The Paramount at Buckhead, the world's tallest structure built with tunnelforms, is under construction in Atlanta. Construction is expected to take just 8 months.

This high-end rental apartment building will be 44 stories and 478 feet in height. There will be 300 units on the upper 39 floors, atop five stories of underground parking. Each apartment will have 10-foot ceilings and luxurious finishes.

This development uses the concrete tunnelform system supplied by Outinord Universal, Inc. of Miami, Fla. The tunnelforms have allowed the concrete shell sub-contractor, Total Concrete Structures of Atlanta, to automate the construction process, much like an assembly line.

John Stull, president of Total Concrete, said each day starts with the stripping of the wall and slab formwork from the previous afternoon's pour. At this stage, after approximately 12 to 14 hours of overnight curing, the concrete has reached sufficient strength to remove the forms.

The forms are then moved horizontally to the next location, where a vertical wall steel has already been placed. Electricians, plumbers and steelworkers immediately begin work, placing electrical conduit and junction boxes, plumbing block-outs and steel atop the tunnels. At about 3 p.m. that day, concrete is poured again.