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Wednesday, July 13, 2005
Go wireless on concrete: Team Asia
In the construction industry, everyone is trying to build smarter and faster.
But a company is now offering revolutionary technology that it says will also cut the cost of construction.
Eric Campaner, Cebu branch head of D. B. International Sales and Service Inc. and Team Asia Corp., said Nycon will enable builders to “go wireless on concrete.”
Nycon’s MultiMesh concrete reinforcing fibers form a chemical-like mechanical bond within the concrete matrix even without the steel wire mesh as secondary reinforcement on the concrete slabs.
The cost of using Nycon’s Nylon Fiber is about 10 percent of the cost of concrete per cubic meter. With its smooth surface, there will be no more need for additional finishing on the slab.
He told Sun.Star Cebu that the idea of not using wires in concrete may be controversial with structural engineers, but he assured the public that Nycon is durable.
Its resistance to weight also results in drastically reduced cracking.
Campaner said tests had been conducted in Minnesota, USA in 1997 that proved the effectiveness of the fiber as reinforcement in hardened concrete.
Team Asia is the distributor in the Philippines of Nycon.
Among those who have used Nycon, he said, are the Makati Development Corp., which used it for floor slabs in one of its condominiums, and a local architect, who used it on her pre-fabricated decorative panel boards.
Campaner said another innovation in the construction industry is the use of carbon fiber reinforcement sheets for the repair and reinforcement of masonry and concrete structures.
The Drizoro Wrap System is composed of carbon fibers that are 10 and three times stronger than steel and fiberglass systems, respectively.
The system cuts repair time and the “total cost of labor and materials for the whole repair by about 30 percent,” he said.
Team Asia is under the Manila-based holding firm Guido Group of Companies.
Another firm in the group is US Asia-Pacific Minerals Inc., the manufacturer of Perlite. Perlite has been used in the United States since 1946 to produce lightweight concrete for use in commercial and high-rise buildings.
According to Campaner, an Ayala project in Cebu has used Perlite, which is also used for bank vaults because of its heat resistance. (CTL)
(July 13, 2005 issue)
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