The world’s tallest building using a concrete prefabricated pre-finished volumetric construction (PPVC) system is being built in Singapore. The Clement Canopy condominium project that is the first structure on the island to use an all-concrete version of the PPVC system.
PPVC is a method in which free-standing volumetric modules-complete with finishes for walls, floors, and ceilings-are prefabricated and then erected onsite. Much of the construction is done offsite in a controlled environment where productivity and safety are optimal and dust pollution is minimized.
There are 1,866 modules, and the contractor, Dragages Singapore, lifts an average of five modules per day, and is aiming to increase to eight as the project progresses. It takes about 13 cubic yards of concrete to make a 27-ton PPVC module.
The total lifting operation is scheduled to take about 14 months. The heaviest module will weigh almost 64,000 pounds; the lightest about 37,000 pounds.
Comprising two 40-short tower blocks, the project will have 505 apartments with a total floor area of 490,000 square feet. Under Singapore's land-sale requirements, 65% of the superstructure has to be built using reinforced concrete PPVC modules.
The contractor is using two Liebherr 1000 EC-H 40 Litronic High-Top tower cranes to erect the two 40-story towers. These tower cranes have a lift capacity of more than 88,000 pounds at a working radius of 114 feet.
Seng Swear Wern, civil production manager on the project, says that PPVC has reduced workers onsite, but increased the number of personnel involved in the factory prefabrication. The project should be complete by the end of 2020.
