CONSTRUCTION OF AN

APARTMENT BUILDING

A PRACTICAL TRAINING REPORT

Submitted by

S.DHARANIDHARAN (620713413004)

In partial fulfillment for award of the degree

of
MASTER OF ENGINEERING
in
STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING

GNANAMANI COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

NAMAKKAL

ANNA UNIVERSITY: CHENNAI 600 025

NOVEMBER 2014
 ANNA UNIVERSITY::CHENNAI 600 025

BONAFIDE CERTIFICATE

Certified that this Practical Training report on “CONSTRUCTION OF AN

APARTMENT BUILDING” is the bonafide work of DHARANIDHARAN.S
(620713413004) who carried out the Practical Training work under my supervision.

Signature of the Head of the Department Signature of the Supervisor

Mr.P.KRISHNAN, MSc, M.Phil., Ms.N.SRI VIDYA, M.E

Department of Civil Engineering Department of Civil Engineering

Gnanamani College of Engineering Gnanamani College of Engineering

Namakkal Namakkal

Submitted for the viva-voce examination held on …………………….

Internal examiner External examiner

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First and foremost, our thanks to the lord almighty, the great
architect of the universe, who has blessed us to successfully complete
this project.
I our honourable Chairman Dr.T.ARANGANNAL, and our
Mrs.P.MALALEENA the Chair person for providing all the facilities
to complete the project successfully.
I also express our sincerer thanks to our honourable Principal
Dr.M.ASHOK RAJ KUMAR, for allowing us to use all facilities that
are in the college, to complete the project.
I would like to express our grateful thanks to Head of the
Department Mr.P.KRISHNAN, MSc, Phil., for lending a hand for this
project.
I take immense pleasure to express our thanks to our Project guide
Ms.N.SRI VIDYA, M.E for her valuable support and suggestions for the
project work to be a successful one.
I sincerely thanks to other lecturers in Civil Engineering Department,
for the valuable suggestions excellent guidance and constant support
provided throughout the project time.
Finally, I thank all teaching and non-teaching staff members of Civil
Engineering for their kind co-operation for completion of my project.

S.DHARANIDHARAN
CHAPTER PAGE
NO CONTENT NO
ABSTRACT i
LIST OF TABLES ii
LIST OF FIGURES iii
1 INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 General 1
1.2 Objectives 1
2 PROFILE OF THE COMPANY 2
2.1 Logo 2
2.2 Mission 2
2.3 Quality policy 2
2.4 Amenities 3
2.5 Specification 3
3 TRAINING PERIOD AND NATURE OF TRANING 4
4 DETAILS OF THE TRAINING PROGRAMME 6
4.1 Soil Bearing and Soil Bearing Capacities 6
4.2 Site Clearance 8
4.3 Levelling 8
4.4 Marking 9
4.5 Footing and foundation 10
4.6 Basement 11
4.7 Bar bending 12
4.8 Types of steel bars 16
4.9 Form work 17
4.10 Ready mix concrete 21
4.11 Fire and safety precautions 24
5 CONCLUSION 28
 ABSTRACT

The purpose of this practical training is to acquire

thorough knowledge and experience about the construction field. For my
practical training, I did at BIDISHASHRI BUILDERS located at 18-B
Markabandhu Street, Perumanur, Salem - 636007. It is a construction
company. The vision and mission of the company is to construct the building
with quality materials and also cost effective manner.

This project deals with construction of an apartment building in

C.H.B colony, tiruchengode, Namakkal (Dt). It consists of 3 floors and 6
houses are built in this project. Approximately the cost of the project will
come around 70 lakhs. The total constructed area is 2500 square feet.

All the rooms of these Apartment Buildings are provided with

sufficient living facilities with plenty of special features such as electrical
works with ISI quality, well finished wooden works, flooring with anti-skid
ceramic tiles, etc. The selection of building materials for this construction
done in accordance with IS 456-2000 and the execution of the structural
members are done perfectly as per the design of this apartment building. The
additional provisions such as passenger lift arrangements, CCTV, Solar
energy (Hot water), fully equipped AC gym, swimming pool, Jogging track,
Indoor games, gas pipeline system and children play area, generator power
pack up security arrangements are provide surely ensure the modern lifestyle
of the users.M20 grade of concrete has been used for casting of all beam,
column, slab and footings and in some parts M25 has also been used. HYSD
bars of Fe500 have been used for all the structural members. The good
quality of materials used for this construction is to enable the structural
stability of these apartments and also to increase the serviceability and
durability of the structural members.

