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The first major step after acquiring the land for a project is to arrange for carrying out the Soil Investigation studies by a competent Party so as to know the various properties of the soil on which the various buildings and structures shall be made to rest. Hence, before starting any of the construction related activities, it becomes mandatory to ascertain the land’s inherent properties, based on which the type and nature of foundations is judged.

This article aims to provide that basic know-how for all the young engineers in this field.

REQUIREMENTS OF GEOTECH (GEOTECHNICAL) STUDIES

A sound and effective geotechnical report for a particular project site should ideally include the following, but not limited to:

• Appraise and analyze the estimated bearing capacities, settlement behavior, swelling potential including settlements versus time charts of foundations for the different strata encountered at different locations of the project site.
• Should indicate recommendations regarding the type of foundations to be provided for different structures with reference to envisaged range of loading building-wise.
• In case piling is envisaged, preliminary data regarding the types, numbers, diameters, depths, etc. for piles under different loading conditions with suitable recommendations should be furnished.
• Recommendations regarding the allowable bearing capacities of different soil and rock strata at different levels and at different locations of the site.
• Assessing and providing site spectra (Time Versus Acceleration Curve).
• Indicate level of water table and seasonal variations.
• Furnish relevant cross-sectional details of soil profile for the entire area so as to enable a study of underlying strata.
• Establishing any corrosive element present in soil along the depth with specific recommendation about safety against corrosion.
• Indicate setting out and marking of all the test locations, showing the levels of the existing ground level at the test locations.

GENERAL TRADE SPECIFICATIONS FOR CARRYING OUT THE WORK

A civil engineer must be aware of the broad technical specifications that are usually put in use during a detailed soil investigation. The major of them are furnished hereunder for his/her ready reference:

Boreholes
Boreholes are drilled through all types of soil and rock strata at locations indicated in the drawing showing test points. The depth of the boreholes depends largely upon the type of strata encountered, and the envisaged structure loading at that point. In case hard rock (SPT > 100) is encountered at shallow depths itself, the boreholes can be terminated after drilling 3m inside the hard rock. The exact depth of the boreholes is usually determined at site by the concerned engineers after taking into considerations the soil/rock strata encountered.
A detailed borehole log should be maintained for all the boreholes. These bore-logs provide the essential spectrum of the strata encountered, which in turn, help in deciding the type of foundations required.

Trial Pits
Trial pits are open excavations carried up to approximate depths of 1 to 2 meters so as to ascertain the settlement properties of the excavated soil pits with certain calibrated loadings.
Field density and bulk density tests should be conducted for each different stratum encountered, and a proper log should be maintained.

Sampling
Sampling is done for two cases: Disturbed samples & Un-disturbed samples.
The samples are collected from boreholes, plate load test pits and trial pits, which are then analyzed in the laboratory for various soil properties like moisture content, specific gravity, grain size analysis, Atterberg's limits, pH value, sulphate & chloride content, etc.

SUMMARIZING & REPORTING

After conducting all the relevant studies and tests, the results of all the above laboratory tests should be incorporated in the soil investigation report, which should be referred by the design engineers for designing the buildings and the structures.
The test results should be properly tabulated in the report together with the origin of the sample on which the test has been conducted. All necessary calculations and graphs shall also be included in the report for ready reference.

INFERENCE

The relevance of a systematic and sound soil investigation report can be understood from the basic point that no practical and economized design of the buildings and structures can be done without taking the inferences from this report. As such, the engineers & technicians should be familiar with the requirements of such an investigation.

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Effective planning and utilization of the ‘resources’ as well as the ‘TCQ’ (Time, Cost and Quality) towards achieving certain set goals and targets make the essence of the term “Management” in simple words. And when such planning and resource utilization is linked with one or more aspects of construction related activities, the types of management techniques put in use are collectively termed as “Construction Management”.

Depending upon type of matters handled, the construction management can be broadly divided into:

• Construction human resources management
• Construction financial management
• Construction materials management
• Construction implementation & execution management

Key Resources Involved

The key resources that are handled in the field of construction management are usually:

• Men
• Materials
• Machinery
• Money
• Technical documents, viz., designs & drawings
• Plans & decisions

It is the effective use of these resources only that determine the success or failure of any kind of Civil Project. Therefore, it becomes imperative for a Manager to effectively allocate the weightings depending upon the stage of the project and importance of the resource at a given stage.

Agencies Involved

The main agencies that play important roles in the Construction Management are:

• The Owner
• The Architect, and/or the Consultant
• The Contractor
• The Suppliers

The Owner is the one who envisages a project after the preliminary and/or detailed feasibility studies. Thus this agency is the parent agency of any project.

