Quadshore

History attests failures of temporary structures due to inadequate appreciation of the risks and critical design considerations have resulted in injuries, death and significant fines. At congested and narrow construction sites in densely populated cities where using proper lifts and machinery may not be possible, safe installation of conventional props, mainly made from low-grade steel with low capacity-to-weight ratio, heavy, and cumbersome-to-assemble components, might be neglected or even be impossible. As a result, conventional propping systems increase the time and energy required for installation/de-installation, and transportation to/from the site, thereby increasing construction costs, project duration and associated carbon footprint.

High-strength steel (HSS) is widely used in automotive industry. Yet, hitherto it had not been efficiently utilised in temporary structures mainly due to its limited ductility. Owing to over 12 years research on HSS by Monash University, Quadshore contains hybrid components that creatively maximises optimum use of both HSS and mild-steel. Resulting from a $1m R&D between Monash and Coates, the real scale tests conducted on Quadshore demonstrated that by using HSS, less steel can be used for the same function, leading to significant weight reduction. Additionally, a boltless connection was invented for which Quadshore’s assembly/disassembly process is substantially expedited.

Quadshore can boost Australia’s position in research commercialisation in world ranking that is critical for our national interest. It is “an exemplar of the value of properly conceived and conducted university engineering research in facilitating industrial and business improvement”, says an international independent assessor. Its unique benefits in terms of construction time and cost saving, and enhancing safety and sustainability credentials are realised by all stakeholders concerned with temporary structures including researchers, designers, producers, end users, consultants, insurers, contractors, sub-contractors and workers. Its innovative parts have improved Australian manufacturing productivity and set new benchmarks in design of temporary structures.

-This research has enabled fully utilisation of high-strength steel in Civil Construction. It has led to a tangible product, called Quadshore, whose societal, economic and environmental benefits can be realised by various stakeholders. -Quadshore project contains both medium duty (Quad50) and heavy duty (Quad150) propping solutions. The working load limit to weight ratios of 3m Quad50 and Quad150 assemblies are, respectively, at least 1.4 and 1.7 times higher than conventional props. -The boltless connection renders consumables of module-to-module's connections obsolete. It makes the assembly/disassembly time of Quad50 and Quad150, respectively, at least 40% and 60% quicker than conventional systems with the same capacity. -Quadshore’s unique features associated with weight, capacity-to-weight ratio, and speed of installation/de-installation lead to reduced number of props required on site, reduced footprint required for installation, increased safety and reduced lost time injuries, reduced labour, manual handling, storage, and installation and de-installation costs as well as decreased transportation and a lower carbon footprint. -This industry-focused research incorporated five important elements identified in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, namely Goals #4 (Quality Education), #9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure), #11 (Sustainable cities and communities), #13 (Climate Action), and #17 (Partnerships for the Goals).