Pile Cap Form Work Needed?

[ChrisNYCEng]

I am involved in a project that is coming in over budget. We are trying to come up with some cost savings ideas. I am wondering if it is conventional to eliminate pile cap formwork and just pour extra concrete into the excavated hole. Based on the cost estimate by a third party, the formwork is much more expensive than the total cost of the concrete, so over pouring concrete and eliminating formwork would save a few hundred thousand dollars. Anyone have experience with this practice?

 

[Ingenuity]

Not a direct answer, but we recently used a very economic sacrificial formwork system for foundations. Easy to install, backfill, then place concrete:

http://www.danley.com.au/Product_Formwork_Footiform.htm