He saw for himself how pre-stress beds produce floor slabs, pre-cast walls, beams and even concrete telephone poles.
“We did not have this before,” Fitial said adding that this technology can finish a construction job in a very short period of time.
The molding machine was brought in by Black Construction Corp. which was contracted to build the Sandy Beach Homes affordable housing project in Chalan Kanoa.
It is installed at the compound of the Hawaiian Rock quarry in Naftan so instead of transporting corals and other raw construction materials from Naftan to Chalan Kanoa, the concrete materials are molded at the quarry.
When the six-inch thick and 8 by 28 feet concrete slabs are delivered to the construction site, the giant crane simply lifts them in assembling the walls and floors.
Sandy Homes, Fitial said, is expected to be completed in less than 12 months.
The new technology, he added, “is magic, because once they pour the concrete today, slabs will be ready the next day.”
Black Construction engineers said it takes only less than 24 hours for the concrete to dry in the pre-stress panels.
Fitial said everybody should be upbeat about the new technology because it will enhance the island’s construction industry.
The CNMI government, he added, has plans to develop more homestead villages and is also looking forwards to welcome foreign investors who want to build new hotels here.
“So anything that is fast and less costly is good for us,” Fitial said.
Bob Jones, founder and president of Triple J Enterprises and Triple J Saipan Inc., and one of the owners of Sandy Beach Homes, said the $100,000 molding machine will remain usable even when the project is completed.
It will remain at the Hawaiian Rock compound for other construction projects in the future.