The Architect and/or the Consultant is/are the one who impart shape to the project. The project is detailed and put in terms of the Owner’s requirements by these agencies only. Usually, the architects are involved in the building projects having more of aesthetic value, whereas the Consultants are mainly involved in mostly the industrial and process-oriented projects.

The Contractor is another important agency, which actually executes the project by deploying the required resources on the field. In other words, it is the Contractor who actually builds and brings-up the project on ground.

Last, but definitely not the least are the agencies which supply the requisite resources like material, machinery, equipment, manpower, etc. to the rest of the three above-cited agencies. Virtually, they act as the much needed fuel-suppliers for the project to take real shape.

Essential Components of Construction management

The essential components of an effective construction management working are Planning, Execution and Control, all of which should perform in a closed cycle type format. It means that each of these components should assist and support the other also while performing its own role in a manner, which economizes the whole working, and reduces the time and cost parameters also at the same time.

In case, any of these basic components fail to deliver up to any major extent, and at any point of time, the project is liable to suffer losses in terms of either the cost, or the time of planned completion, or both. Therefore, all efforts should be put in place so as to ensure that none of these basic components derail too much from the intended course of action at any stage of the project. Regular planning, monitoring and re-scheduling of the resources can only ensure this balance, and the Management teams should strive towards effective management of these goals at all costs so as to make the projects economically best viable as well as profitable.

Effective Construction management- Need of the Hour

Effective Construction management is invariably the most important need of the hour for all the agencies involved for the simple reason that no agency can survive in today’s cut-throat competition environment without implementing the best practices and even innovating industry specific models. With every project demanding loudly to be completed in the least possible time; with the least possible cost incurred, and with top-class quality standards; effective construction management techniques have become the only surviving tool. The ones, who master it, are the ones who become the successful leaders of the industry. There can be no second thoughts to this, and the sooner all agencies realize this fact; the better it would be for the entire construction industry.

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At first instance thinking about this very topic, a reader may think what so important could be there in such a simple topic. After all, earthwork is as basic as the most common of aspects of Civil Engineering.

Yes, it could be tedious as well as tricky while dealing with earthworks (which includes all earth related activities, viz., excavation, backfilling, disposal of extra and/or waste soil, and the likes) in special conditions like while handling extra soft or extra hard strata; or even may be when earthworks are required to be done in high water table conditions where pumping out of water could become a headache for the team of engineers. There could be endless of demanding situations in this field, but here we will focus on the basic principles that an engineer, or even a simple worker needs to remember.

Analyzing the Type of Material : The First Basic Step

It can be a fruitful exercise for any working team to first analyze what kind of soil and/or strata they are going to work upon. Selecting the best possible technique to go about follows thereafter.

In brief, the type of materials to be handled or used for the diverse needs of earthworks, viz., excavation, filling, compacting, making embankments, etc. should primarily conform to the qualities and requirements for each work respectively. It often is a good idea to investigate the possible areas for winning such materials, as well as the possibility of reusing materials arising from excavations on the site, keeping in mind that the source and the quality of materials being subject to requisite quality control.

Things/Methods to Start With

Subsequent to the basic planning, earmarking and completing the layout, etc. of the respective areas of work, it needs a planned methodology to carry out the works most economically and time saving. The few of these activities are:

• Clearing and Grubbing: The work of clearing and grubbing consists of the removal of all obstructions such as undergrowth, bushes, trees, stumps, roots, rubbish and other objectionable organic or inorganic matter before undertaking any major earthwork.
• Excavation: This consists of the necessary excavations for the works such as foundations of structures and buildings, machine foundations, pits, tunnels, cable trenches, etc. It generally also includes the stacking and/or disposal of the surplus excavated materials that is extra of what has to be backfilled back after casting the sub-structure. The whole of the excavations for the several parts of a particular Work should be carried out to suit the foundations for which they are required. The important thing to remember is that the excavations should be done in such a manner, which gives sufficient safe working space all around the foundations; and also economized to the fullest at the same time.
• Earthworks for Embankments: Where an embankment is to be made, the in-grade preparation of the basement soils should be well planned before actual execution. All sod and organic matter as well as any unsuitable material should be removed from the surface, if encountered. The key to remember is that the final cleared surface should be completely broken up by ploughing, scarifying or stepping to a certain minimum depth, preferably by at least 15 cm.
• Earthwork in Rocky Conditions: As a thumb rule, the rock strata can be divided into two categories, viz., soft rock, which constitutes material such as limestone, sandstone, hard conglomerate, plain cement concrete, etc.; and hard rock, which constitutes material like quartzite stone, granite, basalt, reinforced cement concrete and the likes that cannot be easily quarried or split with crow bars or picks or even with jackhammers. Even harder strata like that comprising of thick solid beds of corals, etc. may even require special blasting techniques, which require detailed planning on an engineer’s behalf.

