Presented by-

Shweta Choudhary
Roll No.-
Advanced Building Construction
YCMOU M.Arch. Sem2
Aayojan School of Architecture.

Faculty Incharge-
Prof.Archana Rathore
 Lift-slab construction
was a revolutionary idea invented
and developed in the early 1950s by
a collaboration of Philip N. Youtz
and Thomas B. Slick, resulting in
what came to be known as the
Youtz-Slick Lift-Slab Method of
Construction.

Since then it has become a basic

method of economical concrete
construction, especially for office
buildings, apartments, parking
garages, hotels and other structures
characterized by repetitive framing
from floor to floor.

Basically, the method entails

casting floor and roof slabs
on or at ground level and
jacking them up into
position.

Flat plate floors are commonly used

because they are so well suited to
stack-casting, requiring for work at
only the edges of the slab and at
floor openings.
The most famous IIR (Institute for Inventive
Research) invention was the Youtz-Slick lift-slab
method of building construction, developed
concurrently by Mr. Slick and Philip Youtz, a New
York architect, in 1948.
 Originally , lift-slabs were reinforced with mild steel reinforcing, which limited the
column spacing or required very thick slabs.
With the advent of post-tensioning , however the column spacing was increased and
the thickness of the slabs were reduced.
Contemporarily, all lift-slabs are post-tensioned.

Developments in
the construction
field have
changed lift slab
techniques over
its 33 year history,
increase use of
pumping and
prestressing has
made cast-in-
place flat plate
work more
efficient.
Photographs of what is believed to be one of the earliest, if
not the first, lift slab structure constructed in the US.
 The traditional lift slab construction sequence as illustrated in the figure.
Special lifting collars or share heads are provided in the slabs at the columns.
Bond breaking compounds are applied between slabs to separate them.
After the slabs have cured long enough to reach a prescribed strength powerful
hydraulic jacks mounted on top of the columns lift the slabs into their respective
positions.
A console connected to each hydraulic jack synchronizes the number of turns of
the check nuts to assure that the concrete slabs is being raised the same amount
at all points.
 Further developments.
In the conventional system hydraulic
jacks were mounted on top of the
columns, limiting the height of the
columns and making it necessary to
remove the jacks before splicing on the
next upper column tier.
The new approach allows columns to
be erected as tall as 6 stories without
filed splices. The jack is supported off
Another refinement controls the amount of lift
the column by a welded plate that is at each column.
later used to support the slab shear A steel tape runs from each column to a
central sensing device in a console which
head. monitors the relative movements and
automatically operates the pumps switching
them off and on as necessary to keep the
floor perfectly level as it moves upward at
approximately one inch per minute.
Safety is provided by electrically driven nuts
which follow the movement of the hydraulic
cylinders. If a gap develops above a nut, an
Recent changes in lift alarm first goes off. When the gap grows to
more than 3/8 inch, the associated pump
slab construction stops in turn stopping the entire lifting
include operation. This assures fall back protection in
supporting the hydraulic case of hydraulic failure.
jack off the column by a
welded plate. The old
approach used jacks
mounted on top of the
columns. Columns
Advantages
The big advantage of erecting concrete buildings using lift slab construction is
elimination of most form work; only the sides need to be formed , an
important factor in areas where labor cost are high.
Lift slab can be used for heights upto about 16 stories. Economical column
spacing ranges from 22 to 32 feet. Columns may be pipe, tubes or wide
flange sections; concrete building columns may be used in 3 to 4 story
buildings not requiring splices.
Another advantage is reduced handling and hoisting of materials and
supplies that can simply be placed on top of the slabs and lifted with them.
There is little need for finishing the bottom of the slabs, since they will be
as smooth as the floor finish of the slab below and thus the bottom of the slab
can be used directly as a ceiling.
The technique offers good fire resistance and good acoustic ratings.
Mass designed into walls, floors and roofs helps to reduce the effects of daily
temperature changes.