i
 LIST OF TABLES

TABLE TITLE PAGE

NO NO

1 Soil bearing capacities 7

2 Additional length of Bent-up bars 13

3 Details of bar shape 15

4 Normal Sizes of Members for Timber Formwork 19

ii
 LIST OF FIGURES

FIGURE PAGE
TITLE
NO NO
1 Site clearance 8
2 Pillar plan 10
3 Isolated column footing 10
4 Basement 11
5 Hooks and bends in Reinforcement 14
6 Cutting of bars 14
7 Ready mix concrete 22
8 Ready mix concrete vehicle 22
9 Slump cone test 22
10 Admixtures 24

iii
 CHAPTER – 1

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 GENERAL

The purpose of practical training at BIDISHASHRI BUILDERS located at

18-B Markabandhu Street, Perumanur, Salem - 636007. The practical training
related to Structural Engineering works which is facilitating the intern to practice
the acquired skills independently or under supervision. The focus of our practical
training was to learn the method and modalities for actual practice of Structural
Engineering. Emphasis should be laid on Hands on experience. The settings of
theoretical knowledge should be preferably decentralized setting in a site or field
work. Thus it involves planning, analyzing and implementation of structural
elements which based on the structural detailing drawings at the site.

1.2 OBJECTIVES

 Develop Knowledge and skills of site.

 Develop the communication skills.
 Develop professionalism including ethical behavior.
 To study the nature of work.
 To study the construction methodology.
 To study the structural detailing.
 To implement theoretical knowledge at the site.

1
 CHAPTER – 2

2. PROFILE OF THE COMPANY

BIDISHASHRI BUILDERS Pvt. Limited - run by professionals with

strong fundamentals and the wisdom of experience. The management is backed by
a team of experienced professionals who have designed, managed and executed
numerous landmark projects. The management is backed by a team of experienced
professionals who have designed, managed and executed numerous landmark
projects.

2.1LOGO
BIDISHASHRI BUILDERS Pvt. Limited is inspired by the idea of the
weaverbird, a bird that builds a home very different and unique from the rest. The
idea portrays the home coming of weaverbird. Further the weaverbird is known for
its attention to detail – no other bird pays as much attention to the making of its
home as this bird does.

2.2 MISSION
Our Mission To develop in an environmentally friendly manner the most
extensive variety of high quality properties utilizing our creativity, experience and
technical expertise. Balancing a tolerance for risk along with a relentless pursuit of
efficiency, to maintain a corporate culture that values originality and invention
while developing essential, long-term relationships through honesty, trust and
integrity.

2.3 QUALITY POLICY

 To provide premium quality construction at the right cost.

 To ensure timely delivery to customers.

2
  To protect the environment through implementing green building concepts.
 To provide value for money through optimization of processes &
minimization of waste.
 To make continual improvement in all our processes and systems and ensure
legal & statutory compliance

2.4 AMENITIES

 Roof top swimming pool.

 Air-conditioned gym & lounge.
 Reticulated gas supply.
 R.O plant.
 Landscaped green deck.
 Green building.
 Ample car parks spread over two levels.
 D.G backup for apartments.
 Vaastu compliant design.

2.5 SPECIFICATION

 Flooring, Living, dining & family room – Italian marble,

Master bedroom – Solid wood,
Other bed rooms – Premium tiles,
Kitchen – Granite,
Duplex gym – Sports flooring ,
Duplex home theatre – Solid wood,
 Polished premium flush doors. UPVC Windows or German engineered
aluminum windows. VRV air conditioning. Lintel levels at 8 ft and ceiling
levels at 10 ft. Premium wardrobes and modular kitchen (at extra cost).

3
 CHAPTER – 3
3.1 TRAINING PERIOD AND NATURE OF TRANING
The practical training was undergone at CHB Colony, Tiruchengode-637214
for the construction of apartment building under the guidance of senior site
engineer Mr. Vasudevan.

The nature of training is about learning the details about the excavation,
footing and foundation work done in site during our training period. Here we
studied about the methods and types of instruments used for excavation, their
values, their types and total hours of working in site for excavation.

We studied about the bar bending and bar cutting according to the required
length. We gained knowledge about new technique called Re-Bar threading
method or Coupling method, which is used to join the TMT rods while raising in
the top layer of the structures. This is the method first introduced by this company
in Coimbatore. This method increases the space to the concrete to combine with
the rods to form a foundation and column which carries more loads in the
superstructure.