Concluding remarks

Earthworks mark the beginning of the construction process for any building or structure. It may seem to be a done thing from an overview, but it must be remembered that some key basic points should always be in place before as well as during the execution of the works. Planning the key issues beforehand can save enormous precious time and the finances.

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Since the very time the world witnessed the industrial revolution, energy resources have kept on being used. In fact, these resources have been over-utilized, endangering the bleak balance of the ecology. Whether they are developed, developing or the under-developed countries-- all want energy resources for fueling their sustainability and growth cycles. The man utilized wood, coal, petroleum and almost all other ready energy sources till the need for more arose to such an extent that imbalance of ecology was noted. If not for only this fact, it was the availability/ unavailability of certain resources in some parts of the world, which led the mankind to think for using alternative resources of energy. Hydro-Electricity (commonly known as 'HYDEL') is one such alternative resource of energy, which has brought a lot of scope for water-source-rich countries to use this renewable source of energy thereby giving them a bright chance to develop and grow alike without endangering the ecology.

Hydel-Energy and Hydel Plants

In simple terms, the power (electricity) generated through water (hydro) is commonly termed as hydel energy; and the power generation plants are known as the hydro-electric plants; or even simply, the hydel plants.

Hydro-electric power plants work on the simple concept of taking the kinetic energy from running and/or falling water, thereby converting it into electricity. These plants are basically of two broad types:

• “Run-of-the-river” type, and
• “Reservoir” type

The basic difference between the two is essentially the storage and feeding capacity of the reservoirs that store and supply water to the turbines, which are housed at downstream end of the pressure shafts. These pressure shafts are constructed in an angle so that the water falls on the turbines with a larger head, thereby developing larger kinetic velocities. The running of the turbines generates electricity, which is then fed to the main power grid, making the power generated available to a large or small area or region depending upon the requirement and purposes.

As such, in case of “Run-of-the-river” type hydel plants, the rivers are having enough water and speed that can cater to the requirements of a plant having a smaller sized storage reservoir. On the other hand, the rivers having lesser discharge quotients or occasional dry periods need to be supplemented with large sized reservoirs where water is kept stored in huge quantum so as to cater the needs of the hydel plant.

Multiple Uses of Hydel Plants

Besides being used to generate hydel power, such plants may also help in the following:

• Flood control and monitoring
• Navigational purposes
• Irrigation and drought control
• Public water supply
• Recreational purposes

The other benefits of generating power by such alternative means are:

• No pollution is caused
• The natural resources are put to use in a dynamic phase, that is, only running water’s velocity is utilized whereas the water is again discharged downstream without much wastage.
• Operation and maintenance costs of such plants are low
• Small capacity hydel plants can be set up again at certain downstream part of the river, thereby enhancing the power generation requirements.

A Few Disadvantages are there too to take care of

Besides having so many advantages, designing and using the hydel plants require certain checks and precautions also to be taken care of.

• The major environmental impact of hydro-electric plants is the flooding of large areas of land to form reservoirs for water that results in large scale flooding and displacement of the river-side dwellings and large chunks of lands.
• Much of the land, which is converted into a large sized reservoir, is usually either forested or inhabited before it is submerged. A lot of people therefore need to be displaced and re-habited.
• Mitigation of water creatures, like fishes, etc. are restricted
• Studies have even showed earthquake related impacts of large volumes of stored water in the region
• The man-made reservoirs usually do alter the silt-flow patterns of the river.

Synopsis

Hydro-electric power plants have played a major role in the world's energy supply in terms of alternative energy resources. Hydel generated power is almost inexpensive, reliable, and has environmental impacts, which are not as devastating as those from the traditional fuels, like fossil fuels, etc. It not only enhances the power production capacities to feed the ever-increasing world, but also uses the natural resource, thereby negating the pollution fears.

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Often when a Greenfield project site is in the pipeline ready to hit the ground so as to take a physical shape, it takes enormous time for the managing and executing agencies to get the works rolling with the planned momentum. So, what does happen when even the plans are in place on papers, but still the progress isn’t taking off in the required direction? The blame-game starts in such a situation with one agency accusing the others for the delays; the delays in turn becoming compounded; and the project cash flow going negative.

The key to avoid such a gloomy picture at any stage of a project, perhaps more importantly in the beginning stage of the project, is effective planning and monitoring, together with an all-aligned site organization. Since opening the site marks the physical execution of the project, it becomes imperative to take notice of the key points beforehand so that the project site is organized well to perform efficiently and economically.

Key Points to Remember

Like any important work, the early stage planning and orientation tools always help in chalking out the success path of the subsequent periods. The things to remember and implement are:

Making a clear picture

Knowing the contract, project requirements, plans, budgets, site organization, schedules and everything related to chalk out a clear picture of the project comes handy to get acquainted with the project. This helps in reducing the buffer time, which often gets wasted at the start of a project.