Limitations
The method has limitations too, the principal
one being that buildings must be specifically
planned for the same , or it will not have any
economic advantages over conventional
construction.
 The process ..
Stage 1
Preparation
The "Lift-Slab" system of construction is a
system of mechanically elevating horizontally
inclined partitioning slabs on pre-positioned
columns.
Diagram #1 shows a pair of columns with five
slabs prepared at ground level
Diagram #2 shows two lifting boxes mounted,
one on each of the two columns, and a single
slab elevated to the first floor level
Stage 2
Simple and Time Saving
The slabs are easily fabricated on site at
ground level and systematically elevated to
their required positions.
This graphic process description shows two
columns at each progressive stage.
The system is capable of accommodating
sequential single slab lifts on up to 40
columns, a lifting box mounted on to each of
the 40 columns
 Stage 3
Central electronic Control
The slabs are sequentially lifted and
easily secured in position, creating
flooring at the required levels.
Central electrical control console
regulates the lifting process and
maintains horizontal alignment and
flatness for slabs each weighing up to
one thousand five hundred tonnes.
Stage 4
Simple Pinning System
The Initial maximum height of the
columns is five storeys
The lifting boxes are sequentially
raised to higher positions to enable the
partitioning slabs to be lifted to the
required levels
The lifting boxes and the partitioning
slabs are held in their relative positions
by a simple pinning system
 Stage 5
Further expansion
The system is easily
expanded to create
higher rises
The vertical columns
are extended in stages,
increasing the height in
multiples of up to five
storeys
The first five slabs are
elevated further
to make room for the
subsequent five slabs
Buildings of up to thirty
storeys have been
successfully constructed
using the "Lift-Slab"
method of construction
Stage 6
Flexibility
When all slabs have
been fabricated and lifted
to pre-determined
positions, the final
positioning takes place
starting from the bottom
and continues upwards
Diagram #12 shows
three partitioning slabs in
their final position, higher
slabs ready for further
elevation
In the case of higher
rise buildings pre-
fabrication of slabs is
carried out at a higher
level making the first
floors free for subsequent
construction works
 Stage 7
High Rise
Final Benefits
Positioning
At the completion of No horizontal beams-
the Lift-Slab erection
the slabs are self
process, the Lift-
Boxes are simply supporting and create
lifted from the tops rigidity to the final
of the columns structure.
Special design
parameters allow for Material saving-upto
generous spacing 30% savings in
between columns cement and re-
After completion of enforcing bars.
the Lift-Slab erection
process columns
may be eliminated in Time Saving-
special cases to typically 30%saving in
provide larger construction time
unhindered floor compared with
spacing traditional
construction methods.
General Considerations
The lift slab method of construction presents certain
unique engineering considerations, during both the
design phase and the construction phase of a
project.

These considerations must be recognized and

adequately addressed during the structural
design, during the planning of the lift-slab
operation, during the preparation of the shop
drawings, and during the construction.

Structural engineering is required in all of these

phases by various engineers employed by different
organizations and with different responsibilities.
THE PRINCIPLE OF LIFTING THE LOAD
Main components of machine are the
cylinders and two threaded winches
between two steel beams. Winches are
connected with screw bundle concreted into Side elevation of a
the ceilings, lower bridge of the machines is building being constructed
underpinned by steel pipes. in accordance with with
Cylinders lift up the upper bridge together this technology
with winches, so the ceiling's bundle is lifted
up. Cylinder's length of stroke is 10
cm(clearence). Lifting winches lean against
lower and upper bridges with nuts (female
screws).
When piston reaches the clearence, weight
of lifted bundle is loaded over from upper
bridge to lower bridge and upper bridge is
let back to zero setting. (Nuts on winches
are driven by cog-wheels, so that the winch
gets into lifting position again.)
Lifting is carried out in 10 cm steps so, that
this way is also done in
controlled parts.

Side elevation showing an

additional slab being
constructed in preparation
Lifting jack
for raising.
The lifting process..
video
Since the development of the Youtz-slick system, other lift-slab
system have been developed.

One of these is the Lift-plate system, developed by Peter

Vanderklaauw, which has many similarities to the Youtz-Slick
system.

Other successful systems have been developed as well such as

the Multileveling Component system, developed by Kolbjorn
Saether, and the Cortina system, developed by Pablo Cortina
Ortega.

Various new methods with little variations in concrete casting

methods and lifting processes have also developed.

We can here discuss the Youtz-Slick and the Lift-plate methods

since they are the two systems most widely used.
The foundations are constructed and
backfilled and then the slab on grade is
constructed.

Openings are left in the slab on grade to

permit the erection of steel columns which are
then erected and plumbed.

