Octaform Systems

The 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami mark one of the most devastating events in Japan’s history. The incident caused unprecedented damage across the country, including the disturbance caused to the nuclear reactors at Fukushima. Yet, just ten miles away, Hayashi’s aquaculture tank stood strong and intact. Upon thorough inspection, no structural damage was found. The material used in constructing these tanks was Octaform Systems’ patented product.

Founded as a manure tank technology company 25 years ago, Octaform has been on a journey to improve the conventional form of concrete and provide superior protection for tanks and walls from corrosion and moisture.

Concrete, by nature, is porous when dry. When a liquid is stored in concrete tanks, the moisture migrates through it and reaches the steel rebars. For instance, if a tank stores dairy manure, the acidity seeps through the concrete and causes the rebar to rust. This expands the rebars, eventually damaging and shattering the concrete. To avoid this undesirable, yet almost inevitable phenomenon, Octaform introduced the PVC stay-in-place FormWork, a one-step installation process that can be used in different applications. The concrete cures longer because the formwork isn’t removed; strengthening it by up to 40 percent more than traditional formwork, while preventing shrinkage and cracking. The PVC formwork protects the concrete and steel rebars from corrosive damage throughout their lifetime. Another unique aspect of Octaform’s FormWork is it only needs to be braced from one side as opposed to conventional formworks and does not require an additional external coating. The formed-in-one-step process saves time, money, and constructability issues, and a high ratio of low-skilled labour can be used.

Under the guidance of Dr.Carlos Ventura, Octaform collaborated with the University of British Columbia’s seismic research facilities to study the strength of its product. The Octaform wall was tested against traditional concrete walls. They failed at 100 percent of the deadly 1985 Mexico City earthquake, while Octaform’s wall survived the entire test up to 250 percent with negligible hairline cracks. The test couldn’t go any further, as the shake table could have been damaged.