Construction Technology and Management of Unilateral Support Formwork for 16M-High Concrete Outer Wall of Complex Deep Foundation Pit

Abstract

Shanghai Grand Opera House, which is under construction in Shanghai, China, includes two relatively large opera halls, which are named as the large opera hall and the middle opera hall. Below the stages of these two opera halls are two deep stage pits where the mechanical equipment will be arranged after construction, therefore, the structure of these stage pits is designed to be basically hollow with only a small amount of floor slabs on the edges. For the most sections of the stage pits, the depth is 16m, and the arrangement of horizontal supports and lattice columns in the stage pits during the construction period is extremely complicated. To prevent the outer walls of the stage pits from leaking and further guarantee the quality of the structure, the unilateral support formwork, which is composed of multiple steel components as load bearing members, is applied to construct the 16m outer wall of the stage pits. In this paper, first, the specific working principle of the unilateral support formwork and numerical analysis of its construction steps are introduced. Then focus on explaining that through establishing detailed digital 3D models of the complex stage pits during construction period, the practical construction sequence and construction technologies are designed and formulated, meanwhile, the on-site staff can also be guided directly through digital 3D models, which guarantee the visualization of the complex technology and the convenience of on-site construction as well. The construction of the deep stage pits is currently in progress, and part of the outer wall has already been constructed successfully. The cost of the technology is certainly more than common construction methods, but it is still acceptable since most of the formwork members can be recycled and re-use, while the advantages are obvious. Finally, the main characteristics of the construction technology of the unilateral support formwork for 16m-high concrete outer wall is summarized and discussed, which can provide a reference for the construction of similar structures.