Ruf expands the product range with the DN 2700 concrete container

The name of Ruf has been associated with innovative and efficient solutions in construction and renovation for more than 125 years. Ruf's customers receive everything from a single source, from housing construction though industrial and commercial construction and on to civil engineering. A well-appointed building trade centre directly at the production site completes the programme. With attractive complete solutions and a seamlessly functioning logistics system, Ruf successfully pursues a very high level of customer satisfaction. The focal points of the precast concrete parts production for building construction at Ruf lie in hall systems made from precast concrete parts, prefabricated wall and ceiling elements for housing construction as well as structural precast concrete parts. In the field of civil engineering Ruf offers a wide range of quality-assured and certified precast concrete products alongside the aforementioned products. As a member of of the professional association for concrete and steel reinforced concrete piping (FBS), the company are certified per DIN EN ISO 9001 and manufacture concrete piping, steel reinforced concrete piping, the complete shaft range and tangential shafts per DIN and FBS quality guidelines. Further products are, for example, large shafts for connections larger than DN 1000, fully biological small water treatment plants with waste water aeration per DIN 4261 part 2 and monolithically manufactured steel reinforced concrete containers per DIN 4034. With the new large mould from Beta, Ruf can now significantly increase the maximum size of the steel reinforced concrete containers that it offers. Time-saving manufacturing of the DN 2700 concrete containers. The new mould is installed in a newly erected hall, which is equipped with a crane track at the appropriate height. The new manufacturing device from Beta is a large mould for the efficient manufacturing of DN 2700 concrete containers and cover plates using a casting process. Spigot end formation per DIN 4034 part 2. The manufacturing of the containers is implemented upside-down, with the base upwards. The walls and the base are concreted in a single, time-saving working step. The wall heights of the container can be adjustably set through a newly developed DN 2700 support basket, which can be inserted into the mould. The support basket comprises a lower and upper flange. Four different construction heights can be set by means of spacer tubes. The max. height of the complete container is 3,650 mm. The wall thickness is constant at 120 mm, the outside diameter of the finished concrete container is thus 2,940 mm over its complete height. The base plate is 150 mm thick. This gives a max. clearance height of 3,500 mm for the finished container. The capacity of the largest variant is then around 9.5 m³. The Beta container mould guarantees exposed concrete quality and comprises primarily the single-part core, the moulding jacket which is a spring former, a steel profile ring for forming the spigot end and the aforementioned support basket. The robust, single-part DN 2700 core is made from sheet steel and can be hydraulically constricted for subsequent efficient formwork removal. The formwork core stands on a peripheral profile frame with outriggers as a support for the jacket and profile ring. A total of four clamp locks on the outriggers enable the secure tensioning of the forming jacket. The single-part forming jacket DN 2700 WS 120 is slotted and likewise manufactured from sheet steel. The butt end of the spring mould is equipped with a rubber seal. This enables water-tight sealing of the mould. Two turning studs are located on the jacket to enable a subsequent secure connection with the turning beam on the crane. The mould can be firmly closed and then opened again in a short time thanks to the ratchet closures. Centring pins ensure dimensional stability when assembling the mould. After assembling the mould and inserting the reinforcement basket and the reinforcement on the base, the container mould is cast with self-compacting concrete with the help of the crane track and concrete bucket. With the max. wall height, around 4.74 m³ of concrete are required. External vibrators are not required. The container then hardens in approx. one day "standing on its head" in the mould. After the concrete has set, the formwork can be quickly removed from the concrete container. To do so, the moulding core is hydraulically constricted and thus released from the internal concrete surfaces. The hydraulically actuated turning bean hanging from the crane tracks is driven over the mould and then connected to the turning pins of the moulding jacket. This connection is secured with locking pins. Now the semi-automatic turning bean from Beta is lifted vertically upwards. The moulding jacket is fastened to the concrete part with four anchors which are concreted in. This allows the moulding jacket, profile ring and concrete container to be lifted off the moulding core together as a single unit. Once they have been lifted up all the way the turning beam drives to the park position allocated for the hardened concrete container. In doing so, the turning beam rotates 180° around the turning pins and the concrete container can thus be set down on its base plate. Once in a secure conditions, the concrete anchor screws are unscrewed. Then the ratchet closures are released and the spring mould opens with a wide gap. The change in shape of the jacket surface causes it to release from the outer concrete surface and the moulding jacket can be lifted up. The de-shuttered and completed concrete DN 2700 container then remains in the hall until transported away. No concrete containers without cover plates. Of course every concrete container that leaves the Ruf establishment has a corresponding DN 2700 cover plate, manufactured per DIN 4034 part 2. The 250 mm high moulding jacket for the cover plate is designed as a single part with slots and is closed with a ratchet at the butt end. Centring pins ensure that the moulding jacket is correctly positioned on the round formwork surface which lies on the hall floor. If the moulding jacket is closed the pre-assembled reinforcement can be inserted. Beta provide DN 625 and DN 1000 cut-out cores for the access openings. The cylindrical cut-out cores have turnbuckles for mechanical contraction when removing the formwork. The cut-out cores are installed - corresponding cut-outs in the reinforcement provide the correct positioning and provide positional stability during the concreting. The profile rings for the moulding jacket and cut-out cores are positioned before concreting. DN 2700 concrete containers were very well received As soon as the new manufacturing of the DN 2700 concrete containers was started there was a great demand for the new product as a result of the very high manufacturing quality. So, in the future around 150 concrete containers of this size will be produced and delivered by Ruf each year. Production will be used to fulfil orders as well as to build up stocks.