19/12/2008
Smoothly rising up to the sky
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Its ultimate height will be 437 meters:
The Guangzhou West Tower in southern China (above). |
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Never before has C100 ultra high-strength concrete been pumped up to heights of over 400 meters. For the construction of the Guangzhou West Tower, which with its 437 meters will be the highest building in southern China, BASF developed a special concrete admixture formula that makes the material that is usually not very workable malleable enough for this type of transport. In addition, the admixture makes the C100 concrete self-compacting thus eliminating the need for consolidation through vibration. This makes working on the construction site much safer and reduces noise - also a novelty for high-rise buildings of this size.
“This breakthrough highlights how our innovation capabilities can further facilitate the Chinese high-rise construction activities and how it can advance the overall construction industry,” says Mark Volmer, Head of BASF
Construction Chemicals Asia Pacific. “It also further demonstrates BASF’s business commitment to South China, following the recent establishment of our subsidiary in Guangzhou.”
The boom of high-rise construction in China has kept improving the safety and durability of the buildings top priority. The unique architecture of the Guangzhou West Tower demanded extremely high-strength concrete to ensure on the one hand the longevity of the €610 million project and on the other hand to increase the floor space efficiency.
“C100 is well known for its structural advantages. However, the application of C100 in a high-rise like the Guangzhou West Tower was regarded as unlikely, due to the high viscosity and low pumpability of C100,” explained Li Weizhong, Technical Director of Guangdong Yue Qun Concrete Co., Ltd., which provided ready mix concrete to the project. “Thanks to BASF’s advanced admixtures and technical expertise, we were able to optimize the parameters of the C100 concrete. It ultimately resulted in C100 with outstanding workability and the right viscosity required for pumping,”
The Guangzhou West Tower, also known as the Guangzhou International Financial Center, will house offices, conference centers, a luxury hotel and a high-class shopping center.