In the Youtz-slick system a lifting collar is

cast into each slab at each column. This collar
provides a method to hook up lifting rods at
each collar, so that the slab can be lifted, and a
method to secure the lifting collar to the
supporting column, either permanently or
temporarily.

When the first tier of columns is

erected, all the lifting collars for all the
slabs to be lifted are installed over the
columns of this tier and are temporarily
suspended above the ground .
The lowest slab to be lifted is constructed first by
lowering its lifting collars into place on the slab on
grade, erecting the side forms (which may be high
enough to provide edge forms for all the slabs to
be lifted), installing post-tensioning strands and
reinforcing steel, and placing, finishing, and curing
the concrete.

A bond breaker is sprayed onto the finished floor

slab, and each of the other floor slabs are
constructed on top of the slab below in a similar
manner. When the slabs reach the proper strength,
the slabs are post-tensioned.

The building may be divided

into sections for lifting
as shown in Figure 1-4,
depending on available
equipment and the size
of the floors.

The sections are joined

by pour strips after
lifting has been completed.
In the Youtz-slick method,
the jacks are first mounted on
top of the columns of the first
tier, Two threaded lifting rods
are attached to each jack, one
on each side of the column.

These rods are then

attached to the lifting collars
of the slabs to be lifted; if
more than one slab is lifted at
a time, the rods are attached
to the lowest of these slabs.

The operation of the jacks

is normally coordinated by a
central console on the roof
slab, in order to keep the
slabs level within a specified
tolerance (typically a fraction
of an inch).

If necessary, the jacks can

be manually operated to
adjust the elevation of the
slab at individual locations.
The Lift-plate system differs from
the Youtz-slick system in that a
pair of jacks are mounted on each
column, one on each side.

This feature makes it possible to

have high tiers of many stories, up
to about six stories.

The length of column above the

jacks is unloaded and does not
affect the stability of the column.
Whereas a Youtz-slick lifting
collar is one piece and needs to
be threaded over the columns of
the first tier, a Lift-plate lifting
collars comes in two pieces which
are bolted together after being put
in place.

The lift-plate system is the same

as the Youtz-slick system in
regard to the construction of the
foundations and slab on grade,
and the casting and post-
tendering of thee slabs to be lifted.
 A new lift slab system has evolved in which concrete bearing walls are lifted
simultaneously with the slabs.
Concrete bearing walls are cast flat in the same stack with the slabs and attached
to the slab with loops of plastic rope, forming hinges. As the slab is raised, each
wall panel automatically unfolds into position.
Since the walls are load bearing, there is no need for expensive steel columns or
lifting collars as used in conventional lift-slab work. The steel columns used for
erection are removed and reused elsewhere.

Walls of only 4-inch thickness are adequate because

they have a long bearing length.
The openings in the walls will be filled with masonry
walls, precast panels or other curtain wall materials.
The columns and bridges, reusable up to several
hundred
times, can be taken apart for easy transport to the
next
job.
The absence of decking formwork shores,
scaffolding,
hoists and cranes further illustrates the simplicity
of the lift slab operation.
Buildings constructed using
various Lift Slab Systems
 Fargo high rise building The Johnstone Hall complex

The Foss firm

pioneered the use
of "lift-slab"
construction in the
region. The method
was used in
constructing the
Fargo high rise
building east of
Island Park.
Erected in 1954, the Johnstone Hall complex design
became a model for college dormitories, implementing
During the 1960s, the firm pioneered
a new raise-slab construction method, a practice which
the use of "lift-slab" construction in the
was featured in many architectural magazines at that
area, using the method in construction
time. \
of the high rise apartment buildings in
This method - the Youtz-Slick "lift-slab" method -
Fargo and Moorhead - Foss Engelstad
lifted reinforced concrete slabs onto columns
and Foss was the consulting engineer
with hydraulic jacks.
firm on the Fargo high rise for a St.
These slabs weighed 224 tons and were nine inches
Paul architectural firm - Nelson Hall
thick, 122 feet long and 43 feet wide.
and Neumaier Hall dormitories on the
Johnstone Hall was the largest building complex
Moorhead State University campus,
erected using this method.
and Park Towers apartments Bethany
Campus legend had it that two other similar structures
Towers in Fargo.
At one time, the Fargo high rise built elsewhere collapsed before completion.
was the tallest lift-slab building in Today, only one of the original Johnstone buildings is
the world. still standing on the campus.
 OTP bank office
complex
Veszprm