Earmarking an effective site organization

No matter if you are amongst the Client, the Consultant or the Contractor, it always helps to have an effective and balanced project as well as back-office teams created to suit the specific nature of the project and the project-site. A balanced and motivated team can do wonders in any sort of conditions.

Dividing the site into manageable sections

A site has different needs and functions from time to time. Creating functional and manageable core teams ensure that monitoring and aligning/realigning of the teams as well as the project activities are always under control. Such teams can be enhanced with or merged to garner more strength and skill as the project goes beyond initial embryonic stage.

Micro & Macro planning

Once the project has followed the macro plans, micro scheduling of activities should follow immediately by respective teams, but in concurrence with each and every correlated team. Such schedules and plans should be regularly monitored and updated vis-à-vis the actual progress and availability of resources. This helps in reflecting the bottlenecks and delays to the managers, who can thereafter take remedial measures without affecting the overall progress much.

Time management

It is unavoidable at any project to have automatic balance between the pressure of work and the remaining time in hand. But this bottleneck can be resolved stage by stage with effective time management. The art to learn and master is to prioritize the important activities first than the secondary ones, and planning to cater to the important ones foremost. All successful managers thrive on this very craft of time management on the first place beside of course other trade and/or personal qualities.

Authority and Responsibility

Delegation of suitable authority and responsibility to every functional member of the team is the last, but definitely not the least of the key requirements of a successful site organization. This helps in clear-cut roles that all the team members are required to perform in the organization.

So, what have we learned from this article?

As like they say, a successful and effect start predominantly leads to a remarkable and desired results. By doing better planning and following the same at site with necessary corrective measures, the projects can become more economical and financially viable. This not only helps the parent companies, but also helps every team member of the project team professionally, personally, financially and morally. The one member which the gains the most, however, is the Project itself.

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Often the ones related to the construction world come across different types of business units, which might have baffled us as to what does they actually mean. This article is basically written to let the readers understand the main types of business setups that one may come across. This article would also try to let the readers understand as in what ways and what forms do such different units generate the required finances to run their works. So, here we go...

Types of Business Units & their Finances

The construction world is marked by a wide variety of business units, which generally have their own respective style of working and arranging finances. The main types of business units are:

• Single person enterprise
• Partnerships
• Companies
• Co-operatives

These types will now be discussed briefly hereunder to let the readers understand them closely.

Single person enterprise

As the name suggests, the single person enterprises are owned and managed by an individual who, as in most of the cases, arranges the requisite finances by himself at least in the early stages of setting up the business. This self-managed capital could well be arranged by borrowing from other individuals or from financial institutions. Such borrowings are generally on loan basis against the owner’s own personal assets. Such business units are generally small in nature since they rely upon the owner’s technical and personal capabilities, and employ few people. The work that such enterprises undertake is also small in nature and size. However, such units are ideal for small time entrepreneurs who like to work on their own with the assistance of a few assistants and labour only.

Partnerships

These are the firms, which dwell among the inter-relation of two or more persons with almost similar targets and business goals. Thus, as the name suggests, the business units, which run in collaboration of more than one person, are commonly termed as Partnership units. The finances of such units are arranged by all the partners in the pre-decided ratio amongst them. The profits earned are also shared by the partners in some pre-decided ratios after catering to the projects and working capital needs. The partners of such units enter into an agreement legally or quasi-legally, which basically defines such important aspects as the capital contributed by respective partners, their roles in the firm, any interest payments in respect of the partners’ capital investments, the method of sharing the profits, and so on. Such an agreement also protects the partners from dubious activities of any of the partner, if at all it happens, thereby safeguarding the interests of the other partners.

Companies

This type of business units may be understood as an extension to partnership only, which usually is regarded as ‘incorporated associations’. As such, it is mandatory to obtain a ‘Certificate of Incorporation’ by the partners/ promoters of the assumed company. The partners/ promoters also do need to deliver a Memorandum of Association and/or the Articles of Association to the Registrar of Companies together with a statement of the proposed Company’s nominal capital and a list of people who shall be assigned Director’s position. The Certificate of Incorporation signifies that the Company is a body corporate and has perpetual existence, independent of its members. The Companies may further be termed as ‘Private Limited’, ‘Public Limited’ or ‘Limited’ based upon the structuring and control of the directors and the articles of association defined. The most prevalent form of generating finances is by institutional borrowings and/or offering equity shares in the markets.

