Pan-United Achieves Singapore’s Largest Two Continuous Concrete Pours Within a Month
Pan-United Corporation Ltd has achieved Singapore’s largest two continuous ready-mix concrete pours in casting the raft foundation for a development project in the Labrador area. The Group’s subsidiary, Pan-United Concrete, set a national record when it poured 18,916 m3 for 57 hours non-stop from 31 October to 2 November 2020.
This first pour was followed by a second pour of 18,342 m3 of concrete in a shorter time of 42 hours non-stop, from 27 to 29 November 2020, to complete the raft foundation. The mixer truck convoys delivered one truckload of concrete non-stop every 60seconds.The total concrete volume of the two pours, at 37,258 m3, is equivalent to filling 14 Olympic-sized swimming pools. The previous record of 18,000 m3 was in March 2015 for the Marina One raft foundation.
Ready-mix concrete is produced just in time and typically has a brief two-hour workable lifespan. Pan-United designed a special concrete that remained workable for six hours to ensure the layers bonded integrally to form a solid raft. The complex logistics planning for the production, delivery and casting of the raft foundation stretched over several months in close collaboration with Hyundai Engineering & Construction(“Hyundai”), the main contractor of the development.
Mr Ken Loh, Chief Operating Officer of Pan-United said, “We are thankful to Hyundai for taking all the measures necessary to ensure safe distancing and to greatly reduce any health risks to the teams handling the massive pours.Pan-United also used our contactless processes such as e-delivery orders, e-concrete sampling, e-sign-offs, and our customer portal to minimise physical interaction at the worksite. Both mass pours went very smoothly, thanks to the excellent co-operation with Hyundai, and the tremendous team effort of all parties involved. We had full confidence of success in executing this feat, supported by our concrete innovation specialists and with the advanced logistics managed through our digital optimisation platform called AiR (Artificial Intelligence for Ready-Mix Concrete). AiR optimises our supply chain, managing the efficiency of our batching plants and ensuring a seamless relay of trucks delivering the concrete. Pan-United will continue to innovate concrete and logistics solutions that can address any complex challenge in building smart cities like Singapore.”
Mr Chan Wai Mun, Operations Director of Pan-United Concrete added, “Technology-enabled precision was absolutely crucial in both mass pours to ensure zero disruptions to concrete placement. The continuous supply allows the concrete raft foundation to set uniformly within the required temperature properties.”
Highlighting the sustainable aspects of the massive operation, Mr Chan explained: “A sustainable Grade 55 temperature-controlled flowing concrete (PanU Cool) was chosen to improve the structural integrity and durability of the raft foundation. Chiller systems developed in-house were used to maintain the low heat of this special flowing concrete so as to prevent cracking during the setting of the huge raft.”
“Our custom concrete ‘recipe’ for PanU Cool comprised sustainable raw materials,such as ground granulated blast furnace slag, a by-product of steel production. We also used silica fume, a by-product of silicon wafer production. Stringent durability requirements were designed to ensure the concrete met high performance criteria such as strength and water-tightness. Virtual quality testing was conducted remotely using e-sampling to ensure safe distancing,” emphasised Mr Chan.