovation were investigated and the details
of the experiences and the benefits achieved under site conditions
As part of a programme to disseminate from applying these ideas are reported in a series of companion
and apply what has been learnt from
Cardington, BRE has subsequently
documents (see back cover) as follows:
worked directly with those involved in
St George Wharf, a high-profile, 100,000 m2 • Early age concrete strength assessment
mixed-use phased development on the
River Thames. • Early age construction loading
BRE worked jointly with the developers,
St George (South London), their
• Reinforcement rationalisation and supply
engineers, White Young Green,
and specialist concrete contractors,
• Slab deflections
Stephenson, to develop and implement • Special concretes
process improvements tailored to the
St George Wharf site.
These are underpinned by reports (see References) giving background and
This work has led to a series of further information on the innovations.
innovations being trialled, the results of
which are summarised in this series of
Best Practice Case Studies. The work has led to a better understanding and clearer identification of the
issues and constraints to improvements in flat slab construction.

[Link] [Link] [Link] [Link] [Link] [Link] [Link] [Link]

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 6.0
Why St George Wharf?
The St George Wharf development in
5.0
Vauxhall, South London, represented
an ideal opportunity to apply innovative
ideas trialled on the in-situ concrete 4.0

Man Hours/m2
frame building at Cardington [1].
The reasons for this included: 3.0

• The project is being built in discrete

2.0
stages and this provided opportunities
for benchmarking against
previous phases. 1.0

• The development in Vauxhall,

0.0
South London [2] is very large, 0 5 10 15 20 25
comprising 100,000. m2 of
Floor level
mixed-use accommodation,
Figure 2: Productivity KPI (man hours per unit area)
• It is a very high profile development,
occupying 275 m of frontage on the
River Thames (Figure 1).
0.20
It was recognised at the outset that
because of other constraints, such as 0.18
the method used to construct vertical 0.16
elements, the benefits of some of the 0.14
innovations for this particular project
0.12
Hours/m2

might be limited.
0.10
Nevertheless it was still thought valuable
0.08
to try out the innovations. By working on
a commercial site it has been possible 0.06
to explore the practicalities of using the 0.04
innovations, and the parties involved
0.02
have gained valuable experience, which
0
may prove useful on future projects.
0 5 10 15 20 25
Floor level
Case study topics Figure 3: Construction time KPI (elasped time per unit area)
Early age concrete strength assessment

Pull-out (Lok) testing was used in

parallel with conventional cube testing
2500
to measure early age concrete strengths.
Issues associated with procuring
equipment, comparison of results 2000
between cubes and Lok tests, and the
Floor areas (m2)

relative costs and convenience of the 1500

two methods were investigated.

Obtaining and using the Lok test 1000

equipment was straightforward.
However comparisons between 500
strength measurements made using
the two methods highlighted the
0
difficulty in obtaining a truly objective 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
and representative measure of the
Floor
concrete strength. Lok tests were
shown to be comparable in terms Figure 4: Floor areas constructed on each level

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of cost to making and testing cubes. Special concretes The productivity KPI illustrated in
Their principal advantage is where the Figure 2 (left) is calculated by assessing
Discussions concerning the use of
results are required quickly and it is not the total man-hours spent constructing
innovative materials such as CRC
feasible to test cubes on site. JointCast1 and self-compacting concrete each floor. Where the floor plate is
took place. Self-compacting concrete was repetitive this is considered a good
Early age construction loading trialled in limited areas and the use of measure of productivity, with the desired
CRC JointCast for speeding up the vertical trend obviously being a reduction in
Opportunity was taken to apply new man-hours per floor.
construction was actively pursued.
criteria based on the work from
Benefits of using self-compacting
Cardington for the determination of The influence of the data on which
concrete were identified, including
striking strength and the design of this measure is calculated needs to be
reducing the amount of making good
backpropping. It was also possible to considered. Two sources of data were
required for vertical elements.
take further measurements of loads in used with widely differing results. The
This could outweigh the additional cost
propping systems. data supplied by the frame contractor
of the material, which is now falling.
(i.e. total man-hours) was considered to
This work undertaken by Imperial College be more authoritative and it is that which
Summary
confirmed that preloading of backprops is presented here. Whichever method
can aid the distribution of load through The Case Studies are underpinned by full is used it is important that a consistent
a number of floors, but is difficult to reports [3, 4] giving the background and approach is taken to recording the data
control and introduces uncertainties further information on the innovations. so as to identify trends across projects.
when making calculations. Reference 3 documents the methodology
used during the project, particularly in Figure 2 presents data that might be
relation to the manner in which considered as a benchmark based on
Reinforcement rationalisation and supply
judgements were made and good site practice for the type of building
A number of potential innovations measurements were undertaken. considered. Because of the lack of
concerning reinforcement rationalisation available comparative data it is not
and supply were investigated. Assessment of overall benefits possible to make comparisons with
These were: performance on previous blocks
A number of Key Performance Indicators constructed at St George Wharf.
• Electronic exchange of reinforcing were developed in relation to the
bar information. concrete frame construction aspects. The construction time KPI illustrated in
These included measurements of Figure 3 (left) relates to the total elapsed
• Rationalisation of main longitudinal productivity and construction time. time associated with constructing each
reinforcement. These two indicators in particular were floor level and is expressed in hours/m2.
monitored throughout the life of the For comparison the overall average
• Options for provision of punching
project with the intention of gaining an time taken per m2 on this phase was
shear reinforcement. 0.1 hours which is the same as on the
overview of the performance and to see
As a result of this work the frame if there were improvements that could be previous phase.
contractor is proposing to employ detected at a project level as a result of
Since the construction time is expressed
proprietary software for electronic adopting the innovations.
in hours/m2, to maintain the same rate
exchange of rebar information on future These two indicators need to be of construction as the floor plate size
projects. In addition, stud rail systems considered together. One way of reducing reduces, additional steps would need
were identified as the optimum method overall construction time for the frame is to be taken to shorten the floor cycle.
for providing punching shear (within limits) to have more resources. This was not possible due to the
reinforcement on this particular project. However issues such as multi-skilling constraints of constructing the vertical
may mean that this may not be the most elements in a traditional manner.
Slab deflections efficient or cost-effective use of labour, The floor areas used to calculate the
plant and materials. The importance KPIs are plotted in Figure 4. Figure 2
A programme of measurements and placed on construction time by the client
illustrates, however, that overall
theoretical work to improve the will have a bearing on the optimum
productivity has not changed greatly
understanding and prediction of solution for any specific project.
as a result of reductions in the size of
deflections and the impact of early age
the floor plate.
loading was undertaken by Imperial 1
CRC JointCast is an ultra-high strength fine
College. This highlighted the importance aggregate concrete material with excellent bond The benefits of adopting the particular
of concrete tensile strength (related to properties for ribbed bars permitting lapping innovations and the more specific
of reinforcement over very short distances, and
compressive strength) in controlling allowing the formation of monolithic construction
measurements taken to quantify this are
the amount of cracking and hence the between precast elements by using very considered in each of the individual Case
deflections produced. narrow joints. Studies referred to.
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 C A S E S T U D I E S O N A P P LY I N G B E S T P R AC T I C E TO I N - S I T U CO N C R E TE F R A M E D B U I L D I N G S