Co-operatives

Such business units are the least popular ones, and are formed as associations, which primarily operate on an apparent idealistic basis of fulfilling a need and sharing the proceeds of the work equally, without having a prima-facie motive of profit generation from the works. Such units are mostly seen in the group housing industry where societies work with a common goal of achieving the goal right from project conceiving and up to its entire completion. Generation of capital is quite problematic for most of co-operatives since the source of income are the members themselves in addition to small time borrowings from banks or other financial institutions against some indemnity.

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Since ages, we all have been practicing making and implementing budgets at our homes and for related occasions, ceremonies, etc. So, what essentially is a budget? In simpler terms, a budget may be defined as a financial working, which may or may not include quantitative statements to support it; and which is prepared prior to a defined period of time, and which is essentially pursued during that period so as to attain a desired objective of achieving a set target of financial figures, or even preferably to complete the activity well within the planned final figure. In a nutshell, it includes certain planned income and the foreseen expenditure interwoven with the planning of employment of the capital for a desired work to be completed.

Budgeting Techniques in Construction Practices

A well-prepared budget can become an effective management control technique in more ways than one in any construction front, whether it be a pre-bid working, or a cost plan for an upcoming site, or even a small home renovation job.

The practice of budgeting control is basically the establishment of financial budgets relating to the responsibilities of the personnel who are required to execute the responsibilities up to the requirements of the pre-formulated policy, while maintaining the continuous comparison of the actual figures with those of the previously estimated and budgeted ones. Any major deviation of the former with respect to the latter should prompt for establishing a revision of the previous version of the budget.

Requirements of a Good Budgeting Control System

The following outlines the predominant requirements that a budget must incorporate to be effective and helpful enough for any enterprise, company or an individual:

·               The foremost of all requirements is to formulate a policy for a certain pre-defined period with the targets clearly chalked out in terms of the desired financial figures and/or the output over a clear period of time. This is important since unless a specific and target-oriented aim is there, a management or person in-charge will not be in a position to adopt the required preventive and/or corrective measures in case the desired programme is going out of track. This also helps if a programme is going well ahead the desired schedule and/or the cost pattern. The manager, in this case, may re-distribute the surplus of resources to fronts where they may be critically required.

·               The other predominant requirement is that of defining and allocating the responsibilities and accountabilities of executives at each important level of hierarchy. This helps in better coordination and the results are more likely to be in resonance with the drafted target policy.

·               Continual evaluation of the policy as well as the measured results from time-to-time and at regular intervals is another important requisite of an ideal budget.

·               Last, but definitely not the least, analyzing and rectifying the adverse factors, which tend to derail the planned targets is another positive requirement of good budgeting. Such negative factors must be pinpointed, analyzed and solved in no time when they do occur. As such, the divergences between the planned and the actual results should be used not only for control purpose, but also for policy revisions of the future.

Budgeting is an Effective Monitoring Tool

Budgeting is an important monitoring tool to carry out the following functions:

·               Conceiving business opportunities

·               Planning

·               Executing

·               Controlling, and

·               Coordinating the different functional activities of a construction programme

It not only enhances the grasp of the management over the project, but also helps to find out and correct the shortcomings that a programme might be proceeding to, endangering the profitability and/or timely completeness of a project. After all, which management does not want to complete a project on time, and with almost all financial as well as material targets being on course? A judgment easy to make even for a layman, isn’t it?

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Key Points towards Efficient Working & Risk Aversion in Construction Field

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Pre-Project Activities

• Conceptualize the entire construction plan and schedule resources & stagewise activities at macro as well as micro levels.
  
• Plan beforehand if the construction and related activities shall be given on turnkey, semi-turnkey or package mode.
  
• Plan also if supply of certain major value building material (cement, rebar, steel, etc.) will be Owner's or Contractor's scope to avoid any confusion at tendering stage.
  
• Conduct detailed Plant land studies including topographical, geotechnical, hydological and other related studies.
• Avail prerequisite data from respective Equipment/Technology suppliers and prepare the design concept, design brief and the tender documents entailing all the requisite details prior to floating the same to the bidding parties.
  
• Define and assign respective authorities and responsibilities of the Project Management core team to monitor the health of the project on a continual basis and take necessary/corrective actions as and when required.

On-site Work Progress, Planning & Monitoring

• Select the most suitable party and award the work.
  
• Ensure cross checking all selected party's submissions and commitments. The agreed resource and construction schedule should be made part of the Contract itself so that the Contractor remains legally liable and responsible.
• Ensure work to proceed as per the agreed construction schedule, and following the stringent of Quality and Safety norms.
• Obtain work progress reports from the Contractor towards continual monitoring and validation of the same. Adequate measures must be ensured to take necessary preventive/ corrective actions.
• Organize time to time meetings among various parties concerned to obtain concurrence on various project related issues.
  
• Clearance of fronts must be given on time and in staggered manner to ensure full utility of men & machinery of the Contractor.

