Jason Ford

C2I 2020 Manufacturing Technology winner: Rethinking rebar

In-Depth

New fabrication and assembly methods are set to bring extra safety and productivity gains to rebar. Jason Ford reports.

Category: Manufacturing technology

Winner: Concrete Reinforcement of the Future

Partners: MTC, MetLase, ParaPy, Leeds Beckett University

Category Sponsor: Mazak

Erecting steel structures is a hazardous occupation and a staggering 60 per cent of construction accidents can be attributed to workers being injured by rebar.

Rebar is made from different grades of steel and, as its name suggests, is used to reinforce the tensile strength of concrete structures. It is supplied in the form of rods and is fabricated into cage structures by hand before being encased in concrete to carry out its vital, unseen function.

Workers stooping to tie rebar at intersections can develop musculoskeletal disorders and a Labour Force Survey (LFS) from 2018/19 estimated 42,000 work-related cases of such injury, accumulating to three fifths of all ill health in this sector.

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