Forming the Future of Construction: Concrete Forms

Construction Brothers

Introduction
Today we welcome Joe Purtle, who is here to talk to us about concrete forms. Joe has been in construction for well over two decades, and he’s currently the COO of Doka, which specializes in forming and shoring.
Eddie shares a bit about his experience in construction back in the 2x4 and plywood days. He shares how cool it’s been to see the complexity of forms increase over time and to see how those forms have become woven into BIM software.
We discuss how designers and other stakeholders view concrete forms. Joe explains that the placement of concrete drives the schedule on many large projects. And the placement of concrete is largely dependent on the completion of formwork.
Cycling of formwork and big dadgum messes
Eddie asks Joe to explain the cycling (reuse) of forms on large projects. Doka’s job is to understand the complicated aspects of forming and pouring and how these complexities can affect a schedule. We discuss the benefits of modular approaches and cycling of forms.
Joe discusses the importance of knowledgeable planning and the unfortunate results when things to wrong and a form gets trapped. It’s what the bros and their Georgia buddies would call a “dadgum mess.”
Joe shares about how he has seen companies process decisions related to renting vs. buying. He also discusses sustainability issues and equipment that measures temperature and pressure to optimize the curing process. We get into the optimization of pouring and the incorporation of reusable sensors that give designers and project managers the ability to know things they would have previously not known without expensive, messy tests.
Prefab of formwork
Eddie asks Joe to share about prefab work such as cast-in-place parking garages. Joe explains that Doka can build and ship complete beam forms that are pretty much ready to plug and play when they arrive at the job site. They have CNC machines that can put curves into forms with highly detailed specs when the customer wants it.
Tyler connects these abilities to the overall increase in complexity of structures. Joe shares about the pride we’ve discussed in previous episodes that comes with seeing a really cool building and being able to say you had something to do with that.
BIM Modeling
Eddie asks Joe to explain how Doka’s work integrates with the BIM process. He explains that they’re already working within Revit and Tekla but that they are quickly extending their integration even further. We discuss how AI is streamline design. Then there are the AI features that simply increase the team’s everyday operations.
Joe shares some thoughts about “real BIM” vs. “Hollywood BIM” and how these differences affect scheduling. Eddie shares some thoughts from a designer’s perspective as well as thoughts about storing huge form components that are not easy to move.
We spend some time discussing the design rules being used to form AI and how significantly this process will likely change design work in the future. Then we discuss the role that human insight and finesse play in this process.
Megaphone Message
Joe’s message to the industry is this: The industry needs to come together and stop working in silos. The sooner we can create true collaboration through the available technologies, the sooner we’ll progress to a future we can’t even imagine at this point.
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