Back to basics:

Form ties, common and

uncommon
Load ratings and application details

orm ties connect opposite ing the forms. Ties made with cones Some ties can be broken off or un-

F wall forms and keep the lat-

eral pressure of the unhard-
ened concrete from collaps-
or washers also serve as spreaders,
keeping the space between the
forms equal to the wall thickness.
screwed within the concrete. Filling
the holes that are left with mortar
or ready-made plugs keeps the ties

Figure 1. Typical one-piece form ties for light duty, with
tension load capacities ranging from 2,000 to about 3,500
pounds. The flat tie and loop tie are commonly used with
prefabricated form panels. The pull-out tie is removed from
the concrete but cannot be reused.
Figure 2. Some heavy-duty ties with load capacities ranging
to 40,000 pounds and higher. The she-bolt tie and the coil
tie have removable, reusable end bolts and interior tie
members that stay in the concrete. The taper tie is one
piece, removable, and reusable. Threaded bar ties also are
reusable when protected with a plastic sleeve through the
concrete.
from rusting and staining the wall.
Other ties may be removed com-
pletely and reused.
Commercially available form ties
have safe tension load ratings of
1,000 to 50,000 pounds or more.
They are usually made of steel—in
the form of wires, rods, bands,
channels, or angles. On the outside
of the forms, various wedges,
clamps, nut washers, or other de-
vices hold the tie ends in place.
There are several ways to classify
form ties:
■ Light-duty and heavy-duty
■ Removable or stay-in-place
■ Single use or reusable
■ One-piece or internally
disconnecting
One tie may fit into several cate-
g o ri e s. For example, internally dis-
connecting ties such as the she-bolt
tie have a stay-in-place inner rod
and reusable end bolts that are
pulled from the concrete when the
forms are ready for stripping.
One-piece ties with breakback
Common prefabricated one-
piece form ties are the snap, loop,
and flat ties shown in Figure 1.
These ties usually have a weakened
cross section to facilitate breakback
(or snapping) at a pre d e t e rm i n e d
distance from the wall face, any-
where from 1⁄4 to 2 inches. These are
typically light-duty ties, with safe
tension loads ranging from 2,000 to
3,000 pounds.
After the forms are stripped and
concrete has hardened sufficiently,
usually 2 to 5 days, ends of the ties
can be bent toward the wall, then
rotated until they break off at the
weakened cross section. If you try to
break off the ties too soon, they may
span the concrete and turn within
the wall. Snap and loop ties are of-
ten flattened or crimped to pre ve n t
this, and flat ties may have holes for
the same purpose.
Special wrenches are available for
stripping some ties, and some can
TYPICAL WORKING LOADS FOR FORM TIES*
Type of tie
Pencil rods (steel)
Loop ties
Flat ties
Snap ties
Fiberglass ties
Taper ties
She-bolt or waler rod
Coil ties
2-strut
4-strut
Threaded rod
* Based on manufacturers’ data, with all working loads adjusted to reflect a 2:1
factor of safety as now recommended by ACI.
be broken off before the forms are
stripped.
Snap ties are usually made with
washers, cones, pins, or other de-
vices that keep the wall forms prop-
erly spaced. Loop ties may also have
cones. Cones provide greater break-
back depth than washers and also
reduce grout leakage by cove ri n g
the tie holes in the form sheathing.
The loop and flat ties shown in
Figure 1 are designed for use with
prefabricated modular form panels.
Other one-piece ties can be used
with either prefabricated or job built
forms.
Removable one-piece ties
Both the pull-out tie (Figure 1)
and the taper tie (Figure 2) are re-
moved from the wall after use. Coat-
ing these ties with form release
agent or grease helps in pulling
them out. When the threaded rod tie
is encased in a plastic sleeve, it too
can be removed after use.
Reusable taper ties are manufac-
tured in a wide range of strengths.
Some are for light duty as low as
3,000 pounds load while others
range up to 40,000 pounds or more.
Threaded rod tension loads go from
about 7,000 pounds to as high as
68,000 pounds when made of high-
strength steel.
The prefabricated pull-out tie is
for lighter duty, with load capacity
Load capacity range, used
at a safety factor of 2:1
1,100 to 3,750 pounds
2,250 to 3,750 pounds
3,000 pounds
2,250 to 3,350 pounds
3,000 to 7,500 pounds
3,000 to 43,750 pounds
3,000 to 38,000 pounds
4,500 to 13,500 pounds
7,500 to 27,000 pounds
6,900 to 68,000 pounds
in the 2,000- to 3,000-pound range.
It is threaded at one end. The one
shown in Figure 1 has spreader
washers outside the form sheathing
and requires only a 5⁄16-inch-diame-
ter hole in the form. To strip, one
end of the pull-out tie is cut off be-
tween the plywood and the spread-
er washer; then the tie is pulled from
the other end. It is not designed for
reuse.
Another type of removable tie can
be made from pencil rods of mild
steel, 1⁄4 to 1⁄2 inch in diameter, cut in
the field to any needed length. Vari-
ous clamping devices are available
for holding the ends of these ties
firm against the outer wales. Typical
working loads in tension range from
1,125 to 3,750 pounds.
Internally disconnecting ties
Two common types of internally
disconnecting form ties are the coil
tie and the she-bolt tie shown in Fig-
ure 2. Both have reusable end bolts
that unscrew from the inner
tie rod member, which stays in the
concrete.
The she-bolt tie system is com-
monly used with large crane-han-
dled gang form panels, with tension
load capacities from 6,000 up to
about 40,000 pounds, although
some manufacturers produce
lighter-duty versions rated as low as
3,000 pounds. With the inner rod