Common Bottlenecks/ Risks Requiring Adequate Attention for Successful Completion

• Local conditions of the plant area must be kept in mind while planning. It includes climatic conditions, existing habitation, availability of labour, socio-economic as well as environmental impact assessment of the Construction work on short as well as long term basis, etc.
• In all major industries, the buildings and structures of a particular Plant are typical and require certain level of skill and experience. The probable contractor must be evaluated on various aspects before being selected for the proposed works.
• Special (non-regular) structures like RCC Silos and Stacks are intrinsic part of a Cement plant, the construction of which demands special techniques and skills. The contractor must have sufficient experience and slipform related equipment for giving a quality outcome. Even if the silos/ stacks are to be made in structural steel, the same also need special skills and equipment for fabrication and erection purposes.
• Various machine foundations required for the mills, fans, etc. also require special construction means and monitoring.
• The preheater being the highest and most time consuming structure in a cement plant and the likes requires efficient planning and construction means. The timely completion of a project largely depend upon this structure's timely construction.
• The completed foundations/fronts should be got concurred from the M&E contractors/ departments in a progressive manner so that clearance be given for further activities that can be taken up simultaneously thereby optimizing time for timely execution.
  

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The field of Civil Engineering is perhaps one of the oldest disciplines of the modern world. Like all other major fields, it engrosses a large chunk of people who would like to start their own business and reap the benefits of success. Most of the times, it’s the success of the other contractors and business people who guide and imbibe the wish to be a successful entrepreneur in many wannabes like us. But seldom do these wannabes think what all could be required from them for being successful. Though success might be a relative term for people, the earthly meaning directly relates it to the money and profit a business generates.

The people with a dream of becoming a successful entrepreneur may often be blinded by a pseudo faith that it might only be requiring to initially register a firm with the respective authorities, get hold of a few clients, and put up some hard work to gear-start the rocket which then by itself will gather momentum. They usually harness this misconception, and are doomed for failures.

What is Required Then for being Successful Businesses?

Like all other businesses, a construction related business should be well sighted and planned so as to be groomed profoundly especially in the tender age of the company/firm. Once the business is in positive cash flow region, and with continual bagging of projects from long-term made and other clients, a company or firm can show some promise for its owner as well as its employees. The security and prosperity of the business in itself acts as continuous fuel for further growth and success. As such, it primarily needs a visionary and resourceful person and/or group to start a firm. The following few listed points are among the other factors that helps in shaping to what a firm or business will become.

Framing the business objectives

All successful businesses thrive on solid business and functional objectives, which often are also termed as ‘business policy’ of the firm. It revolves around the aims, plans and objectives that a firm will follow in its business code of conduct in the times to come. The objectives should be revised and/or modified depending upon variations in short-term or long-term business goals and according to market scenario.

Creating a diversified and balanced organisation

A firm is essentially controlled by a single or group of owners and/or management representatives, but it is the manpower employed that actually run the show in physical form. The construction industry being such a vast field requires manpower of all skill levels to cater for the different requirements. No matter how good the plans be made on papers by knowledgeable and skillful managers, it is the middle and end workers who shape the plans into reality. As such, a successful firm should develop certain permanent workforce along with contacts by which workers of required skills and levels be hired in requisite numbers and required time. A balanced organisation can only primarily change the fortunes of a firm. The clients often evaluate the effectiveness of a firm by the resources that firm is having.

Keeping pace with technology

A firm must allocate part of the budget for equipping itself with latest technology relating to its machinery setup, tools and tackles, concerned software like project management tools, etc. to keep itself updated and in line with the business’s requirements. Investing a part of the budget on this head always pays high rewards in the long run.

Synopsis

The crux of all things discussed is that it needs clarity of concept, definite business objectives to be laid down beforehand, earning needful resources with time and a goal oriented approach for someone so as to establish a business in the construction field, which not only flourishes the would be entrepreneur, but also the business in itself and the employees too. In all probability, a positive step with good vision and approach is all that it needs to be a successful entrepreneur.

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WHAT IS COLD WEATHER CONCRETING?

Any operation of concreting, whether mixing, placing, casting, etc., done at about 5 deg.C atmospheric temperature or below is termed as Cold Weather Concreting. Special precautions are required to be taken so as to ascertain the desired qualities of the cast structures in such conditions.

EFFECTS OF COLD WEATHER ON CONCRETE

Before analyzing the remedial measures that one should take while carrying out concreting in extreme cold weather conditions, let us first try to understand what effects the cold weather may impart on the concrete as well as the cast structure.

