Hydraulic casting beds for prestressed girders offers the most versatile solutions in large infrastructure projects.
Railway project in Australia
Moldtech has recently commissioned 3 hydraulic casting beds and different types of modular moulds for special girders. The client, a Western Australia´s leading supplier of precast and prestressed concrete elements for major infrastructure projects, required this equipment to manufacture different types of special Z-shaped girders and inverted T girders, with varying heights and end shapes for a large-scale railway project.
High efficiency and reduced use of the cranes
In recent years Moldtech has installed several large plants for prestressed girders, with self-reacting prestressing benches, hydraulic opening/closing casting bed systems and modular moulds for different types of girders, in countries like Romania, Slovakia, USA or UK. These types of mobile plants are becoming very popular worldwide, as all the equipment is easy to dismantle and relocate once the project is finished, and the hydraulic system considerably reduces the use of the cranes, allowing for very efficient production in temporary locations near construction site.
The scope of supply included two hydraulic casting beds and modular moulds to produce special types of Z-shaped girders, with 32m length each, with variable section up to 2,38m height, and another hydraulic casting bed for inverted T girders with 38m length and variable section up to 2,6m height.
These hydraulic lines were designed to fit in the existing prestressing lines at the client´s facilities with maximum capacity of 1400 TN.
These special z-shaped girders are part of an innovative building system for elevated railway structures, with two symmetrical girders forming a big U-shape structure which can incorporate railings, installations, or built-in access platforms. These prestressed girders are also joined together and post-tensioned to form longer spans.
The special geometries of these Z-shaped girders and the width of the inverted T type posed a big challenge, as the hydraulic casting bed had to be designed with a very wide opening range to be able to allow demoulding of the casted girders.
The moulds have been designed with modular height adjustment as well as with many bolted supplements and additional formers to cast different sections and varying geometries.
Working platforms and access ladders have been equipped to ensure operational safety and sets of stoppers of different dimensions and shapes have been supplied to produce all required geometries.
The casting beds are equipped with Moldtech´s hydraulic opening/closing system with cylinders and chains to ensure an even, parallel opening/closing along the complete length of the mould.
At present, the plant is working at full pace, producing girders with maximum efficiency and versatility. Moldtech keeps expanding and strengthening its presence in Australia, delivering high-precision equipment for a demanding structural and civil sector. With this major railway project, Moldtech consolidates its leadership as a manufacturer of equipment for precast elements for the infrastructure construction.
