Tilt-up construction is ready-mixed concrete placed in horizontal forms at the construction site and then tilted up to form walls. Panels are cast as near to the final position as possible. The most convenient casting base is most often the concrete floor slab of the building. Wood or steel edge forms are prepared and positioned on the casting base. Reinforcing steel, vapor seal, insulation, door and window frames, electrical conduit, and outlet boxes are then positioned. Wall panels are cast on the horizontal base, cured, and then tilted into a vertical position and moved into place with a crane.

Tilt-up construction is most frequently used for one-story commercial buildings such as warehouses, office buildings, or big box stores. However, two, three, and four-story buildings are becoming more commonplace. Condominiums and hotels as tall as ten stories have been constructed with tilt-up concrete. This method of construction is well suited for warehouse, shopping centers, or big box stores because contractors can form the windowless unarticulated wall panels quickly and economically. Tilt-up can also be used for buildings with windows and other architectural features.

Tilt-up concrete is economically viable for building individually designed reinforced concrete structures. Ready-mixed concrete for tilt-up is locally available. Tilt-up concrete lends itself to mass production. At the same time, panel lengths and heights can be easily modified and adapted. Tilt-up concrete can also be colored, textured, and shaped to meet almost any architectural demand using techniques such as form liners, pigments, brick facing, curved surfaces, and exposed aggregates.

Tilt-up concrete has many environmental benefits during construction and for the life of the structure. For more detail see the sustainability solutions pages listed to the right.

Wall panels are constructed with locally available labor and materials.

Energy Performance. Energy savings are achieved in buildings by combining the thermal mass of concrete with the optimal amount of insulation in tilt-up walls. Concrete acts as an air barrier, reducing air infiltration, and saving more energy.  Tilt-up concrete structures are resistant to fires, wind, hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, wind-driven rain, and moisture damage.

Light and natural-colored concrete reduces heat islands. Concrete has low VOC emittance and does not degrade indoor air quality.

Builders set steel reinforcing and pour the concrete walls in a horizontal position at the building site. Workers then lift and tilt the walls, which average about 5 to 6 inches thick, into place with a crane. No additional interior or exterior finish materials are required.

Tilt-up Concrete Construction Articles

What is Tilt-up Construction? How Are Tilt-up Concrete Buildings Constructed?

A tilt-up construction project begins with job site preparation and pouring the slab. During this phase of the project, workers install footings around the slab in preparation for the panels. The crew then assembles the panel forms on the slab. Normally, the form is created with wooden pieces that are joined together. The forms act like a mold for the cement panels. They provide the panels' exact shape and size, doorways and window openings, and ensure the panels meet the design specifications and fit together properly. Next, workers tie in the steel grid of reinforcing bars into the form. They install inserts and embeds for lifting the panels and attaching them to the footing, the roof system, and to each other.

The slab beneath the forms is then cleaned of any debris or standing water, and workers pour concrete into the forms to create the panels.

Now comes the point where tilt-up construction, or tilt-up construction, gets its name.

Once the concrete panels have solidified and the forms have been removed, the crew connects the first panel to a large crane with cables that hook into the inserts. The size of the crane depends on the height and weight of the cement panels, but it is typically two to three times the size of the largest panel. The crew also attaches braces to the tilt-up panel. The crane lifts, or "tilts up," the panel from the slab into a vertical position above the footings. Workers help to guide the concrete panel into position and the crane sets it into place. They connect the braces from the tilt-up panel to the slab, attach the panel's embeds to the footing, and disconnect the cables from the crane. The crew then moves to the next panel and repeats this process.

It's easy to be amazed as you watch the mobile crane tilt up a concrete panel from the ground and set it into its place. Massive cement panels weighing 50,000 to 125,000 pounds or more dangle from the crane's long lines. The crew works as a team, setting the braces and guiding the tilt-up panel with remarkable precision. The speed of the process is also remarkable; an experienced tilt-up crew can erect as many as 30 panels in a single day.

Once all the tilt-up construction panels are erected, the crew apply finishes to the walls with sandblasting or painting. They also caulk joints and patch any imperfections in the walls. From this point the crew moves to the installation of the roof system and the trades begin their work inside the building.

Reinforced Lightweight Concrete Panels

The forms, then the steel gridwork for structural strength is prepared and concrete is poured to make the modular cement panels.

Once the pre-engineered concrete panels are cured and ready for tilt up, then the process begins of lifting each completed panel into place with a special crane, to complete the structure.
Voila. The building is finished. Gallery of Commercial and Industrial Buildings constructed with TILT UP CONCRETE PANEL TECHNOLOGY recently in Las Vegas