The major effects which are generally noted are as following:

• Forming of Ice-Lenses: Severe damage may occur if concrete, which is still in the plastic state, is exposed to low temperature; thereby causing the ice lenses to form and expansion to occur within the pores of the mixed and poured concrete.
• Delayed Setting: When the temperature falls to about 5 deg.C or below, the development of concrete strength is retarded compared with the strength that is developed at normal temperatures. The hardening period necessary before the removal of forms is thus increased and the forms cannot be used rapidly.
• Freezing of Concrete at Early Ages: When concrete is exposed to freezing temperatures, there is a risk of concrete suffering irrevocable loss of strength and other qualities, that is, permeability may increase and the durability may be impaired.
• Repeated Freezing and Thawing of Concrete: If concrete is exposed to repeated freezing and thawing immediately after final setting and/or during the hardening period, the final qualities of the concrete are also affected.
• Stress Due to Temperature Differentials: Large temperature differentials within the concrete members may promote cracking and have harmful effects on the durability. Such differentials are likely to happen in cold weather conditions at the time of removal of forms, which more or less act as an insulation barrier

PRECAUTIONS & MEASURES TO BE TAKEN

The major precautions, which are required to be taken for Cold Weather conditions, are listed hereunder:

• The forms should be kept in position longer
• Rapid hardening cement should be used
• Covering the top of concrete surface as well as the forms with insulating material
• Ensuring that the concrete temperature is not less than 5 deg.C at the time of placing it.
• Making sure that the concrete is not placed against a frozen sub-grade or against reinforcement or forms covered with snow or ice.
• Heating the aggregates and water by means of steam or hot blowers.
• Making sure that the concrete is delivered to the point of placing at not less than 10 deg.C, followed by placing quickly and insulating; or making sure that concrete is delivered to the point of placing at not less than 5 deg.C, placing quickly and providing continuous heating to the concrete externally.

OTHER SECONDARY MEASURES

Besides taking the above points into consideration, certain other secondary measures and checks should be adopted:

• While heating the aggregates, the temperature of any particular individual batch should not exceed 65 deg.C. The heating of aggregates higher than 15 deg.C is rarely necessary while using mixing water at 60 deg.C.
• If coarse aggregates are free of frozen lumps, ice and/or snow, only sand should be heated up to a temperature of about 40 deg.C. The heating of aggregates can be done by embedded steam pipes for larger works, or with the help of steel drums embedded in heaped aggregates and filled with firewood in case of small jobs.
• To avoid possibility of flash set when either aggregate or water is heated to a temperature in excess of 40 deg.C, water and aggregate should be mixed together in the mixer before cement is added to it. The heated water should come into contact with the aggregate first and not the cement.
• The Mix design should separately be done for the cold weather conditions and additives if any should be used only on results of the extensive study of the trial mixes made on the mix design.

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Post Tags: Construction, Tutorials, Technical-Jargon

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WHAT IS HOT WEATHER CONCRETING?

Any operation of Concreting done at atmospheric temperature above 40 deg.C; or any operation of Concreting (other than steam curing) where the temperature of concrete at time of its placement is expected to be beyond 40 deg.C may be termed as Hot Weather Concreting. Special precautions are required to be taken so as to ascertain the desired qualities of the cast structures in such conditions.

EFFECTS OF HOT WEATHER ON CONCRETE

Before analyzing the remedial measures that one should take while carrying out concreting in extreme hot weather conditions, let us first try to understand what effects the hot weather may impart on the concrete as well as the cast structure.

The major effects which are generally noted are as following:

• Rapid Hydration: Higher temperatures result in rapid hydration of cement, increased evaporation of mixing water, greater demand of mixing water, and large volume changes resulting in cracks. Climatic factors affecting concrete in hot weather are high ambient temperature and reduced relative humidity, the effects of which may be more pronounced with increase in the wind velocity.
• Accelerated Setting: High Temperature increases the initial setting of concrete. The duration of time during which the concrete can be handled is reduced. Quick stiffening may necessitate undesirable re-tempering by addition of water. It may also result in cold joints.
• Reduction in Strength: High temperature results in the increase of the quantity of mixing water to maintain the workability with consequent reduction in strength.
• Increased Tendency to Crack: Either before or after hardening, plastic shrinkage cracks may form in the partially hardened concrete due to rapid evaporation of water. Cracks maybe developed in hardened concrete either by increased drying shrinkage resulting from greater mixing water used or by cooling of the concrete from its elevated initial temperature.
• Affected Curing: It is difficult to retain moisture for hydration and maintain reasonably uniform temperature conditions during the curing period.
• Difficulty in control of Air Content in Air-Entrained Concrete: It is more difficult to control the air content in air-entrained concrete. This adds to the difficulty of controlling workability. For a given amount of air-entraining agent, hot concrete entrains less air than concrete at normal temperatures.

