Madar Alnour for Contracting Company is relying on formwork systems from Germany-based Paschal Werk G Maier for casting the concrete structures of several new buildings in Saudi Arabia.

One such project is the Alfarabi Dental College in the eastern district of Riyadh.

Engineers on site from the Saudi-based contracting company have been impressed by the flexibility, quality as well as the simplicity of Paschal’s Modular universal formwork and Paschal Deck and the ease with which both Paschal systems can be managed, says a spokesman for Paschal Werk G Maier.

The new college building will comprise a typical reinforced concrete skeleton construction and all reinforced concrete structures – including the reinforcing shear walls, lift shafts, beams and the entry and exit to the underground car-park – will be cast using the modular universal formwork system and Paschal Deck.

Commenting on the project, the spokesman says: “The foundation work is currently under way to extend the Alfarabi Dental College. Once completed, nearly 3,000 students will have space in the form of laboratories and operating rooms for the practical part of their studies.”

As the floor plate will be 1 m thick, the supporting floor plate for the complex will be built in two concreting steps each with about 1,300 sq m and taking about 12 working hours to complete.

The extension will boast a building length of 135 m and a width of 84 m and will also include a three-level underground car-park. The complex will have three floors topped with a flat roof.

An artist’s impression of Alfarabi Dental College.

“In addition to system flexibility and compatibility, another important criterion for the construction company is the ability to move the formwork elements manually. The enormous flexibility this provides means the construction schedule is not dependent on the crane’s position or crane availability,” says the Paschal spokesman.

He adds the extreme ease of handling both the Modular and Paschal Deck formwork systems reduces possible handling errors and guarantees that contractors build accurate reinforced concrete structures for a high-quality shell construction.

Both formwork systems replace the previous use of formwork panels and squared timber, and this has actively contributed towards increasing construction quality, rapid construction progress and the conservation of resources, the spokesman points out.

He further highlights the fact that the two formwork systems complement each other brilliantly. “The design of Modular guarantees practical sorting of elements for the formwork in the system, even for complex geometries. While the flat steel frame of Modular is robust, the elements can nevertheless be handled without a crane,” the spokesman says. “The same applies to the Paschal Deck, which helps cast reinforced concrete floors for different layouts with variable slab heights using relatively few different elements. The length can be adjusted, for example, by simple overlapping the girders. The executing contractors are free and not bound to system specifications when choosing the plywood.”

While Paschal formwork is renowned for its quality and boasts attractive features, it was also important for Madar Alnour to have a service-oriented partner nearby, as several university buildings and hospitals were required to be completed within a short period. Madar Alnour is being assisted on site by Paschal’s Scientific and Technical Office in Dammam, Saudi Arabia.

The formwork for the extension of the Alfarabi Dental College was planned on site using the formwork software PPL 10.0 from Paschal.