Concrete silos are widely used in various sectors, including agriculture, manufacturing, and storage. Their structural integrity is crucial for the safety and functionality of these facilities. Slipforming enables continuous, non-interrupted, cast-in-place “flawless” (i.e. no joints) concrete structures that have performance characteristics superior to those of piecewise construction.
The Ciment Québec project included the construction of six 45m high concrete silos, poured simultaneously using slip formworks. This work method requires the monitoring of several parameters during the continuous concrete poor that was scheduled to last 9 days. The challenge of positioning steel plates and openings accurately during slip form construction is of utmost importance. This means the 120 workers, supervisors and managers working in 12 hours shifts while work is constantly advancing required a high level of communication and information transfer from shift to shift to assure a high-quality finished product.
An accurate and detailed 3D model was created for the project to clearly understand height and location of all concrete penetrations. Height sensors were attached to the slipform to ensure an accurate elevation was captured automatically. The models and the sensor data were both integrated into ArcGIS to create a live digital twin of the construction project where elevation data and concrete pour progress was tracked live to the centimeter. When the actual concrete elevation came within 3 meters of an opening or an embedded steel plate, the assigned person on-site received an automatic notification with a detailed report.
This high level of automation and communication created a level of comfort and clarity never seen before during a complex construction process like this one.
