Bestcon responds to the increasing popularity of prefab building shellsBestcon responds to the increasing popularity of prefab building shells

The housing challenge in the Netherlands is great, while many future residents prefer to settle in the larger cities. As a result, the popularity of inner-city building is increasing rapidly. Bestcon is responding to this with a broad program of prefab concrete elements for inner-city housing. To meet the growing demand, the company recently expanded its production capacity with a new floor slab track from Hendriks precon.

Bestcon

Bestcon – a producer of prefab concrete elements – has more than sixty years of knowledge about and experience with prefab shell construction. This knowledge and expertise comes together in the company’s comprehensive slate of activities: developing, producing and assembling prefab concrete products. All prefab concrete elements are manufactured onsite in Best in the Netherlands. The company here has a very spacious and well equipped production hall for the most highly diverse prefab concrete products imaginable.

Growth of inner city construction

The company’s approach is bearing fruit and is resulting in a growing order book. “Inner city construction and the development of high-rise projects are on the uptake,” says Pim de Voort, Operational Manager at Bestcon. “Our Bestcon system programme perfectly responds to this trend.”

Bestcon 60

The core of the Bestcon delivery programme is the Bestcon 60: a massive, prestressed floor slab that is perfectly suited for high-rise and inner city construction. The slab has a maximum width of 3,500 mm and can be installed without the need for support strutting. “To be able to respond to the increasing demand for floor slabs, it was necessary for us to expand our production.” Bestcon had many years of experience with Hendriks precon and they therefore approached this company without any hesitation.

Excellent Cooperation

“There aren’t many companies in the Netherlands able to supply such lines and we are very pleased with Hendriks precon’s cooperation,” says Pim de Voort. “That made it an easy decision for the new line. The line is 60 metres and is used to manufacture elements that are 7 to 8 metres in size. We use bulkheads placed across the rebar to separate the concrete elements. We have installed heating elements that are filled with hot water under the floor to accelerate the concrete curing process as much as possible.” To unload the floor slabs, the floor slab line is equipped with frames that can be opened on the side.

Hendriks precon also supplied a 400-tonne tensioner together with the floor slab line. Pim de Voort: “This enables us to efficiently produce pre-stressed floor slabs. The tension cables are first tensioned to the proper level in the tensioner, after which the floor slab is poured. This gives us even more freedom during production.”