Formwork & Shuttering

Civil Engineering Practice

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Formwork
 Concrete being plastic material in fresh state, is kept in moulds till it
gain reasonable strength, this temporary structure is called
“Formwork”.
 It is closed from all sides and can carry the hydrostatic load of fluid
concrete. Additional loads are due to vibrations and load of men and
machinery working over it.
 Formwork should be such that it can be easily removed after
hardening of concrete.
 Timber, plywood panels or steel sheets are used for formwork. The
initial cost of steel forms may be high but they can be repeatedly
used for a number of times.

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Formwork

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Shuttering
 Shuttering is a temporary platform constructed with the help of
wooden planks, wooden logs, steel rods or bamboos over which
formwork is supported and ultimately pouring of concrete is done.

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Scaffolding
 Scaffolding is a grid of bamboos, wooden planks or circular steel
pipes by which labour can have access to any point of the structure
to be constructed and further formwork and shuttering can rest
over it.
 Steel scaffolding is most commonly used as it is easy to dismantle
and reassemble.

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Scaffolding

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Scaffolding

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Scaffolding

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Shoring
 Shoring is the temporary support given to the existing structure for
repair purposes. When dismantling any central building, the
surrounding building is also temporarily supported.

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Shoring

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Shoring

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Shoring

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Basic Requirements of a Good Formwork
 It must be strong enough.
 It should be smooth to get a smooth surface of the required member.
 It should be such that it can easily be removed without damaging
the surface.
 It must be water tight.
 It should be as economical as possible.
 Deflection is the most important consideration, so the deflections
must be within the permissible limits.

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Formwork Cost
 Cost of Formwork for RCC
 Concrete 35%
 Reinforcement 35%
 Formwork 30%
 The exact proportions of cost are, however, affected be the
following factors:
i. The simplicity or complexity of the structure.
ii. The availability of the repeated formwork.
iii. The specified surface appearance of the concrete.

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Formwork Cost
 Cost of Formwork for Building Structures

 Formwork cost is a major part of the total cost and normally varies
from 30% to 65% for building works; however, for complicated
works or with special surface finishes such as helical stair cases or
for the construction of minars, it may increase up to as much as
80%.

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Formwork Cost
 Cost of Formwork for Huge C.E. Works
 The cost of formwork varies from 5% to 25% of the total cost for
bridges, highway, and dam construction, etc.
 Such jobs are bigger in magnitude and again lot of money is required
for formwork necessitating careful design.

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Wooden Formwork for R.C.C. Walls
 It includes sheathing, studs, wales, ties and braces.

 Sheathing is the layer which constitutes the inner surface of the

 If solid timber is used for sheathing, it may be 1", 11/4", 11/2", 2" thick,
the opposite sides of the wall form are held in correct positions by
steel form ties, which resist the lateral pressure of the concrete and
serve as spacers to govern width of the space between the forms.

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Wooden Formwork for R.C.C. Walls
 The form ties usually have a safe working strength of 3000 lbs.
 Sheathing is supported by closely spaced vertical timber studs
which are further supported by the horizontal wales.
 The sizes of studs and wales may be 2" x 4", 2" x 6", 3" x 4", 3" x 6"
and 4" x 4", etc.
 Steel ties are fixed with the help of ties clamps to the wales and
these are cut to remove the formwork when concrete is hardened.
 The form, as a whole, is stabilized by inclined braces consisting of
wooden battens or bamboos etc. Braces are held rigidly in position
by cleats on the form and by properly driven stacks at the ground.

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Wooden Formwork for R.C.C. Walls

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Wooden Formwork for R.C.C. Walls

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Wooden Formwork for R.C.C. Walls
Wall 2- 2”x 4” 2”x 4”x 10’- 0 “ stud 3/4” plywood sheathing
tie wale

2”x 4” x 10’- 0”
brace @ 6’- 0”
9’6”

Concrete Footing
25’4”
2”x 4” sill 2”x 4”x 3’- 0”
Stake @ 6’- 0”

Section through the Wall Side Elevation

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Wooden Formwork for R.C.C. Walls

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Pressure on the Formwork
 Maximum pressure of fresh concrete on the formwork is mainly
influenced by the following factors.
 Rate of pouring of concrete which is generally 4 to 5 ft per hour.
 Temperature of concrete. If temperature is lower, the concrete will
remain in fluid form for longer time.
 Workability of concrete. Workable concrete will have more fluidity
and hence will exert more pressure.
 Thickness of concrete wall. Pressure will be lower in thin walls
because of the arching action in the cross-section.
 Vibration of concrete.

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Pressure on the Formwork

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Pressure on the Formwork

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Floor Slab Formwork or Deck Formwork
 Following points are important for deck formwork.
 It should be properly designed to withstand the imposed loads.
 Loads are taken directly by plywood/ steel/solid timber soffit
sheathing. The sheathing and joists (secondary beams) must be
water tight to prevent any leakage or grout.
 Normally the size of panels used for sheathing is 8 x 4 in. and these
are placed side by side.
 Plywood sheathing, if used, is normally thick otherwise thick
commercial wooden planks may be used for the deck formwork.

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Floor Slab Formwork or Deck Formwork
 Soffit sheathing is supported by timber-joists (secondary
beams), which are further supported by more widely
spaced joists (main beams) at right angles to the
sec on da ry bea ms. Ma in bea ms t ra n sfer loa d t o
adjustable metal props and then the load is carried to the
foundation.
 It may be designed for a particular surface-finish if
required.
 Double system of joists allows the vertical props to be
spaced at reasonable distance in-between to carry full
load but, at the same time, to permit the movement of
men and machinery in-between.
 Lateral and diagonal bracing of props may be provided for
stability, which prevent side sway.
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Floor Slab Formwork or Deck Formwork

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Formwork for Beam & Slab Floor

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Formwork for Columns
 This type of form-work consists of two end and two side planks built
in one unit or panel.
 The height of each panel is built equal to the storey height less slab
thickness and the floor sheeting.
 The two end planks are built in width equal to the dimensions of the
column plus twice thickness of the sheeting. The width of the
sheeting will be same as the dimension of the column.
 The yokes will project 20 to 25 cm beyond the sheeting at each end
as shown in fig. The spacing of the yokes will be same on both the
sides. Bolt holes are created in the side yokes, about 3 mm larger
than the size of the bolt, for passing and tightening the bolts easily.

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Formwork for Columns

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Formwork failures
 Generally some unexpected event causes one member to fail, then
others become overloaded or misaligned and the entire formwork
structure collapses.

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Raft foundation formwork

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Raft foundation formwork

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 Quiz # 2
 Write down all defects occurring in brick work? (3)

 Write down the Remedial Measures for Crystallization of

 Write down all reasons under which Cracking in plaster

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