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Albert
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Outside US,
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Technology
Puts Welded Wire Reinforcement
On A More Equal Footing with Rebar
HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, NOVEMBER 13, 2002--While welded wire reinforcement (WWR) has always offered significant cost and efficiency advantages over more traditional loose reinforcing bars (rebar), today's advanced manufacturing techniques have substantially increased the product's flexibility and its capacity to handle ever more demanding concrete structural reinforcement projects.
New computer controlled machines, such as the QC7 recently installed at Connecticut Steel and similar equipment at other manufacturers, allow producers to fabricate WWR to precise specifications. "We can put the reinforcement where you really want it," said V. Alan White, vice president, Sales and Marketing, at the Wallingford, CT, company.
These new machines, many of which are imported from Europe where WWR commands as much as 40 percent of the concrete reinforcement market, combine flexible welding heads with computer-aided design (CAD) controls. They produce structural (engineered) reinforcement with standard or custom cross wire spacing configurations that are accurate to 3/1000th of an inch, said White, a member and past president of the Wire Reinforcement Institute. WRI is the concrete construction industry's leading source for timely, objective and credible information on the uses and benefits of WWR and related products.
Spacing configurations
also can easily be designed to include openings for such architectural
elements as doors and windows. Moreover, with CAD controls, the mechanical
changeover of the machines typically can be accomplished in 20 to 30 minutes,
versus the two
to six hours of manual labor required with the old style machines.
This speed,
flexibility and precision, together with the machines' capacity to accept
larger diameter wire (up
to 3/4-inch at some manufacturers), is placing WWR
on a more equal market footing with rebar in North America, where WWR
market share hovers around
two percent.
Welded Wire Reinforcement (WWR), which was used in the runway paving at the Kansas City International Airport (above), provides significant cost and efficiency advantages over more traditional loose reinforcing bars (rebar). Produced in preformed sheets that eliminate the time-consuming job-site layout and tying that is typical with rebar, WWR drastically reduces placement costs. This leads to significantly lower overall concrete structural reinforcement costs, by compressing construction time and cutting manpower and equipment needs. Its superior strength also means less material is required to achieve the same level of structural reinforcement as with rebar.
Stronger. Lighter. Faster. Cheaper.
Once commonly known as wire mesh, mat or fabric, WWR is related to rebar
in that it provides structural reinforcement in concrete. However,
WWR is cold-worked, giving it higher yield strength, and is produced in
preformed sheets that eliminate the time-consuming job-site layout and
tying that is typical with rebar.
WWR's attributes offer clear benefits and advantages over rebar for most
concrete reinforcement applications.
For instance, because it is stronger than rebar it is also lighter, requiring as much as 25 percent less material to achieve the same level of reinforcement. This means that, depending upon the region, the material costs for WWR can be comparable or often less than that of rebar for many applications, said Mark Marvin, president of The Marvin Group. A value-engineering firm headquartered in Burlington, KY, The Marvin Group distributes concrete reinforcement material throughout North America, Mexico and the Caribbean.
Since WWR is
produced in preformed sheets it also drastically reduces placement costs,
leading to significantly lower overall concrete reinforcement costs, by
compressing construction time, and cutting manpower and equipment requirements.
"When there's a lot of repetition, WWR has great potential to slash
installation time," said John Ortiz, PE, vice president, Forrest
Consultants, of Sugarloaf, PA, a custom distributor of concrete reinforcement
products in the eastern United States. "WWR can be two to four times
faster than rebar."
The economic benefits of WWR extend well beyond significantly reduced
placement and overall construction costs, agree Ortiz and Marvin, who
is chairman of the ACI 439-A Committee. [ACI is the governing code authority
for construction.] The faster a building is erected, the sooner it can
start earning a return on its owner's investment.
"Speed is such a large issue in construction," Marvin explained. "If you can get into a building a month or even two weeks earlier, you can start generating revenue that much faster."
"Consider the case of a casino," said Ortiz, whose firm has provided WWR for a number of such properties. "If by using WWR, construction is shortened by 20 to 30 days, that's a lot of money."
For more information on WWR, call WRI at (800) 552-4WRI [4974], or visit www.wirereinforcementinstitute.org. WRI works closely with government agencies, allied industries and organizations to ensure the most accurate, up-to-date codes, standards, specifications and regulatory requirements. WRI works to promote the superior performance attributes of WWR products across the full range of reinforcement applications.
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942 Main Street, Suite 300, Hartford, CT 06103 PH (800) 552-4WRI
[4974] FAX (860) 808-3009
Outside the United States, call 1-860-808-3000 x356 ©2006 Wire Reinforcement Institute |