GLOBAL formwork specialist Paschal-Werk G Maier is looking at expanding its presence in Saudi Arabia. Having launched a representative office in Dammam early this year to serve the requirements of the contractors in the Eastern Province, the company is currently looking at opening additional offices and boosting its technical staff to meet the anticipated demand from the buoyant market.

Paschal has been active in the region since the late nineties with many prestigious projects to its name.

The products of this international specialist for concrete formwork, shoring systems, formwork planning software and related services can be found in over 60 countries.

The spectrum of products offered by the company includes systems for modern wall, slab and support formwork, customised formwork, climbing and platform systems, support structures and bracings, as well as specialised software systems for planning, organisation and management in the concrete construction.

Paschal continuously updates its range include many new and revised ones. Among the latest additions to its portfolio are new large-sized panels for its Logo 3 wall formwork. These measure 270 by 340 cm and 135 by 340 cm. With these sizes, one panel can cover two formwork heights, says Juergen Schnaiter of Paschal.

Logo 3 makes a fair-faced concrete finish possible, because of its well-arranged tie points and design.

Another development covers TTK, its proven radius-adjustable trapezoidal girder formwork which comes with a new edge profile. “Now the individual formwork segments are not fastened together with key bolts anymore but with a newly developed connecting clamp,” Schnaiter explains. “This speeds up work with the formwork on the construction site considerably. It has been construction site tested and is safe.”

Meanwhile, with demand across the world rising for tailormade formwork for concrete components, Paschal offers customised solutions that allow any geometry or surface to be produced. “Paschal can offer the best technical solution together with outstanding quality of workmanship produced not only in steel, but also in timber,” says Schnaiter.

Furthermore, software company Planitec, a member of the Paschal Group, has developed the PPL10.0 software for formwork planning with an integrated logistics solution. This package, based on 64-bit technology, is one of the most outstanding IT products available for the construction sector,” he says.

PPL10.0 is a cloud-capable version of the formwork software Paschal Plan Light (PPL) used by many construction companies and construction machinery traders. It has been developed using current Java-technology and is hence usable for almost all operating systems and also via the internet. The new version, which is now available to customers, penetrates service areas that were previously only possible using AutoCAD and other professional systems, the company says.

Other software solutions include the complex formwork planning programme Paschal Plan Pro (PPpro) and the rental module with Prentel machinery card for companies with rental services, based on the database solution from infor, a leading provider of enterprise applications and services.

Paschal offers a spectrum of services for concrete construction based on 49 years of experience, ranging from the development and production of high-performance formwork and shoring systems to related software and customer support.

Its Saudi operation, Paschal-Werk G Maier Scientific and Technical Office, was founded in 2011 and is located in Dammam. This office is supported by Paschal’s hub in the GCC Paschal Concrete Forms in Bahrain. Founded in 1997, this office is located in the Bahrain International Investment Park, Hidd.

Paschal has provided its formwork systems on a number of projects in Saudi Arabia some of the most challenging having been in the wastewater treatment segment of the market. In 2011, it was called upon to provide formwork for a project in Dammam that comprised the construction of 24 circular tanks for a wastewater treatment plant undertaken by the Riyadh-based contractor System Technology Company (SysTech). The same contractor is now again relying on the flexibility and accuracy afforded by Paschal formwork systems for the construction of a sewage treatment plant (STP) in Madinah under a SR300-million ($80 million) contract. The project, which started in January 2012, is expected to be complete in August 2014.

The Madinah STP comprises six oval-shaped tanks, with walls that taper in thickness, being 1.20 m at the bottom and 35 cm at the top. A range of formwork systems are being used on the STP including Logo to build the straight walls with a height of 7.2 m and this is followed by Paschal adjustable radius TTR circular formwork, with a height of 5.25 m, which is employed on the curved sections. The project involves a total concrete surface area of some 130,000 sq m that will be formed with Paschal formwork for the vertical sections and other formwork systems for the slabs. The formwork solutions are being supplied by Eifics in Dammam, Paschal’s trade partner for Saudi Arabia.

The Dammam wastewater treatment plant was the first project in Saudi Arabia to use the TTR circular formwork. SystTech selected the system having witnessed first-hand the efficiency of the system in use on the construction of two sedimentation tanks in Chambéry, Savoy, France, according to Paschal.

From its headquarters based in Steinach in the German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, Paschal-Werk G Maier operates four branches and service centres and 17 subsidiaries and international shareholdings. Apart from the GCC hub in Bahrain and the scientific and technical office in Saudi Arabia, Paschal also has offices in the UAE, namely Paschal Emirates, which was founded in Dubai in 2004, and in Abu Dhabi in 2010.