Hello, everyone.
This is Enta.
Stories like this come up all the time, don't they~!
There are plenty of people who absolutely refuse to budge from their stance, even if it leads to a total disaster, and still won’t admit they’re wrong, aren’t there? (lol)
To make sure that doesn't happen, I need to keep working hard every day.
Collapse of Formwork for Exposed Concrete
At a construction site, the formwork for an exposed-concrete column collapsed. The formwork measured 1.2 meters on each side and was 10 meters high.
Accompanied by the “snap, snap” sound of the formwork being cut, the column base opened, and fresh concrete gushed out in a torrent.
Upon inspecting the formwork, we found that a 6-meter-diameter round bar had snapped.
It took the entire crew working until midnight to clean up the spilled concrete...
Objections Raised by Master Formwork Carpenter A
The reason the concrete overflowed from the formwork was not the formwork carpenter’s fault, but the designer’s.
Regarding the exposed-concrete columns, when the designer specified the placement of the formwork separators, Master A, the formwork foreman, repeatedly objected.
"With a 2-minute interval, that number of shots won't last!"
"No matter how much you reinforce it or secure it with chains, it won't work unless you pour the concrete very quietly!"
"Could you at least let me narrow the pitch a little more, with a 3-minute break?"
……After hearing these counterarguments, I decided to go and speak directly with Master A, the formwork carpenter.
Formwork carpenter A told me this.
"According to the original drawings, the plan was to place 2-minute separators at 300@ intervals. Well, I figured we could probably manage that, but then they suddenly told us to double the pitch."
"There's no way! You keep telling me to do it, so I'll do it, but I really think it's a bad idea!"
But in the end, the designer wouldn't budge, and things turned out exactly as Foreman A had said they would.
It was not the designers, but the formwork carpenters who had built the forms themselves who took the lead in dealing with the spilled ready-mix concrete.
It’s a crisis when the craftsman speaks up.
The designer, having finally realized that Formwork Carpenter A was right, halved the pitch and completed the concrete pour.
The intuition that comes from a craftsman’s many years of experience is backed by solid grounds. As the proverb goes, “Leave it to the experts,” but we should recognize that when a craftsman goes out of his way to voice an opinion, it’s likely a sign of a serious emergency.
Let’s be grateful to the craftsmen who speak their minds, rather than just giving a rigid, “According to the blueprints!” response!
It is only by being open to the opinions of craftsmen that both designers and construction managers can improve their skills.
