What is Formwork, Shuttering, Scaffolding, Shouring

During construction of reinforced concrete works as well as their maintenance, we need to support the structure as long as it is in its premature state or plastic state as it could not even bear its own load. After the suitable duration of time, i.e. when concrete sets enough to take its own load, these temporary supports are removed systematically.

Here are some of the definitions that must be known to a construction engineer as well as civil engineer.

Concrete construction in the modern building works has achieved considerable importance, roughly speaking 80% of civil engineering works utilize concrete for their constructions. Concrete being plastic material in fresh state, has to kept within an enclosure (moulds) till it gain reasonable strength, this temporary structure which has to be built for any concrete member is called “Formwork”.

Formwork is thus a sort of mould used for pouring fresh or plastic concrete. It is closed from all sides and can carry the hydrostatic load of fluid concrete, additional load due to vibration, and load of men and machinery. Formwork should be such that it can be easily removed after hardening of concrete.

Timber, plywood panels or steel sheets are used for formwork. Timber is the most common material for formwork construction, it is easy to work with and it is also economical. However the use of steel forms thus gained lot of popularity in the recent years. They can be obtained for all types of structures. The initial cost of steel forms may be high but they can be repeatedly used for a number of times.

Shuttering is a temporary plateform 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.

I have been recently asked to tell \”What actually is Shuttering in construction\”. In the concrete construction of all the members including columns, beams, footings from a small scale house project to a massive scale mega project of a dam; shuttering enjoys a major share of your project cost, time and resources. Shuttering also defines the quality of construction. According to the Idc-online shuttering in construction acts as a temporary molds for concrete structural members.

Scaffolding is a grid of bamboo, 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.

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.