WHERE WATER AND CONCRETE MEET: THE TETRAPOD MOULD FROM BETONBLOCK®

Tetrapod moulds are by far the most striking shape in the Betonblock® range. Tetrapods are concrete structures that protect shorelines and river banks by acting as breakwaters. Tetrapods, after the Greek word for ‘four feet’, are shaped like a tetrahedron: a triangular pyramid with four faces and four corners. The legs of the tetrapods hook into each other, creating a row of stable concrete breakwaters along the coast.

Tetrapods are originally a French invention but are used worldwide. In fact, in Japan, the concrete blocks line about half of the country's coastline. Traditional concrete blocks can easily shift due to the force of the waves, but concrete tetrapods are a very effective way to break waves, as water can flow between them. This diminishes the force of the incoming water, with waves losing force and impact. Tetrapods protect coastlines against high waves caused by natural hazards like tsunamis, earthquakes, hurricanes and wind gusts.

Making tetrapods couldn’t be easier with a Betonblock® mould. Simply pour new or leftover concrete into the mould, wait for the concrete to cure and demould your brand-new tetrapod! All Betonblock® moulds are made of high-quality steel and feature a rust, impact and scratch-resistant powder coating to increase their lifespan. Our moulds are build to last and will keep producing concrete elements year after year. An additional advantage of the powder coating is that you can take your pick from a wide range of colours. Betonblock® tetrapod moulds come with our trademark orange exterior.

We carry various different tetrapod moulds, including a 1 tonne, 1.5 tonne, 3 tonne, 5 tonne and 7.8 tonne version (metric tonnes). Because they are very large and consist of a large amount of concrete, it takes longer to create a ready-to-use tetrapod than a standard concrete block. While a concrete block takes approximately 24 hours, it can take anywhere from 48 to 72 hours for a tetrapod to cure properly and be ready for use, depending on local conditions.

Before casting the concrete, we recommend spraying the mould with formwork oil, using the Betonblock® oil sprayer, which causes the cured concrete to detach from the steel mould. Every tetrapod mould comes with an alignment tool as standard in order to reassemble the parts after using the mould and realign the bolt holes. Finally, we also have a special cast-in anchor which can be inserted into mould before casting and can be used to lift and move the concrete tetrapod. We offer two types of anchors with a max. lifting capacity of 2500kg and 5000kg respectively. For larger tetrapods, we recommend using multiple cast-in anchors.

·        Concrete block moulds

·        Retaining wall moulds

·        Concrete slab templates

·        Barrier moulds

·        Tetrapod moulds

As explained earlier, tetrapods provide protection against water-related natural disasters. Concrete blocks and barriers can also be used to provide protection. Concrete blocks can be used as walls to protect sites against unauthorised access or serve as collision protection, while barriers can divert traffic and protect pedestrians or road workers.