Recently, an on-site exchange meeting on prefabricated construction for the West Hongqiao Project of China Construction Eighth Engineering Division was held at the company's construction site on Panlong Road. Relevant leaders and technical personnel of China Construction Eighth Engineering Division discussed and exchanged views on the theme of this exchange meeting, "prefabricated construction" process technology, with relevant leaders from the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and Management. As a leading enterprise driving the transformation of the green building industry, China Construction Eighth Engineering Division not only extensively uses advanced prefabricated construction technologies, but also takes the lead in using 3D printing construction technology.

　　As the tangible outcome of this exchange meeting, the West Hongqiao Project sales office, built with prefabricated assembly technology, drew the attention of attending leaders. The prefabricated sales office is a two-story building 9 meters high with a floor area of 1,154 square meters. It was assembled like "building blocks" from 255 prefabricated components, including precast beams, precast columns, and composite slabs, with an overall prefabrication rate of over 80%.    

　　In May 2014, China Construction Eighth Engineering Division, in cooperation with Tongji University, completed the research and development of a prefabricated prestressed open-frame structural system suitable for public buildings. In August, this system was successfully demonstrated at the sales office of the West Hongqiao Project and was incorporated into Shanghai's design code for prefabricated public buildings.    

　　Ma Rongquan, chief engineer of China Construction Eighth Engineering Division, introduced to reporters the five major features of prefabricated buildings:

　　First, independently developed prefabricated prestressed frame structural system. Through experimental research, this system combines prestressing technology with prefabricated structures. The post-tensioned prestressing tendons of the main frame beams pass through the core area of beam-column joints, achieving large spans and more reasonable structural stress. Its more notable feature is that, unlike the straight tendons running through used abroad, China Construction Eighth Engineering Division adopted bent tendon threading, which is more difficult to build but can withstand greater forces in use. (Prestressing is intended to improve the service performance of the structure by applying pre-compressive stress to the structure during construction; during service, the pre-applied compressive stress can fully or partially offset the tensile stress caused by loads, avoiding structural damage.)    

　　Second, coordinated detailed design and structural design. In the early design stage, detailed design of the prefabricated structure is introduced and effectively integrated with architectural design and structural design, so that the construction design is completed in one go, avoiding repeated modifications and saving design time.    

　　Third, digital mobile prefabricated component production mode. In areas not covered by prefabricated component factories, on-site production is implemented. A prefabricated component production area is set up next to the construction area. Through careful design and lean construction, the quality of components reaches that of factory-produced prefabricated components. Compared with traditional cast-in-place processes, mobile prefabricated component production reduces the generation of construction waste and energy consumption, and while ensuring higher quality, greatly improves labor efficiency and construction speed.    

　　Fourth, full-process application of BIM technology. In stages such as detailed design, component production, and component hoisting, BIM (Building Information Modeling) will be used for component simulation, clash detection, and the drawing of three-dimensional construction drawings. The use of BIM makes prefabricated assembly technology more complete and reasonable.    

　　Fifth, application of 3D printing assembly. When making column molds, 3D printing technology was used first, and then concrete was cast on site in the core area, eliminating the formwork erection process. When decorating the outer walls of column molds, 3D printing technology has shown enormous potential.    

　　The West Hongqiao Project of China Construction Eighth Engineering Division is the first large-scale complex project opened in Shanghai by China Construction Dongfu, a subsidiary of China Construction Eighth Engineering Division. China Construction Dongfu is committed to green real estate throughout the entire process of planning, design, and operation. At the same time, in response to the Shanghai municipal government's call for green buildings, it took the lead in applying internationally leading prefabricated assembly technology to the Shanghai West Hongqiao Project.    

　　According to the recently released "Shanghai Green Building Development Three-Year Action Plan (2014-2016)," by 2016, all new civil buildings within Shanghai's Outer Ring Road that are technically suitable will in principle fully adopt prefabricated construction, and the prefabrication rate in public buildings must also reach more than 25%.