Figure 3. This
fiberglass tie can be
cut to length in the
field, thus is of
special interest for
tapering walls. The
tie is cut off at the
concrete surface
after stripping,
leaving no tie hole.
and external she-bolts assembled,
these ties can be installed after both
sides of the wall form are in place.
The assembly is passed through the
tie holes and secured with nut
washers, wing nuts, brackets, or
other devices against the wale or
outer formwork member.
Coil ties (Figure 2) are also suit-
able for use with large crane-han-
dled panels. The inner member
consists of metal struts welded at
each end to helically wound wire
coils into which coil bolts can be
threaded. They are manufactured
with either two or four wire struts,
with load ratings ranging from 4,500
pounds to 27,000 pounds. With the
addition of cones screwed onto the
ends of the ties they can also act as
form spacers. You can bolt coil ties
with screw-on cones to one side
form, install reinforcing steel, then
erect the other form face and install
the remaining coil bolt from outside
the form. This eliminates fishing the
ties through both forms and rebar.
For tapering or changing wall thick-
nesses, use adjustable coil bolts or
continuous coil threaded rod as end
pieces for the coil tie.
Fiberglass form ties
The steel ties described above are
typical of standard products avail-
able from many manufacturers.
Some of them are old stand-bys, de-
signs that have been available for
decades.
Also worthy of notice are some
newer ties made of a combination
of glass fiber and resin materials,
which we commonly refer to as
fiberglass ties. The two types pic-
tured here lack the long track record
of steel ties, but they appear to have
a growing group of users. The non-
rusting fiberglass material is electri-
cally nonconducting and has low
thermal conductivity.
The patented tie system in Figure
3 consists of a fiberglass rod with a
gripper and tie wedge on each end.
The rod is available in standard 12-
foot pieces (longer available by spe-
cial order) and can be cut to desired
length with an abrasive blade. The
standard color is black, but other
colors can be ordered. There are two
s i ze s, with safe working loads of
3,000 and 7,500 pounds, respective-
ly. Spreader clips are available for
the smaller size, and waterstops are
available for both sizes.
These ties have been laboratory
tested for elongation under load. At
7,500 pounds load, the larger tie was
reported to have an elongation of
about 0.5%. The smaller tie showed
0.06% at its working load of 3,000
pounds. The system is compatible
with job-built and commercially
available form systems. The ties can
be broken off by hand at the struc-
ture before stripping the forms. For
a smoother finish, cut the rod flush
to the wall surface with an angle
grinder.
The tie in Figure 4—made of a
composite of glass fibers and ny-
lon—is designed for forming walls
with loose plywood panels having a
minimum of stud and wale support.