LIVING Center of banks

COMPLEX office complex
Plovdiv Budapest
 The LAmbiance Plaza
It was a 16-story residential project under construction
in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Its partially erect frame
completely collapsed on April 23, 1987, killing 28
construction workers.
Failure was possibly due to high stresses placed on
the floor slabs by the lift slab technique.
There was a school of thought that this accident
highlighted the deficiencies of lift slab construction.
This accident prompted a major nationwide federal
investigation into this construction technique, as well as
a temporary moratorium of its use in Connecticut.
LAmbiance Plaza was planned to be a sixteen-story
building with thirteen apartment levels topping three
parking levels. It consisted of two offset rectangular
towers, 63 ft by 112 ft each, connected by an elevator.
The entire structure collapsed, first the west tower and
then the east tower, in 5 seconds, only 2.5 seconds
longer than it would have taken an object to free fall
from that height. Two days of frantic rescue operations
revealed that 28 construction workers died in the
collapse, making it the worst lift-slab construction
accident.
At the time of collapse, the building was a little
more than halfway completed.
In the west tower, the ninth, tenth, and
eleventh floor slab package was parked in
stage IV directly under the twelfth floor and
roof package.
The shear walls were about five levels below
the lifted slabs.
The workmen were tack welding wedges
under the ninth, tenth, and eleventh floor
package to temporarily hold them into position
when they heard a loud metallic sound
followed by rumbling. An ironworker who was
installing wedges at the time, looked up to see
the slab over him cracking like ice breaking.
Suddenly, the slab fell on to the slab below it,
which was unable to support this added weight
and in turn fell.
Description of Building

L'Ambiance Plaza was planned to

have two virtually identical towers,
with floor plans measuring
approximately 63 ft by 112ft, and a
neighboring parking garage.

The towers were separated by 4 ft

and would have been joined by cast-
in-place concrete during the final
stage of construction.

The structural system consisted of

steel columns and 7" thick two-way
unbonded post-tensioned concrete
flat plates with shearwalls at four
perimeter and four interior locations.

The Youtz-Slick method of lift-slab

construction, was employed.
Causes of Collapse

Theory 1: Instability of the wedges

supporting the 12th floor and roof
package

Theory 2: Jack rod and lifting nut

slipped out due to a deformation of an
overloaded steel angle welded to a
shear head arm channel

Theory 3: Improper design of post- Structure Geometry Prior to Collapse - Drawn by Liam
tensioning tendons McNamara based on description from Culver, 1987

Theory 4: Substandard welds and

questionable weld details

Theory 5: Global instability caused by

lateral displacement

Shearhead and Hydraulic Jack

Shearhead picture
Cleveland Lift-Slab Parking Garage
Cleveland parking
The building consisted of eight-story twin towers, 28 by garage under
construction
6.4 m each (91 by 21 ft) in plan. The slabs were 200
mm (8 in) thick and weighed 800 kN (180,000 lb). The
slabs had been jacked into place on 18.5 m (61 ft) tall
columns spaced 6.7 m (22 ft) on center. All of the slabs
of the west tower were in place, secured by temporary
steel wedges
On the evening of April 6, winds gusted up to 56 80
kph (35 50 mph). The structure shifted 2.1 m (7 ft) out
of plumb in the long direction, with the fifth floor very Sidesway
displacement of
close to an adjacent building. The east tower, with only Cleveland
the second and third floors in place, was not affected by parking garage
the wind.

