The Tilt-Up Story
In the early years of the 20th century, concrete was rapidly becoming the most popular building material. The world saw many firsts in those early decades: the first concrete streets, houses and high rises. Back then, concrete was solely produced on-site and walls were built vertically.
Aiken, who became known as the father of tilt-up concrete, soon realised that this method would be advantageous in other structures and used it on a number of buildings throughout Illinois. The first complete tilt-up building was a concrete factory on Aiken's own farm near Zion City, Illinois. Aiken poured the walls flat on a bed of sand, around door and window frames, and then tipped them up onto their foundation. In 1906, Aiken used the tilt-up method to construct the Memorial Methodist Church in Zion, as well as a two-story ammunition and gun house at Camp Logan.
Thomas Edison, that intrepid inventor, saw the writing on the wall and realised that tilt-up construction was the way of the future. In 1908 he created an entire village of tilt-up concrete houses in Union, New Jersey that is still standing over 100 years later.
Although Aiken introduced tilt-up construction to the world, the new method of building with concrete didn't really start gaining popularity until the development of the mobile crane and the introduction of ready-mix concrete in the late 1940's.
After World War II, business was booming in the United States and there was a great need for commercial and industrial structures. Because tilt-up concrete allowed builders to offer high quality projects at an economical price and with a reduced construction schedule, it became very popular. The tilt-up structures built in that era are still wearing their age well. Even the first tilt-up buildings are still being used today, a testimony to their strength and durability. In 1994 tilt-up concrete got even further validation when an earthquake hit Northridge, California. Even when roof connectors failed, tilt-up walls remained standing. Tilt-up concrete has proven to be impervious to winds, hail, mice and insects, as well as being resistant to earthquake damage.
For decades, most structures built using tilt-up construction were minimalist and boxy. Exterior walls were flat. Corners were 90 degrees. But recent innovations have given tilt-up buildings a variety of shapes and appearances. Today, walls can be configured with circular or elliptical window openings. Tops of walls can now be curved. And wall surfaces can now feature unique cast-in features, such as brick, stone and exposed aggregate. The plain concrete look is also out. Today, tilt-up wall panels feature coloured or stained concrete surfaces that make each building unique.
According to the Tilt-up Concrete association - 15% of all industrial buildings in the USA were created using Tilt-Up Construction. It is growing at an annual rate of almost 20 %. In Texas and other sunbelt States, Tilt-up accounts for as much as 75% of new one storey commercial building construction. In the USA alone, more than 10 000 buildings covering over 60 million square metres are constructed annually.
