Hanwha’s Construction Division develops ‘PC balcony connection technology’ to improve precision and safety

[Financial News] Hanwha’s Construction Division has developed ‘PC balcony connection technology’ to reduce the risks of working at height during construction of projecting balconies. The technology involves installing factory-made balconies on a building’s exterior walls, reducing on-site work and improving construction precision at the joints.
According to Hanwha’s Construction Division on the 12th, a full-scale mock-up trial installation of the PC balcony connection technology, jointly developed with Samil C&S and Wontop Structural Engineering, was completed on the 11th. The company had previously filed a patent application for the technology in July.
Because projecting open balconies extend beyond a building’s exterior walls, the joints connecting them to the main structure are considered a key element. Technology that ensures workers’ safety during construction is also required.
The technology involves installing factory-prefabricated PC balconies on the exterior walls after the building’s main structural frame is complete. The balconies are placed on support brackets pre-installed on the exterior walls and then connected to the main structure using separate connecting devices.
Under the conventional cast-in-place reinforced concrete (RC) method, shoring and formwork had to be installed outside the building, followed by concrete pouring and the removal of the shoring and formwork.
Because the technology allows balconies to be prefabricated at the factory and transported to the site, it reduces work at height outside the building and interference between construction operations. Rebar placement and concrete quality are also managed in a standardized environment.
The joints connecting the PC balconies to the main structure incorporate features designed to improve construction precision and quality. Height-adjustment bolts are used to correct minor height discrepancies that may occur during installation, and the joints are designed to allow non-shrink mortar to be poured from above the slab.
Choi Woo-seok, head of the Operations Innovation Office at Hanwha Corporation’s Construction Division, said, “This PC balcony connection technology was developed to reduce the risks of working at height during construction of conventional projecting open balconies and to improve construction precision and quality at the joints. We will continue to develop building construction technologies based on OSC (off-site construction), enhance on-site safety and strengthen our construction competitiveness.”
Hanwha’s Construction Division plans to conduct structural performance tests on the joints based on the results of the full-scale mock-up trial installation. The plan is to apply the technology at apartment construction sites after further verifying its structural safety.

[email protected] Choi A-young Reporter