We studied about the fire and safety measures in the site. This helped us to
know about the types of safety precautions to be followed by the workers in the
site during construction works.

We trained about how to interact with the workers and to get the works from
them efficiently and in effective manners. Thus we gained few knowledge about
site works and their importance.

The duration of our in-plant training was on from 01.07.2014 to 31.07.2014.

4
 DATE TYPES OF WORK DONE

01-07-2014 Site visit and condition of site

02-07-2014
To Site excavation and trenching for column c1- c30
10-07-2014
11-07-2014
To Applying Pcc (1:5:10) and Leveling Course (1:7:12)
15-07-2014 Along With Plastziers (Anti- Terminator)

16-07-2014
To Locating the column place by using Total Station Instrument
(Column Marking)
18-07-2014
19-07-2014
To Placing the footing mats
22-07-2014
23-07-2014 Placing column bars for footing
To
26-07-2014
27-07-2014 Shuttering the footing
To
29-07-2014
30-07-2014 Pouring concrete in the footings M40 design mix concrete

31-07-2014 Curing and back filling the footing using the excavated rock soils
from the site

5
 CHAPTER – 4

DETAILS OF THE TRAINING PROGRAMME

4. STAGES OF CONSTRUCTION:
4.1 Soil Bearing and Soil Bearing Capacities
4.2 Site Clearance
4.3 Levelling
4.4 Marking
4.5 Footing and foundation
4.6 Basement
4.7 Bar bending
4.8 Types of steel bars
4.9 Form work
4.10 Ready mix concrete
4.11 Fire and safety precautions

4.1 SOIL BEARING AND SOIL BEARING CAPACITIES

The topmost layer of soil is seldom suitable for a footing. The soil is likely
to be loose, unstable and contain organic material. Consequently, the topsoil
should be removed and the footing trench deepened to provide a level, undisturbed
surface for the entire building foundation. If this is not feasible because of a
sloping site, the footing will need to be stepped. The footing should never be
placed on a filled area unless there has been sufficient time for consolidation. This
usually takes at least one year with a normal amount of rainfall. The bearing
capacity of soil is related to the soil type and the expected moisture level.

6
Table - 1

Soil Type kN/m²

Soft, wet, pasty or muddy soil 27 - 35

Alluvial soil, loam, sandy loam (clay +40 to 80 - 160

70% sand)

Sandy clay loam (clay +30% sand), moist 215 - 270

clay

Compact clay, nearly dry 215 - 270

Solid clay with very fine sand - 430

Dry compact clay (thick layer) 320 - 540

Loose sand 160 - 270

Compact sand 215 - 320

Red earth - 320

Murram - 430

Compact gravel 750 - 970

Rock - 1700

7
4.2 SITE CLEARANCE
The site must be free from any existing unwanted old structures, rocks,
unwanted vegetation and other obstructions should be cleared off from the plan
area. The site under reference must have been cleaned as to remove all wood waste
and other unwanted waste material. Special note should be taken, to remove buried
tree trunks and branches, any wooden pieces which are likely to remain under the
ground to avoid any possibility of termite colonization.

Fig 1

4.3 LEVELLING

Survey of the site gives the details of the elevated or depressed portions of
the land. A bench mark is fixed based on the required elevation and the ground is
prepared. Having a perfectly level base for the foundations of your house is
obviously quite important. Levelling the ground for this purpose is achieved using

8
what's known as a builder’s auto-leveler - more commonly referred to as a ‘dumpy
level’. This instrument measures the height of two points on a horizontal plane,
allowing the builder to measure whether a bit of ground is level or not.

Levelling will also be carried out on any other areas that need to be level
(e.g. paths, driveways etc.). However this will only be done to exact measurements
when it's time to undertake those projects, as often machinery and the construction
process will slightly change the levels, meaning that the process needs to be
redone.

4.4 MARKING:
Based on the working drawing given by the structural engineer the center
line marking should be carried out.

4.4.1 Site Marking

 Site marking is one of the starting point of your construction.

 In this activity your Engineer and Meastri will identify pillar placements.
 Once pillars placement is identified based on soil condition earth work will
start.
 Engineer will mark the area around the pillar. Earth workers will dig marked
area
 Depending on soil condition pillar depth will vary.

4.4.2 Pillar Plan

This plan you will receive from Engineer. This will tell about distance
between pillar to pillar.

9
 Fig 2
4.5 FOOTING AND FOUNDATION

4.5.1 ISOLATED COLUMN FOOTING

In this project they are using isolated column footing. These are independent
footings which are provided for each column. This type of footing is chosen when

 SBC is generally high.

