Chemistry:Steel plate construction

Steel plate construction is a rapid method of constructing heavy reinforced concrete items. It was developed in Korea in 2004. At a steel fabricator, assemblies are constructed. Each assembly has two parallel plates joined with welded stringers. The assemblies are moved to the job site and placed with a crane. The plates are welded so that they form parallel walls joined by stringers. Finally, the space between the plate walls is filled with concrete.

Steel plate construction is roughly twice the speed of other reinforced concrete construction, because it avoids tying rebar and constructing forms on-site. The parallel plate assemblies can be constructed quickly in specialized off-site fabrication facilities. The method has excellent strength because the steel is on the outside, where tensile forces are often greatest.

Because the construction time is about half, sunk interest costs for heavy construction projects are about half when this method is used.

The method is of special interest for rapidly constructing nuclear power plants, which use large reinforced concrete structures, and typically have long construction times, with heavy interest costs.

References

• IAEA Construction Methods, chapter 7, illus. Pg 107
• Energy from Thorium Discussion Topic: Steel Plate Construction