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COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE AND PLANNING

Department of Architecture and Building Sciences

ARCH 436
Contemporary Building Construction Methods

5. LIFT-SLAB METHOD

Dr. Mohammed Ghonim

Lecture Objectives
Upon completion of this lecture, the student will be able to:
1. Explain the concept of lift-slab construction method.
2. Discuss the advantages of lift-slab method.
3. Determine the tools & materials required for this system.
4. Describe the process of lifting the slabs.
4. Draw sketches for lift-slab details.

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Lecture Content

Introduction.

Historical Brief.

Advantages of lift-slab Construction Method.

Sequence of Lifting Slabs.

Construction Sequence.

Tools & Materials: Hydraulic Jacks.

Tools & Materials: Lifting Collars.

Tools & Materials: Shear Blocks.

Tools & Materials: Bond Breakers.

Details.

New Developments in Lift-slab Construction.

Introduction
Lift slab construction is a method of constructing concrete buildings by casting the floor or
roof slab on top of the previous slab and then raising the slab up with hydraulic jacks, so
being cheaper and faster as it does not need forms & shores as it is needed for cast-in-place
slabs.
Lift-slab construction can be more economic
than conventional construction when the
building is vertically uniform, such as for
hotels, apartment buildings, and dormitories,
and where the slab designs are repetitive.
However, lift-slab buildings have certain
limitations that need to be recognized early
in the planning process, thus, for the
traditional organization of a construction
project. where the owner retains an architect
to design a building.
The architect should retain his structural
engineer early in the design process and
both should contact a lift-slab contractor for
design advice at that time. When the owner
contracts with a firm to both design and
construct a project, the firm should also
contact a lift-slab contractor for early advice.

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Historical Background
Lift-slab construction is a method of
construction where the concrete floors
and roof slabs are cast atop one another
at ground level and then are lifted into
their final position by means of jacks.
The method was invented and developed
in the early 1950s by a collaboration of
Philip N. Youtz and Thomas B. Slick.
resulting Youtz-Slick Lift-Slab Method of
Construction.

L'Ambiance Plaza, Bridgeport.

Johnstone Hall, a Clemson University dormitory in Clemson, South Carolina, was erected
using this method in 1954. Lift slab construction was also involved in the L'Ambiance
Plaza collapse in Bridgeport, Connecticut, in 1987, and resulted in a nationwide federal
investigation into this construction technique in the United States, and Connecticut imposed
a temporary delay on lift slab construction.

The Advantages of Prestressed Concrete

The advantage of this system is that the only
formwork required is to the edges of the slabs and
no centering is required to the soffit of the slabs.
Also, the slabs are cast monolithically and can be
designed to span continuously between the points of
support and so employ the least thickness of slab.
Where it is convenient to cantilever slabs beyond the
edge columns and where cantilevers for balconies.
This system produces a structure where a flush slab
floor is most appropriate and for this type of
structure the lift slab construction may well be
cheaper than any other form of structure.
It can be employed for beam and slab or waffle slab
floors, but the forms necessary between each take
much of the advantage of simple repetitive casting at
ground level.

Cast-in-place concrete slabs require

extensive formwork unlike lift-slab method

Lift-slab construction method becomes more advantageous in buildings with similar floor
plans throughout the height of the building and where flush slab may be desired.
This method eliminates the need for redundant formwork as only shuttering required on
the edges, therefore casting concrete slabs is the simplest stage in whole constriction
process of lift-slab method.
Lift-slab method may be employed with ribbed slabs not only flat slabs with some
compromise of the ease of casting.

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Sequence of Lifting Slabs

1. The sequence of lifting slabs is influenced by the following
factors:

Weight of the slabs.

Height of the building.
Lifting capacity of jacks.
Cross sectional area of columns during initial lifting.

Sequence of lifting the slabs of a three-storey building.

Sequence of Lifting Slabs

Sequence of lifting the slabs of a four-storey building.

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Sequence of Lifting Slabs

Sequence of lifting the slabs of a five-storey building.