PRECAUTIONS & MEASURES TO BE TAKEN

The major precautions, which are required to be taken for Hot Weather conditions, are listed hereunder:

• Sprinkling of the stockpiles of coarse aggregates with water and keeping them moist. This results in cooling by evaporation, and this procedure is especially effective when relative humidity is low. Such sprinkling should not be done haphazardly because it leads to excessive variation in surface moisture and thereby impairs uniformity of workability.
• Circulating refrigerated air through pipes or other suitable means may also cool coarse aggregates.
• Ice flakes may be incorporated directly into concrete as part of mixing water in such a way that ice is completely melted by the time concrete is mixed failing which, there can be possibility of ice melting after consolidation of concrete, thus leaving hollow pockets in concrete resulting in detrimental effects.

OTHER SECONDARY MEASURES

Besides taking the above points into consideration, certain other secondary measures and checks should be adopted:

• Forms, reinforcement, and sub-grade may be sprinkled with cold water prior to placement of concrete.
• Fresh concrete, as soon as laid, should be covered by fog sprays, wet burlap, cotton mats, or other similar means.
• Moist curing should commence once the concrete has attained some degree of hardening, sufficient to withstand any kind of surface damage.
• Continuous curing for a period of not less than 10 days should be done without fail since volume changes due to alternate wetting and drying promote development of surface cracks.

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Filed under: Construction, Tutorials, Technical-Jargon

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HAVE ANY IDEA WHATS THIS 'WORKING CAPITAL' IS ALL ABOUT???

If not, then read on... And if yes, then also go through! :-)

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Any construction firm, or in that matter of fact any kind of enterprise, is faced with a continual exercise of a periodic nature that involves deciding upon the amount and composition of the ready available funds in liquid form, which can be made available for meeting the day-to-day requirements of that enterprise. Such liquid capital is always planned apart from the fixed or permanent capital invested over the assets or businesses on a semi-permanent or permanent basis for longer durations of time, and with the intended purpose of earning long-term gains and revenue.

As such, the part of the total capital, which is left out of the permanent capital so as to meet the functional and day-to-day operational requirements, is termed as the Working Capital.

Need of Balancing Between Working & Total Capital

It is of utmost importance for the management and the managers to understand keeping the balance between the extents of the Working Capital with respect to the Total Assets of a particular enterprise.

The greater the relative proportion of the Liquid Assets, the less is the risk of running out of cash for meeting the usual work chores on a day-to-day basis; all other things being equal. However, it should also be understood that the more the assets are kept in liquid state, the lesser is the overall percentage of the totally available assets into the main business, thereby reducing the scope of the probable gains.

On the other hand, reducing the percentage of liquid cash enhances the enterprise’s chances of profitability, but at the same time also increases the risk of falling short of the ready available cash in hand, which may sometimes be required to cater for investing in the new project bids, as well as chances of increasing the risk of dishonoring the maturing in-house obligations also.

Changing Nature of Working Capital

One of the important features of the Working Capital is that it constantly changes its form from enterprise to enterprise depending upon a certain time period, type of business, nature of jobs in hand, nature of resources required to put in place, billing cycles, etc. As such, planning and arrangement for this form of capital needs to be continually reviewed and revised on a periodic basis analyzing the present commitments vis-à-vis the scheduled obligations of the near future.

Basics of Planning for Working Capital

Like mentioned in the previous paragraph, it needs a constant endeavor to plan for the working capital. This planning has to be based upon certain factors involving the enterprise’s business goals, operations, targeted profitability, risk appetite, etc.

The sources, which can be thought of towards planning the working capital, can be:

• Net gains and revenue from operations
• Sale of fixed assets
• Raising long term debt
• Additional issue of equity shares to the public and/or financial institutions
• Retirement of current liabilities below book value

These measures can help generating additional capital for the enterprise, which in turn can be allocated into required present and near future liquid capital requirements.

Determinants of Working Capital

Towards the end of this article, it also becomes essential to know the major determinants controlling the decisions of the corporate managements while planning for their enterprise’s working capital. A few of these major determinants are:

• Nature of business
• Seasonality and the product pattern.
• Construction process
• Turnover of circulating capital
• Prospective growth and expansion plans of the enterprise
• Business cycle fluctuations
• Receivables and payables of the enterprise

Inference

The readers of this article here at bricks-n-mortar, by now, must have got an idea on the concept and importance of the Working Capital in a business scenario. Cash planning is an integral and essential part of the construction industry management so as to keep the targets becoming a reality, and to meet the functional cash requirements at the same time. In a nutshell, enterprises which do not give due importance to working capital planning, are surely doomed not to survive for long. As such, adequate attention as well as importance must be drawn on this aspect by all professionals who want to grow big in their business and/or work fields.

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[Filed under "Tutorials, Technical-Jargon" category(ies) by Team@Bricks-n-Mortar.com]

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