The building was secured with guys and temporary

shoring on orders of the Cleveland building
commissioner, who remarked if they had welded at
each floor as they went along the building would have
been braced and this would not have happened. The
Restoring the
west tower was eventually jacked back into place . Cleveland
parking garage
to plumb
Pipers Row Car Park, Wolverhampton
Pipers Row Multi-Storey Car Park was built in 1965 by British
Lift Slab Ltd (BLS) using the Lift Slab system of construction.
In January 1996 the local NCP management reported to the
NCP Regional Building Surveyor, that damage had
developed after a period of frost and that ponding was
leading to leakage and lime damage to cars. The lime
damage risk lead to the closure of some parking spaces
below the top slab. An area of 350m2 was recommended for
resurfacing.
A 120 tonne, 15m by 15m section of the top floor collapsed
at about 3am on 20th March 1997 when punching shear
failure at one column led to a progressive collapse as similar Plan of 4th floor slab at Pipers
failures followed at eight adjacent columns. Row showing repaired areas

cutting out for repairs at I2-3, 20th

March 1996.
Collapsed 4th floor slab
The initial punching shear failure in the concrete around the
shear head could have occurred at H2 or I2,as at both the
deterioration and/or repair substantially reduced the anchorage
to the top steel essential for shear strength.
Because of sensitivity to support wedge construction
tolerances, H2 and I2 had similar indeterminate wide ranges of
possible effective shear force from self weight at the time of
collapse.
The Lift Slab shear head and column connections remained
intact.
G1 column, with bottom steel welded
to shear head, did not fail in punching
shear

Photo from above the collapsed slab general view

Circular hotel guest room tower, in Portland, Maine.
The investigation revealed that the lateral load
resisting system for the structure had substantial
deficiencies.

The first deficiency was that the planes of all

the brace frames were radial and interested at a
single vertical axis (at the center of the circle.).

There was no other significant lateral load

resistance; thus the structure was torsionally
unstable.

The lateral load resisting system of lift slab

buildings usually consists of reinforced
concrete shear walls, or braced frames with
steel diagonal members connected to the
steel columns.
A second deficiency was that one end of the
diagonal cross-bracing members did not
terminate at a column, but terminated within
the span of the slabs.

Under lateral load, the forces from the

bracing would impose large vertical
concentrated load on the slabs which in
turn would impose large bending effects
(moments) on the slabs, which the slabs
were not designed to resist.

A third deficiency
was that the
diagonal bracing
was designed for
strength but not
stiffness.
Rules after collapse
The Occupational Safety and Health Administrations standard for concrete and masonry
construction Subpart Q,Concrete and Masonry Construction, Title 29 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (CFR), Part 1926.700 through 706
Sets forth requirements with which construction employers must comply to protect construction
workers from accidents and injuries resulting from the premature removal of formwork, the failure to
brace masonry walls, the failure to support precast panels, the inadvertent operation of equipment,
and the failure to guard reinforcing steel.

Lift-slab operations must be designed and planned
by a
registered professional engineer who has experience
in
lift-slab construction. Such plans and designs must be
implemented by the employer and must include
detailed
instructions and sketches indicating the prescribed
method
of erection. The plans and designs must also include
provisions for ensuring lateral stability of the
building/structure during construction.
Jacking equipment must be marked with the
manufacturers rated capacity and must be capable
of
supporting at least two and one-half times the load
being lifted during jacking operations and the
equipment must not be overloaded.
Such equipment includes, but is not limited to, the
following:
threaded rods, lifting attachments, lifting nuts, hook-
up
collars, T-caps, shearheads, columns, and footings.
 Jacks/lifting units must be designed and installed so
that
they will neither lift nor continue to lift when loaded in
excess of their rated capacity; and jacks/lifting units
must
have a safety device which will cause the jacks/lifting
units to support the load at any position in the event
of
their malfunction or loss of ability to continue to lift.

No employee, except those essential to the jacking operation, shall be permitted in the
building/structure while any jacking operation is taking place unless the building/structure has been
reinforced sufficiently to ensure its integrity during erection. The phrase reinforced sufficiently to
ensure its integrity as used in this paragraph means that a registered professional engineer,
independent of the engineer who designed and planned the lifting operation, has determined from the
plans that if there is a loss of support at any jack location, that loss will be confined to that location
and the structure as a whole will remain stable.

Under no circumstances shall any employee who is

not
essential to the jacking operation be permitted
immediately beneath a slab while it is being lifted.
Refrences.
-OREGON OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH DIVISION
DEPARTMENT OF CONSUMER AND BUSINESS SERVICES
-Zallenengineering .com
-www.concreteconstruction.net
-en.wikipedia.org
-Lift-slab Mirim Bau Consortium
-United States Patent Applcation Publication
-Engineering Considerations for Lift Slab Construction, Published by ASCE
-www.concreteconstruction.net
-Webs.demasiado.com

Thank you