Conclusions 2. The relevance and benefits of

A series of Best Practice guides
particular innovations should be
summarises work carried out to
1. The work has led to a better considered on a project-by project- re-examine construction processes during
understanding and clearer basis. Important issues to be the construction of the in-situ concrete
identification of the issues and considered are the contractual basis building at Cardington. These can be
constraints to improvements in flat downloaded free from the Downloads
on which the project is taking place,
section of The Concrete Centre's website
slab construction. and relative changes over time in costs at [Link] and at
of plant, labour and materials. http//[Link]/ConDiv/
2. There is a larger incentive to speed up
concrete%20frame/[Link].
the completion of the frame the closer This Case Study is underpinned by a full They cover the following topics.
its completion is to the critical path for report [3] giving the background and • Improving concrete frame construction
the whole project. further information on the innovations. • Concreting for improved speed and
3. For maximum benefit to be derived efficiency
from innovations geared towards References • Early age strength assessment of
concrete on site
speeding up the frame construction
1. The European Concrete Building • Improving rebar information and supply
process, fundamental barriers and
Project, in The Structural Engineer, • Early striking and improved
issues need to be addressed at the
Vol.78, No.2, 18 January 2000. backpropping for efficient flat slab
outset. The single most important construction
item is considered to be overcoming 2. RCC Project profile: St George wharf, • Rationalisation of flat slab reinforcement
the restrictions imposed by the by M. Blake and M. F. Southcott. BCA • Prefabricated punching shear
construction of the vertical elements. publication 97.385, 2002. reinforcement for reinforced concrete
flat slabs
4. Key Performance Indicators have been 3. Best practice in concrete frame • Flat slabs for efficient concrete
developed with benchmark values for construction: practical application construction
productivity and construction time set at St George Wharf, by R. Moss. BRE
for future projects. Report BR462, 2003.
Case Studies in this series of applying
5. The project has yielded useful further 4. Backprop forces and deflections in best practice:
data to extend the work and best flat slabs: construction at St George • St George Wharf project overview
practice recommendations from the Wharf, by R. Vollum. BRE Report • Early age concrete strength
Cardington project. Valuable site data BR463, 2004. assessment
and experience have been obtained • Early age construction loading
concerning early age concrete strength • Reinforcement rationalisation and
assessment, early age construction Acknowledgements supply
loading, reinforcement rationalisation The support of the DTI for this • Slab deflections
and supply, slab deflections and project carried out under its • Special concretes
special concretes as outlined in the Partners in Innovation scheme
individual Case Studies. is gratefully acknowledged.
Ref TCC/03/02
6. The work undertaken and the First published 2004
conclusions reached in relation to Price group A
the relative success of the individual ISBN 1-904818-02-1
innovations should be viewed in © The Concrete Centre 2004
the context of the particular project
Published by The Concrete Centre on
on which the innovations have behalf of the project partners.
been trialled. [Link].
For further copies of these Best Practice
Recommendations Case Studies contact
[Link]
1. Contractual arrangements should be
All advice or information from The Concrete
reviewed, with the frame contractor Centre is intended for those who will
being appointed at an earlier stage on evaluate the significance and limitations of
individual projects. For large repetitive its contents and take responsibility for its
use and application. No liability (including
projects, partnering arrangements
that for negligence) for any loss resulting
should be encouraged that are devised from such advice or information is accepted.
to give continuity of work for integrated Readers should note that all Centre
design and construction teams publications are subject to revision from time
to time and should therefore ensure that
coupled with incentives for continuous they are in possession of the latest version.
improvement between phases.
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