Apparatus for arranging steel reinforcement prior to a concrete pour

1. A rebar support comprising an elongate body for use in a vertical orientation including:

a first plurality of rebar cradles disposed along its length for holding transverse rebars, each rebar cradle including at least one retaining member having an upwardly and outwardly angled wall for biasing against the transverse rebar to thereby hold said rebar within the cradle;

spacing members directly extending from the outwardly angled walls of a number of the retaining members for spacing from adjacent formwork in use; and

a plurality of chairs locatable along the elongate body and each including a pair of second cradles for positioning on opposite sides of the elongate member, each of the pair of second cradles including retaining members to retain a corresponding longitudinal steel reinforcement member at right angles to the transverse rebars.

2. A rebar support according to claim 1 , wherein each of the pair of second cradles of each of the chairs includes first and second opposed retaining members which cooperate for retaining a rebar therebetween within each second cradle.

3. A rebar support according to claim 1 , wherein the each of the pair of second cradles is located equidistantly on opposite sides of the elongate member.

4. A rebar support according to claim 1 , wherein each retaining member extends from a first side of each of the first plurality of cradles and is formed with a return back toward said cradle.

5. A rebar support according to claim 4 , wherein the outer side of the return is formed with gripping formations for gripping the rebar.

6. A rebar support according to claim 5 , wherein each retaining member is formed with a lip portion for assisting in guiding the rebar into the cradle.

7. A rebar support according to claim 1 , wherein opposed ends of the elongate body are formed with complementary fasteners for fastening a plurality of the rebar supports end-to-end.

8. A rebar support according to claim 7 , wherein a first end of the elongate body is formed with a complementary fastener in the form of a plug and wherein a second end of the elongate body is formed with a complementary fastener in the form of a socket.

9. A rebar support according to claim 8 , wherein the plug includes first and second clasp members receivable within the socket wherein the socket is formed with first and second recesses or openings for engagement with the first and second clasp members for interconnecting the first and second ends of a number of rebar supports together whereby said supports all have the same orientation.

10. A rebar support according to claim 9 , wherein the first and second clasp members are each elongate and each terminate with laterally extending protrusions for engagement within the first and second recesses or openings.

11. A rebar support according to claim 1 , wherein the elongate body is formed with a rail for imparting rigidity along the length of the elongate body.

12. A rebar support according to claim 1 , wherein each chair is detachable from the elongate body.

13. A rebar support according to claim 1 , wherein each chair includes one or more spacers in the form of offset tabs extending away from the elongate body.

14. A rebar support according to claim 11 , wherein each chair includes an engagement formation for attachment to the elongate body.

15. A rebar support according to claim 14 wherein the engagement formation comprises a chair clip.

16. A rebar support according to claim 15 , wherein the chair clip includes opposed resilient catch members arranged for movement toward each other upon insertion of steel reinforcement members into the second cradles.

17. A rebar support according to claim 16 , wherein opposed cutouts are formed into opposed sides of the rail for receiving the chair clip.

18. A rebar support according to claim 17 , wherein the resilient catch members of the chair clip are arranged to move toward the opposed sides of the rail upon insertion of the steel reinforcement members into the second cradles.

19. A rebar support according to claim 1 , wherein the rebar support is formed of non-ferrous material polyphenylene sulphide (PPS) that is unreactive with concrete.

20. A method for making a vertical steel reinforced concrete structure including the steps of:

installing vertically at least two, spaced apart, rebar support assemblies each support assembly comprised of two or more elongate rebar supports connected end to end, each rebar support having an elongate body, a series of vertically spaced cradles therealong for locating transverse rebars, each cradle including at least one retaining member having an upwardly and outwardly angled wall for biasing against the transverse rebar to thereby hold said transverse rebar within the cradle, and a plurality of chairs located along the elongate body and each including a pair of second cradles for positioning on opposite sides of the elongate member, each of the pair of second cradles including retaining members to retain a corresponding longitudinal steel reinforcement member at right angles to the transverse rebars, said supports being of a material that is unreactive to concrete, in a location for receiving a concrete pour;

disposing a first set of longitudinal rebars along each of the spaced apart rebar support members and a second set of transverse rebars between the spaced apart rebar members to thereby produce cross overs of rebars of the first set and of the second set;

making the concrete pour to submerge said rebar support members and said rebars wherein the rebar supports are spaced from adjacent formwork by spacing members directly extending from the outwardly angled walls of a number of retaining members of the vertically spaced cradles; and

allowing the concrete to set about the rebar support members and the rebars.