Economic evaluation of reinforced concrete structures with columns reinforced with prefabricated cage system

A new reinforcement system termed the prefabricated cage system (PCS) that can be used as an alternative to the rebar reinforcement cage is economically evaluated. PCS is a prefabricated reinforcement that enables easier, faster, and more reliable construction. Use of PCS shortens the construction schedule time and lowers total construction cost. This is important to both owners and construction contractors. The engineering economics methods presented in this paper would also be of interest to researchers. Reinforced concrete structures with PCS reinforced columns have been considered in this research, as it is one of the major applications of PCS. Various parameters affecting the economics of PCS are reviewed and a case study structure is analyzed comparing the costs of the structure with rebar reinforced columns to costs of the structure with PCS reinforced columns. The investigation shows that using PCS results in a 33.3% time savings and a 7.1% cost savings over rebar for each column. This results in an average of 3.6% savings on total project cost; an average of 22.2% savings on total column costs; 20.4% savings on total project time period, and 33.3% savings on columns construction time period. The cost savings are estimated based on production of small quantities of PCS reinforcement. Mass production of PCS reinforcement would result in even higher cost savings.