Early Striking: Reuse Your Formwork Beams While the Slab Cures

On a multi-pour project, the most expensive formwork is the formwork standing idle under a curing slab. Early striking is the technique that releases most of it days earlier — without disturbing the concrete.

The drophead is the trick

In a drophead system, every prop or cuplock jack carries a quick-action drophead with two positions — up and down. Strike the drophead wedge and the primary beams drop about 115 mm, while the drophead itself keeps supporting the concrete soffit through the plywood contact point.

That 115 mm is exactly enough clearance to remove the infill beams and primary beams — while the slab above remains supported and completely undisturbed through its curing period.

What that does to your equipment schedule

• Beams and infills come out early and move straight to the next pour cycle.
• Props and dropheads stay in place as back-propping while the slab gains strength.
• You keep pouring with only one extra set of supporting components — instead of a full second set of everything.

The numbers that matter

Our quick-action dropheads are rated to a maximum axial load of 40 kN and fit standard props or cuplock adaptors. Whether early striking is right for your slab depends on the concrete design strength and your engineer's striking criteria — but where it fits, it routinely cuts the formwork stock a project has to rent or buy.

Want a formwork package planned around your pour cycle? See our formwork systems or request a quote.