Article 7: BlueScope Steel Case Study 2

Steel Decking A Money Saver At Morayfield

26 February 2008

http://www.bluescopesteel.com.au/go/case-study/steel-decking-a-money-saver-at-morayfield

This case study is very similar to the previous case study, but it talks about the benefits of a different steel product for a different form of construction. In this case, focus is placed on steel formwork and the benefits that comes along with it. This case study also talks about the function of steel decking as formwork and its huge money savings.

I strongly encourage everyone to visit the BlueScope Steel website and read these case studies as they are beneficial and interesting. They help us become aware of particular steel products that are sustainable and highly economical.

Location: Morayfield, Queensland
Country: Australia
Project Size: 20,000 square metre extensions
Client: Caboolture Shire Council
Builder: Leda Design & Construct
Contractor: Alltype Welding
Products Used: LYSAGHT W-DEK®






A major shopping centre extension at Morayfield north of Brisbane will cater for a population growth that is expected to add 70,000 more residents to the surrounding area in the next 20 years.
Leda Developments opened the original Morayfield Shopping Centre in 1997. Now its subsidiary, Leda Design & Construct is undertaking Stage Two extensions which will increase the size of the Caboolture Shire facility by 30 percent.


The building project will add a major discount department store, specialty retailers and extra car parking facilities and includes the first use in Queensland of the innovative LYSAGHT W-DEK® structural steel decking system from BlueScope Lysaght.
LYSAGHT W-DEK® is a deep profile steel formwork system that has been designed to provide optimal efficiency, speed of construction, and economy.
Constructed of high tensile Australian steel, LYSAGHT W-DEK® spans distances up to 40 percent more than traditional re-entrant systems. Its unique "w" shaped profile has been designed specifically for its spanning capability.

LYSAGHT W-DEK® is also a slightly wider cover than most other steel formwork systems, at 700mm wide. With less sheets to lay and fewer props to handle it creates labour time and money savings.
Alltype Welding of Stapylton, in South East Queensland, won the steel fabrication contract for the 20,000 square metre extensions and also installed the LYSAGHT W-DEK® formwork. "The job wasn't originally specified for that product, but BlueScope Lysaght keep us up to date with the latest building product developments and we soon recognised that LYSAGHT W-DEK® could provide advantages for us, for the builder and for the project," Peter Jakubenko of Alltype Welding said.
"I believe our decision to use LYSAGHT W-DEK® formwork made the difference between winning the job and missing out. Decking isn't something we usually do, but it was part of our supply and install contract so we took it on.


"There are other products available which would span three metres between beams, but you would need to use a heavier thickness to do so. With the aid of BlueScope Lysaght, we worked out that we could use 0.75mm sheet thickness instead of the 1.0mm required for the originally specified product.
"Our early calculations showed that we could save $A100,000 on material costs just by using LYSAGHT W-DEK® for the first 5,000 square metre slab of the 20,000 square metre extensions."
Alltype Welding's workers improved their laying out and fixing speed as the job progressed. "Because we hadn't used the product before and don't normally layout and fix formwork we were learning as we went," Peter Jakubenko said.
"We got to the stage where we were laying out a nine metre by 10.5 metre bay in just ten to 15 minutes. Even with stairways and slab penetrations we are confident that we could now lay out and secure 1,000 square metres a day."
The use of a lighter gauge made handling nine and 12 metre lengths easier on site and also simplified stud welding of the LYSAGHT W-DEK® to the steel frame.
This was accomplished in a shorter time and with lighter duty equipment than would have been possible with alternative steel formwork systems. Alltype Welding stud welded the whole deck using just 32amp machines.
The design of LYSAGHT W-DEK® optimises the way in which it bonds with concrete, giving it composite strength tested to be nearly four times the capacity of similar products tested overseas.


Steel formwork acts not only as formwork, but additional bottom reinforcement as well, so less reinforcement needs to be used in the concrete. It also requires less propping than traditional ply formwork, and there is no stripping, which reduces material handling on site, leading to faster installation and reduced cycle times.
LYSAGHT W-DEK® is made from DECKFORM® zinc coated high tensile steel which was developed by BlueScope Steel specifically for the steel decking market. It delivers excellent durability and is backed by a 10 or 15 year BlueScope Steel warranty and nationwide technical support.