CONCREMOTE is a monitoring and process management system that can be put to good use by the construction sector on site as it offers the real-time measuring of concrete strength, says formwork specialist Doka.

“When forming and pouring, it is vital to make sure that the right worksteps are carried out at the right time,” says a spokesman. “To do this, it is often necessary to have reliable information on the strength development of the concrete. Concremote lets users measure the early strength development of concrete on the site in real time, making targeted management of the forming and concreting operations much simpler.”

Developments in concrete technology have had a major influence on site workflows, and thus on the formwork technology used, explains the spokesman.

“The requirement is for building-work to take place swiftly, safely and in high quality, and a key parameter affecting the construction workflow is the compressive strength development of the concrete during construction. The stripping times and curing times, and the time for pre-stressing, are all influenced by the concrete-strength development. Concremote concrete monitoring lets users find out what steps need to be taken, on the basis of measured concrete-strength values, and thus to optimise the construction process,” he says.

A tried-and-tested product from the B|A|S concrete-engineering consultancy in the Netherlands, Concremote measures the concrete strength by way of sensors inserted in the concrete during pouring, without anyone needing to be physically present on the site to read out and record the measured data. These sensors regularly measure the temperature development of the fresh concrete and transmit the data to the Concremote computing centre. Here, the ‘de Vree’  weighted maturity method is used as the basis for calculating and providing reliable, standards-compliant information, in real-time, on the strength development of the concrete.

Concremote uses two types of sensors: slab sensors, which are inserted in the fresh concrete after this has been struck off, and cable sensors that are incorporated directly into the form-facing of the wall formwork and repositioned together with the formwork.

Wireless transmission of the non-destructively measured values starts automatically. The system’s long-life batteries, sturdy sensors and cableless data transmission make it highly user-friendly. The measuring results can be accessed at any time on a secure web portal. Also, users can be alerted by e-mail or text-message as soon as the specified early strength has been reached.

Concremote offers wide-ranging possibilities for optimising the construction process: if a customer has entered a specific target value for a site, the strength values enable him to make precise recommendations regarding for example, the earliest times for stripping the formwork, climbing and pre-stressing, and for the end of curing. The real-time measured data can also be taken into consideration for optimising the concrete formulation.

Concremote concrete monitoring is an innovative method that helps to ensure process reliability in the construction operations, based on proof of the compressive strength of the concrete in the structure member, and that also opens up scope for optimisation, the spokesman concludes.

Doka is a world leader in developing, manufacturing and distributing formwork technology for use in all fields of the construction sector. With more than 160 sales and logistics facilities in over 70 countries, the Doka Group has a highly efficient distribution network which ensures that equipment and technical support are provided swiftly and professionally. An enterprise forming part of the Umdasch Group, the Doka Group employs a worldwide workforce of more than 5,600.