The tallest seafront residential tower in the Mediterranean has been built in Limassol in Cyprus: At a height of 170 meters, the ONE-Tower features 37 floors and is scheduled to become the island’s new landmark.
A Tower Facing the Sea, Standing at 170 meters
The team of experts from Master Builders Solutions® played a crucial role in the construction process by providing a range of admixtures including MasterGlenium SKY, MasterSet, MasterLife, MasterRoc, and MasterMatrix. Their expertise significantly contributed to the success of the project, resulting in a 30% faster concrete placing time compared to conventional products. Additionally, the use of these admixtures led to a 30% cost reduction and provided 100% longer corrosion protection for the structure.
"Our customers benefit from our wide range of admixtures for addressing specific challenges," Dr. Michael Fischer, responsible for regional market management for concrete additives in Europe at Master Builders Solutions, explains. "In the case of the ONE-Tower, the contractor successfully navigated the complexities of constructing a tall building, dealing with a challenging marine environment, and adhering to a tight schedule." Another advantage was that all admixtures were fully compatible with Cypriot cements, ensuring excellent concrete performance even in high temperatures and during a 45-minute concrete transportation.
37.000 m3 of concrete poured for ONE-Tower
A total of 7,000 cubic meters of concrete was used for the pile construction, while 10,000 cubic meters were used for the three-meter high raft foundation. An additional 20,000 cubic meters of concrete were pumped vertically to the upper section of the tower.
“In order to pump the concrete in a height of 170 meters, our superplasticizer MasterGlenium SKY 695 was used,” explains civil engineer Georgios Garatziotis, technical support at Master Builders Solutions. “It ensures a constant high-quality ready-mix concrete at a low water/cement ratio and extended workability at high temperatures, without delayed strength development. This is possible thanks to our innovative chemistry.”
The particular configuration of the MasterGlenium SKY 695 molecules allows their delayed adsorption onto the cement particles and disperses them effectively over a long period of time. Furthermore, the molecules leave sufficient area on the cement surface to allow a rapid hydration reaction, resulting in high early strength development.
“Although the water/cement ratio was very low – effective 0.37 – thanks to MasterGlenium SKY 695 we achieved an aesthetically pleasing concrete of C50/60, with perfect workability, flowability, rheology, cohesiveness, pumping and the ability to pass through the dense multiple reinforcement layers”, says Georgios Garatziotis. By using MasterSet R106XR and MasterSet R200BM set-retarding admixtures the setting time characteristics of the concrete were sufficiently delayed thereby keeping to the tight time schedule.
Challenge of the marine environment
The tower's close proximity to the Mediterranean posed another challenge due to the harsh marine environment. To address this, the experts from Master Builders Solutions utilized MasterLife WP1000 as a reliable watertight protection. This crystallizing agent is an ideal solution for ensuring the durability of the concrete, even in the face of deterioration caused by the harsh environmental conditions.
During pilling construction (40-meter depth) MasterMatrix UW 444 was used as an anti-washout agent, exhibiting superior resistance to wash-out of cement and fines.
“To protect the steel reinforcement against chlorides from sea water, we used the corrosion inhibitor MasterLife CI 35,” explains Georgios Garatziotis. “It provides reliable protection by adsorbing onto the reinforcing steel to form a corrosion resistant protective film. This protective film dramatically slows the corrosion process by preventing chlorides from reacting with the reinforcing steel, and by depriving the corrosion process of moisture and oxygen, thus slowing the rate of corrosion once it begins.”
To ensure maximum durability of the building, the team of experts from Master Builders Solutions incorporated MasterRoc MS 610 into the concrete mixture. This top-quality silica fume powder is specifically designed for high-performance concretes, effectively altering the porous structure of the concrete to create a denser and highly resistant material that can withstand various external influences.
With this exceptional blend of admixtures from Master Builders Solutions' extensive range, the concrete durability of the towering ONE-Tower, standing at a height of 170 meters, is assured.
To further explore the remarkable towers constructed using Master Builders Solutions concrete admixtures, we recommend watching a captivating video showcasing the Marienturm in Frankfurt, Germany.
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