Some useful tips on quality control and safety in construction

A structure may collapse or becomes defective because of substandard quality control. Re-construction becomes necessary and facility operations get damaged due to even small defects.

The construction cost is raised and construction delays occur. Also, there may be personal injuries or fatalities because of collapsing of structure.

Accidents throughout the construction process can also lead to personal injuries and greater costs. Indirect costs related to insurance, inspection and regulation are also raised significantly because of these inflated direct costs.

A knowledgeable project manager is liable for completing the construction work in scheduled time and he ensures that no major accidents take place on the project.

As with cost control, the most vital decisions concerning the quality of a completed facility are taken throughout the design and planning phases in spite of construction.

It is throughout these initial phases that component configurations, material specifications and functional performance are settled efficiently. Quality control throughout construction mainly comprises of insuring conformance to these original design and planning decisions.

Besides, unanticipated circumstances, inaccurate design decisions or modifications required by an owner in the facility function will involve reassessment of design decisions throughout the course of construction. These modifications are caused by the concern for quality, they characterize occasions for re-design with all the accompanying objectives and hindrances.

Some designs are based on the reasonable and perfect decision making throughout the construction process itself. As for instance, some tunneling methods will allow taking decisions concerning the amount of shoring essential at various locations on the basis of inspection of soil conditions throughout the tunneling process. Since such decisions are taken on the basis of superior information about actual site conditions, the facility design may be economical as a result.

By giving emphasis on conformance as the measure of quality throughout the construction process, the specification of quality requirements in the design and contract documentation becomes significantly vital. Quality requirements should be concise and valid, so that all the project stakeholders can recognize the requirements for conformance.

Safety during the construction project is also a great concern for the decisions taken throughout the planning and design phase. Some designs or construction plans are indigenously critical and hazardous for execution, whereas other equivalent plans may significantly lessen the chance of accidents. As for instance, clear segregation of traffic from construction zones throughout roadway rehabilitation can considerably minimize the chance of accidental collisions. Besides, safety is mostly based on education, vigilance and cooperation all through the construction process. Proper alert should be sent to the workers repeatedly to get rid of accidents and refrain from taking nonessential risks.



Read Continue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Published By
Rajib Dey
www.constructioncost.co
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Some crucial factors a civil engineer should follow

This construction video tutorial sifts through some vital factors which should be abided by a civil engineer to apply them in the jobsite.

The factors are discussed in below :-

Compressive strength of bricks should be 3.5 N/mm2

Water immersion of bricks should not surpass 15%

Free fall of concrete is permissible up to 1.50 m

Lowest thickness of slab is 125 mm

Longitudinal reinforcement should not be under 0.8% and over 6% of gross C/S

Lowest bars required for square column is 4 Nos and for circular column is 6 Nos

If the bars contain diameter over 36 mm., lapping is not permissible

Compressive strength of bricks is 3.5 N/mm2

Earthwork excavation toward basement over 3 m should remain in stepped form

Cement should be preserved in dry places on a raised platform roughly 200 mm

Electrical conduits should not be set in column

For more information, watch the following construction video.

Read more

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Published By
Rajib Dey
www.constructioncost.co
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What should be the qualities for becoming a successful civil engineer

In order to become a successful civil engineer, the following qualities are essential :-

1. TESTS OF BUILDING MATERIALS: An efficient civil engineer should be well versed with various test methods of building materials. Given below, the details of some crucial test methods :-

Concrete Test: Slump test, compression test, split tensile test, soundness etc.
Soil Test: Core cutter test, compaction test, sand replacement test, tri axial test, consolidation test etc.
Bitumen Test: Ductility test, softening point test, gravity test, penetration test etc.

2. EXAMINATION OF SOIL: Prior to build up a construction, different types of soil tests are accomplished to define the settlement and constancy of soils. Therefore, as a civil engineer, one should possess adequate knowledge with these tests to carry on at the job site.

3. APPLICAIONS OF SURVEYING INSTRUMENTS: Each civil engineer should have clear conception on how to apply various surveying instruments like the total station, theodolite etc. These instruments are specifically designed for marking and measurements.

4. STANDARD CODES USED IN CONSTRUCTION: Each country should contain their standard safety specifications (eg: Is Code) for construction associated works. The construction works of new buildings should abide by the rules and processes indicated in the standard codes. if not, there are chances for collapsing of the structure any time.

5. BAR BENDING SCHEDULE: Bar bending schedule is a vital chart for civil engineers. It offers the reinforcement calculation of RC beam like cutting length, type of bending, the length of bending etc.

6. DRAWING AND DESIGN: Drawing and design are considered as the elementary part of a running project. It offers all the necessary specifications of that project. Each site engineers should possess the quality for evaluating such drawings and designs.

7. COMPUTATION AND BILLS: A civil engineer should have the skills to produce the estimation and bills in a construction project.

8. QUALITY CONTROL: With proper quality control, the profit of the project is raised and the cost is decreased. Therefore, a engineer should be well versed with quality control process.

9. ON SITE MANAGEMENT: A engineer should have adequate knowledge with form-work, concreting, safety measures etc.

10. COORDINATION WITH LABOR: As a civil engineer, one should know how to manage the labors in a job site.



Read Continue

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Published By
Rajib Dey
www.constructioncost.co
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

How verticality of structure is checked during construction

It is essential to verify the verticality while building up the construction at various phases like setting up vertical formworks of columns and transmitting levels up succeeding floors of multi storey structures.

Different types of processes are used to manage or verify verticality works throughout building construction which are explained below :-

The following processes are followed to verify or manage verticality works:

1. Plumb-Bob Technique: Plumb-bob comprises of a weight having pointed tip on the bottom connected with the end of a string. The heavy weight will suspend under gravity and provide a perfect vertical line that is known as plumb line.

This process is useful for examining or managing vertical line of structural elements specifically indoors like lift shaft. With the addition to that, it gets the ability to manage verticality of foundation, walls, and columns.

The wind force affects the plumb line or vertical line of plumb-bob and it’s perfectness can’t be retained. Small to medium lateral movement of plumb-bob can be decreased favorably by moistening it in oil or water.

If structural member’s height is extensive, then the string can be substituted with a long wire, but persistent cautions should be plasticized to get rid of imposing risks to the personals working below.

2. Spirit Level Method: This tool is very suitable for managing verticality of small scale works as for instance verifying formworks and door frames. If spirit level is applied for approximate checks, then it becomes essential to examine the verticality with more precise technique.

3. Theodolite Method: Theodolite is considerably robust instrument that can be utilized to verify the verticality works throughout construction by maintaining exactness and correctness.

It is undertaken for examining or managing verticality of towers, wall, foundation and columns; specifically huge number of columns along a one grid line.

The slope out of plumb line of the member can be calculated with Theodolite in conjunction with a tape.

The following methods are applied to examine the verticality of column:

a. Arranging the digital Theodolite to the center on a peg that installed 500 mm from the column grid.
b. Once set up is completed properly, the laser beam will be activated and concentrated it to the steel tape that is retained to the formwork.
c. Obtain the reading of the steel tape via the telescope.
d. Obtain the readings of two positions at the equivalent level on both top and bottom levels of the formwork. With two readings at the equivalent level, it will be possible to recognize any curvature on the surface.

4. Optical Plummet Method: It is a useful tool that sight directly down or directly up. There is an automatic compensator in optical plummet that enhances its precision drastically concerning other methods applied for managing verticality.

Article Source: theconstructor.org



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Published By
Rajib Dey
www.constructioncost.co
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~