Figure 4. Mock-up of a wall form showing a

fiberglass tie that has a square cross section,
with integrally molded form spreaders.
Retainer blocks and waler blocks (upper part
of photo) are also made of the same composite
material—glass fiber and nylon.
Typically installed 16 inches on cen-
ter with 3⁄4-inch plywood, the 3,000-
pound ties have a grooved square
cross section with integrally molded
s p re a d e r s. The external retainer
blocks which hold the tie ends
against the forms are also molded
of glass-fiber- re i n f o rced nylon,
as are the waler blocks which sup-
port aligning lumber as well as hold
tie ends.
When forms are ready to strip, a
worker taps each retainer block with
a hammer, thus removing the re-
tainer block and breaking the tie
back to the concrete line. Form pan-
els can then be lifted straight up and
out of an excavation.
The ties are manufactured for
wall thicknesses of 6 to 24 inches, in
2-inch increments. They are light
g ra y, almost translucent in appear-
ance, measuring 7⁄16 inch across the
flat faces.
Patching tie holes
Tie holes left after breaking back
or removing metal tie ends are usu-
ally patched with mortar or filled
with plastic or precast concrete
plugs. A good patch over the tie end,
well bonded to adjacent concrete, is
important. If any moisture gets to
the tie ends, rust stains will gradual-
ly appear on the concrete surface,
and a pathway for internal rust pen-
etration is set up.
Greater depth of breakback or
threaded ends of internally discon-
nected tie units give a better chance
of bonding the patch that covers the
tie and also a greater factor of safety
in case of spalling of the patch. Mor-
tar of the same proportions used in
the concrete usually makes a patch
that appears darker than the sur-
rounding wall, so white cement is
frequently added to the tie hole
patching mortar.
Architects often specify that holes
left by the removal of tie cones be
left open to create a decorative pat-
tern. When this is done, stainless
steel or other nonrusting ties should
be used.
The fiberglass ties can be cut flush
with the concrete surface, leaving
no holes to patch.
Ties for water-retaining
structures
Where form ties are permitted in
w a t e r- retaining stru c t u re s, they
should be designed to prevent seep-
age or flow of water along the em-
bedded tie. Some manufacturers at-
tach metal, neoprene, or polyvinyl
chloride (PVC) washers at the
middle of the ties to help reduce
seepage.
Keeping ties free of oil also helps
p re vent seepage. Use ties that break
off or disconnect at least 1 inch back
from the wall face and plug the tie
holes carefully. Sealing the holes
with epoxy resin under pressure is
more effective than standard patch-
ing methods.
Safety factors for ties
The American Concrete Institute
(ACI) guidelines for formwork (see
reference) now recommend a mini-
mum safety factor of 2 for all form
ties. Since a factor of 1.5 was for a
long time considered satisfactory,
manufacturers’ catalogs may still
show load ratings based on this
safety factor. To adapt such values to
conform to ACI recommendations,
just use 75% of safe loads shown for
the 1.5 safety factor. If a catalog
shows the ultimate load, just divide
that by 2.
CAUTION: Avoid subjecting form
ties to shear or bending loads. Form
ties are designed as tension mem-
bers, and the published load ratings
are usually for tension loads only. If
your application subjects the ties to
added bending or shear loads, you
should not expect to load the tie
to its full tension capacity in addi-
tion. Ask the manufacturer about
shear and bending capacities. Or
consult standard engineering de-
sign recommendations for com-
bined loading on the tie material
you’re using.
Reference
ACI Committee 347, “Guide to Form-
work for Concrete (ACI 347R-88),”
American Concrete Institute, P.O. Box
19150, Detroit, Michigan 48219.
PUBLICATION #C890932
Copyright © 1989, The Aberdeen Group
All rights reserved