First use of Doka's Table Lifting System in U.S.

The first U.S. use of Doka's Table Lifting System (TLS) in conjunction with pre-assembled Dokamatic tables has proven to save time and labour on two high-profile projects: the River House Condominiums in Grand Rapids, Mich. and the Renaissance Hotel in Raleigh, N.C.

Construction of the River House Condominiums, a 36-storey horizontal and vertical post-tensioned concrete structure began in 2006. Upon completion, this structure will be the second tallest building in the state and will provide additional residences for people who want to live in the downtown area. Concrete contractor Kent Companies of Grand Rapids is constructing the concrete frame for River House. During their visit to World of Concrete 2007, they quickly recognized how the Dokamatic tableforms and the TLS system were ideal for this project.
Dokamatic, the fast pre-assem¬bled slab formwork system, can be moved by just one field work¬er with the aid of a powered drive unit and shifting trolley. The sys¬tem has now been enhanced with the development of the Doka Ta¬ble Lifting System (TLS). The TLS is an electric powered lifting plat¬form that allows Dokamatic table-forms to be cycled between floors without the need for a crane. The system is adaptable to any build¬ing structure and can be used from the ground floor up. It at¬taches to the previously cast slab with embedded anchors, and can¬tilevers from the building as a mechanical outrigger platform.
For non-typical floors 1 through 5, concrete contractor Kent Com¬panies utilized the versatile Dokaflex system. Dokamatic Ta¬bles were then introduced with the start of typical Level 6 and the Doka Table Lifting System on Level 7. More than 30,000 square feet of tables have been supplied and all tables and loose Dokaflex formwork is being cycled from floor to floor, independently of the crane, with the TLS.
"Without the TLS, we would not be as far along on the project as we are," said Paul Bowne, Kent Companies Project Manager.

The TLS also proved benefi¬cial for the Renaissance Hotel, a new 10-storey hotel structure with a post-tensioned slab built over two levels of parking un¬der construction at North Hills, a new three-city block mixed-use district in Raleigh, N.C. Con¬crete contractor United Forming Inc. began using the TLS on lev¬el four in August and will top out the 229-room four-star luxury ho¬tel in January 2008. By installing the Table Lifting System to the structure in order to move the ta¬bles from floor to floor, the crane was free to move the shear wall formwork and rebar as* well as unload trucks for all contractors at the same time. Juvenal Ibarra, General Superintendent of United Forming, said, "I like the TLS for two reasons -- it takes less labour and no crane time to move the tables, and it is much safer than pulling them out with a crane."