Waffle Slab Form

When Unistress Corporation of Pittsfield, MA needed formwork for some unusual floor slabs, they called on Hamilton Form. Each slab has a series of holes for ventilation pipes and wire chases. The slabs form the floor of the clean room for a stateof-the-art semiconductor foundry being built in upstate New York. The 22’ long by 8’ wide slabs have an overall perimeter depth of 4’ and weigh as much as 24 tons each.

The formwork had to be extremely efficient for set-up and stripping, while maintaining strict tolerances. Steel alignment plates are used to precisely place the voids that form the cylindrical holes. To simplify stripping, the upper disc assembly is positively pulled out of the product and void by turning its mounting bolt. Sideforms pivot back for stripping.

The self-contained precast forms allowed for ease of set-up. A few innovative features simplified what could have been a complex set-up and stripping process. The “fabricator friendly” formwork performed perfectly, to help keep the project on time and within budget.