Slotting into place

For two years it has been working on a method of erection that shaves at least 50% off the time it takes to put up a steel floor and a live test has confirmed this. Quicon removes the need to use nuts and bolts, making it quicker and safer, says Bassam Burgan, deputy director of the SCI.

“Using traditional methods of steel floor construction, erectors would have to align the holes in the main column or beam with its supporting member, which would then have to be bolted together on site. This is not only time consuming, meaning they have to spend a lot of time erecting at heights, it also means that the erectors have to carry pockets full of nuts and bolts, which if dropped can be dangerous when working high up. And after the floor is erected, an inspection needs to be carried out, at height, to ensure the bolts have been fitted and tightened correctly.”

Quicon is made up of a T-piece that has two or more spaced slots in it, which are keyhole shaped. Instead of requiring bolting to be done on site, with Quicon, the T-piece is welded to the main column or beam in the factory. The T-piece is then attached to the supporting beam or column on site, through a series of short studs attached to the beam, which align with the slots and drop through to secure the floor.

The components used in Quicon are standardised, so once the system is fully in production, it should cost no more than traditional steel floors, according to Burgan. “There is the same number of steps for fabrication, its just different shaped holes.”

So there is no need for nuts and bolts, as the structure slots together. And there is no need for an inspection either, says Burgan. “The floor wouldn’t stay up if the beam hadn’t slotted in properly. You can see from the ground that it is secure. The erectors hit the end of each beam with a hammer, which slots it in and secures it and there is no need to tighten each stud individually.”

Steelwork contractor Caunton Engineering has been trialling Quicon with the SCI. It was so impressed with a test erection it carried out at its head office in Nottingham in July, it decided to use the system on a live job.

The project earmarked for the trial was a mezzanine floor that is part of a warehouse/distribution centre and office development for Land Securities at Edison’s Park at Crossways in Dartford. The main contractor was Fitzpatrick.

Quicon removes the need to use nuts and bolts, making it quicker and safer

The floor comprised of 120 tonnes of steelwork made up of 300 beams and 84 columns. The construction time would normally be two and a half weeks. Caunton initially reduced the time down to one and half weeks, when it decided to use Quicon, but completed it in four and a half days. Mel Straw, erection manager for Caunton at Dartford says he has found no drawbacks to the system as yet.

“It is very easy to use, there is no need to retrain the erectors and any extra cost is minimal.” Straw says Caunton plan to use the system again, but have no suitable job lined up as yet.

But he says that Quicon is not suitable for every form of steel construction. “It’s most suitable for multi-storey buildings and mezzanine floors.”

Jason Wellard, project manager for main contractor Fitzpatrick at Dartford says he has been impressed with the performance of Quicon. “It works very well on site. The speed with which it goes up means the erectors spend less time working at heights. And as falls from heights is the biggest cause of accidents in construction, this reduces that risk.”

“Because of the speed of construction,” he adds, “it’s meant that we have been able to complete a variation requested by the client within the contract period, which we wouldn’t have been able to manage otherwise.”

Wellard says there are no quality issues with Quicon, that it has presented no extra cost to Fitzpatrick and that he would certainly use it again.