A new administrative center based on Oscar Niemeyer’s plans is currently under construction in Minas Gerais and will be completed by March 2010. Minas Gerais, an economic powerhouse in the southeastern part of the country, is investing some 880 million reals (about 400 mio. USD) in a 800,000 square meter site to merge its large administrative staff to a well developed location. Two gently curving buildings measuring 65 meters in height will accommodate 17 of the state ministries. The buildings – which are each around 250 meters long – will provide space for 10,000 workstations.
The most spectacular building at the new administrative center is the Palácio do Governo. The 37-meter tall building sets new benchmarks in terms of architecture, engineering and the use of concrete. The six-storey cubic building, which will house the government of Minas Gerais, is suspended above the ground. The building will be suspended from the world’s largest reinforced concrete cantilever construction on 30 steel ropes cast in concrete. The gigantic roof is supported by four columns, each of which bears a load of over 4,000 tonnes. It is 150 meters long. It will be made a reality thanks to state-of-the-art building technology – and thanks to expertise that Holcim has built up over decades and is now contributing to the project as a supplier of concrete.
Holcim delivered a total of 40,000 cubic meters of concrete for the government building and auditorium. Two ready-mix concrete plants close to the site processed 17,000 tonnes of Ari RS cement, a high-early-strength cement, and 15,000 tonnes of Duracem cement from the nearby Holcim Pedro Leopoldo plant. Duracem is used to mix concrete that is particularly strong, hard and durable. It is self-leveling and hardens on its own. As a result, there is no need to use vibration energy for this cement, developed by Holcim Brazil in 2004, which considerably reduces the work on the thin pre-stressed concrete structures.
A new administrative center based on Oscar Niemeyer’s plans is currently under construction in Minas Gerais and will be completed by March 2010. Minas Gerais, an economic powerhouse in the southeastern part of the country, is investing some 880 million reals (about 400 mio. USD) in a 800,000 square meter site to merge its large administrative staff to a well developed location. Two gently curving buildings measuring 65 meters in height will accommodate 17 of the state ministries. The buildings – which are each around 250 meters long – will provide space for 10,000 workstations.