Construction Sequence
1. The steel or concrete columns are first put position and rigidly connected to the
foundation then the ground floor slab is cast.
2. When it has matured it is sprayed with two or three coats of a separating medium
consisting or what is called bond breaker.

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Construction Sequence
3. Lifting collars are cast into each slab around each column.
4. The first floor slab is cast inside edge formwork on top of the ground floor slab and when
it is mature it is in turn coated or covered with the separating medium and next floor slab
in cast on top of it.
5. The casting of the other slabs continues until all the floors and roof have been cast one
on the other on the ground.

Construction Sequence
5. The slabs are lifted by jacks , operating on the top of each column, which lift a pair of
steel rods attached to each lifting collar in the slab being raised.
6. A central control synchronizes the process for a uniform lift from all directions.

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Tools & Materials

Hydraulic Jacks
This jack is a hydraulic piece of equipment which has positive safety devices on it. The jack
can lift slabs on columns loaded up to 100,000 pounds at speeds of up to 14 feet an hour.

Tools & Materials

Lifting Collars
Lifting collars are cast into each slab around each
column providing a means to lift the slab and also
providing shear reinforcement, they are fixed to
columns by welding shear blocks to plates welded
column flanges and to the collar after the slab has
been raised in position.

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Tools & Materials

Shear Blocks
Shear blocks is a steel component used to hold the lifted slab in its final elevation.

Tools & Materials

Bond Breakers
The main function of bond breakers is to minimize dynamic loads during lifting or stripping of
precast members and permit their complete, clean separation from casting slabs or molds.
In lift-slab construction bond-breaking compounds permit the slabs to be separated cleanly
and easily from one another.
Bond breakers include wax dissolved in a volatile spirit, polythene sheet or building paper
may also be used as an alternative.

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Details

Lift-slab construction method used in a

circular building

Cross bracing may be applied to overcome the system

weakness against lateral forces.

Slabs may be prestressed

Slabs may be divided into parts to facilitate lifting control.

New Developments in Lift-slab Construction

A lift slab system used extensively in Latin America

involves casting concrete bearing walls flat in the
stack along with floor slabs. The wall panels are
hinged to the floor, allowing them to unfold
automatically as the stack is raised into position.

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Summary

Lift slab construction is a method of constructing concrete

buildings by casting the floor or roof slab on top of the
previous slab and then raising (jacking) the slab up with
hydraulic jacks, so being cheaper and faster as it does not
need forms & shores as it is needed for cast-in-place slabs.
This method eliminates the need for redundant formwork
as only shuttering required on the edges, therefore casting
concrete slabs is the simplest stage in whole constriction
process of lift-slab method.
Lift-slab
construction
method
becomes
more
advantageous in buildings with similar floor plans
throughout the height of the building and where flush slab
may be desired.
The sequence of lifting slabs is influenced by the following
factors: weight of the slabs; height of the building, lifting

capacity of jacks, cross sectional area of columns during

initial lifting.

Slabs are lifted by jacks, operating on the top of the

building columns, this jacks lift a
pair of steel rods
attached to each lifting collar in the slab being raised.
This system requires a central and accurate control to
provide a uniform lift from all directions.

Lecture Activity
Each student is required to prepare a brief but informative internet-based research about one of the topics
related to this lecture (Lift-slab Construction); i.e., new developments, successive and local case studies or
important details. The research should be presented in only one A4 sheet.

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References

Allen, EA. (2009) Fundamentals of building construction materials and methods, John Wiley & Sons.

Ching, Francis (2008) Building Construction Illustrated, John Wiley & Sons.

Emmitt, S.& Gorse, C. (2006) Barrys Advanced Construction of Buildings, Blackwell Publishing.

Mehta, Madan et. al. (2013) Building Construction, Pearson, USA.

Randall, Frank (1986) New developments in lift slab construction

http://en.wikipedia.org.

http://nptel.ac.in/courses/105106117/pdf/1_Introduction/1.2_Advantages_Types_of_Prestressing.pdf

http://www.britannica.com

http://youtube.com

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