Irrigation and drainage schemes need a culvert at every crossing — roads, service tracks and other canals. These structures are numerous and repetitive: a single scheme can involve hundreds. Recent Turkish schemes have included 196 and 82 culverts respectively on individual contracts.
MenfeX® is the stay-in-place plastic formwork system for this kind of repetitive work.
Repetitive work is where the system is strongest
On irrigation contracts culverts are high in count, similar or identical in dimension, widely dispersed along the canal, and often in positions a crane cannot easily reach — inside canals, between fields.
This is precisely the scenario in which steel formwork is weakest: erect–pour–strip–clean–haul at every single location, with a crane. MenfeX has no stripping step and no crane step.
Sulphate-bearing ground
Sulphate-bearing soils are common in irrigation areas and the specification then requires sulphate-resisting cement. MenfeX does not change that requirement — the concrete mix follows the project specification.
The plastic surface itself does not rust or rot.
Applications
- Irrigation canal crossings
- Drainage canal culverts
- Service and maintenance track culverts
- Culverts around junction structures
- Flood protection works
FAQ
Will the client's engineer approve stay-in-place formwork?
Stay-in-place formwork is a recognised method, but its use in culverts depends on the project specification and the client's engineer.
Be sceptical of any supplier who tells you it is unconditionally permitted. On public contracts, a change of forming method goes through the supervising engineer and is confirmed in writing.
Raise it during the construction programme, not after award. The technical file to submit and the steps to follow are set out on the Specification & Approval page. We support witnessed trial installations on site where required.
Does the top slab form need propping?
It depends on the clear span. Small spans may need none; larger spans do.
The deck form carries the weight of wet concrete plus construction loads, and that load rises quickly with span. Above a given span, propping is installed beneath the form. Prop spacing by span is tabulated in the technical documentation.
This is not specific to MenfeX — steel systems are propped too. The difference is that here what gets struck afterwards is the props, not the formwork.
How does it behave in aggressive or sulphate-bearing ground?
The plastic surface does not corrode, but the concrete mix still follows the specification.
Sulphate-bearing soils are common in irrigation areas and the specification then requires sulphate-resisting cement. MenfeX does not remove that requirement — the plastic is there to form the concrete, not to protect it. Concrete class and cement type always follow the project specification.
The plastic itself does not rust or rot.
How does the cost compare with steel formwork?
Compare total cost per culvert, not the price of the formwork.
MenfeX is a consumable; steel formwork is an investment. Placing the two purchase prices side by side is meaningless. The right benchmark is what it costs to finish one culvert: the per-culvert items that recur with steel — crane, erection, stripping, release agent, cleaning, freight, storage, patching — are absent or much reduced here. Against that, MenfeX is bought for every culvert.
An honest note: if you are casting hundreds of identical culverts in one location with a crane already on site, steel is probably more economical. The calculator will not hide that from you.
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