Wall forms are made up of five basic parts. They are as follows: (1) sheathing, to shape and retain the concrete until it sets; (2) studs, to form a framework and support the sheathing; (3) wales, to keep the form aligned and support the studs; (4) braces, to hold the forms erect under lateral pressure; and (5) ties and spreaders or tie-spreader units, to hold the sides of the forms at the correct spacing (fig. 7-29).

Wall forms may be built in place or pre-fabricated, depending on the shape and the desirability for reuse.

Wall forms are usually reinforced against displacement by the use of TIES. Two types of

Figure 7-31.-Snap tie. forms.

simple wire ties, used with wood SPREADERS, are shown in figure 7-30. The wire is passed around the studs and wales and through small holes bored in the sheathing. The spreader is placed as close as possible to the studs, and the tie is set taut by the wedge shown in the upper view or by twisting with a small toggle, as shown in the lower view. When the concrete reaches the level of the spreader, the spreader is knocked out and removed. The parts of the wire that are inside the forms remain in the concrete; the outside surplus is cut off after the forms are removed.

Wire ties and wooden spreaders have been largely replaced by various manufactured devices that combine the functions of the tie and spreader. Figure 7-31 shows one of these, called a SNAP TIE. These ties are made in various sizes to fit various wall thicknesses. The tie holders can be removed from the tie rod. The rod goes through small holes bored in the sheathing and also through the wales, which are usually doubled for that purpose. Tapping the tie holders down on the ends of the rod brings the sheathing to bear solidly against the spreader washers. After the concrete has hardened, the tie holders can be detached to strip the forms. After the forms are stripped, a special wrench is used to break off the outer sections of rod; they break off at the breaking points, located about 1 in. inside the surface of the concrete. Small surface holes remain, which can be plugged with grout, if necessary.

Another type of wall form tie is the TIE ROD, as shown in figure 7-32. The rod in this type consists of three sections: an inner section, which is threaded on both ends, and two threaded outer sections. The inner section, with the cones set to the thickness of the wall, is placed between the forms, and the outer sections are passed through the wales and sheathing and threaded into the cone nuts. The clamps are then threaded up on the outer sections to bring the forms to bear against the cone nuts. After the concrete hardens, the clamps are loosened, and the outer sections of rod are removed by threading them out of the cone nuts. After the forms are stripped, the cone nuts are removed from the concrete by threading

Figure 7-33.-Method of joining wall form panels at a corner.

them off the inner sections of rod with a special wrench leaving the cone-shaped surface holes. The outer sections and the cone nuts may be reused indefinitely.

The use of prefabricated panels for formwork has recently been on the increase. These panels can be reused many times, thus reducing the time and labor required for erecting forms on the site.