 Columns are far apart.
 Loads on footings are less

Fig 3
10
The isolated footings can have different shapes in plan. Generally it depends on the
shape of the column cross section. Some of the popular shapes of footings are

4.6 BASEMENT

Good basement construction starts with solid, strong soils. I mentioned

earlier that your foundation, or footings, must be placed on solid ground, or what’s
called undisturbed soil. Undisturbed soil is soil that has been in place for thousands
of years. No one has dug it up and filled it back in. It was compacted by Mother
Nature with gravity. The soil particles have become tightly packed. Undisturbed
soil will not compact under the weight of the house. That’s what you want when
building a basement. Your foundation should never settle. Settlement in a house is
a misconception. You often hear people refer to settlement cracks in their house.
They have doors that stick and drywall with cracks. They think their foundation
has failed and believe this happened because the foundation has settled into the
earth. It probably has not actually done that unless the basement construction was
very badly designed and built or the soils were not inspected or tested before the
footings were poured.

Fig 4

11
4.7 BAR BENDING

4.7.1 Preparation of Bar Bending Schedule

Bar bending schedule (or schedule of bars) is a list of reinforcement bars,

vis-à-vis, a given RCC work item, and is presented in a tabular form for easy visual
reference. This table summarizes all the needed particulars of bars – diameter,
shape of bending, length of each bent and straight portions, angles of bending, total
length of each bar, and number of each type of bar. This information is a great help
in preparing an estimate of quantities.

Figure depicts the shape and proportions of hooks and bends in the
reinforcement bars– these are standard proportions that are adhered to:

(a) Length of one hook = (4d) + [(4d+ d)] – where, (4d+ d) refers to the curved
portion = 9d.

(b) The additional length (la) that is introduced in the simple, straight end-to-end
length of a reinforcement bar due to being bent up at say 30o to 60o, but it is
generally 45o) = l1 – l2= la
Where,

12
 Hooks and bends in Reinforcement
Giving different values from respectively), we get
different values are as tabulated below:

Table - 2

13
.

Fig 5

Fig 6

14
 Table presents the procedure to arrive at the length of hooks and the total
length of a given steel reinforcement

Table - 3

15
4.8 TYPES OF STEEL BARS:

4.8.1 Mild Steel Bars (As Per Is: 432, Part-I -1982)

Mild steel bars are used for tensile stress of RCC (Reinforced cement
concrete) slab beams etc. in reinforced cement concrete work. These steel bars are
plain in surface and are round sections of diameter from 6 to 50 mm. These rods
are manufactured in long lengths and can be cut quickly and be bent easily without
damage.

4.8.2 Deformed Steel Bars (As Per Is: 1786-1985)

As deformed bars are rods of steels provided with lugs, ribs or deformation
on the surface of bar, these bars minimize slippage in concrete and increases the
bond between the two materials. Deformed bars have more tensile stresses than
that of mild steel plain bars. These bars can be used without end hooks. The
deformation should be spaced along the bar at substantially uniform distances.

4.8.3 Various Grades of Mild Steel Bars

Reinforcement bars in accordance with standard IS No. 432 part-I can be

classified into following types.

1) Mild Steel Bars: Mild steel bars can be supplied in two grades

a) Mild steel bars grade-I designated as Fe 410-S or Grade 60

b) Mild steel bars grade-II designated as Fe-410-o or Grade 40

2) Medium Tensile Steel Bars designated as Fe- 540-w-ht or Grade 75

4.8.4 General precautions for steel bars in reinforcement

• Steel bars are clear, free from loose mil scales, dust and loose rust coats of
paints, oil or other coatings which may destroy or reduce bond strength.
16
• Steel bars should be stored in such a way as to avoid distortion and to
prevent deterioration and corrosion.

• Steel bars should not be clean by oily substance to remove the rust.

• The bar is bent correctly and accurately to the size & shape as shown in fig.

• If possible, the bar of full length is used.

• Overlapping bars do not touch each other and these should be kept apart
with concrete.

• The overlap if given should be staggered.

• The cranks in the bar at the end should be kept in position by using spots.

• The steel bars should not be disturbed while lying cements concrete.

• Required cover under steel bars should be given before laying the cement
concrete.

• No overlap is given in the bar having a diameter more than 36 mm, if

required, the bar should be welded.

4.9 FORM WORK

Formwork is an ancillary construction, used as a mould for a structure. Into

this mould, fresh concrete is placed only to harden subsequently. The construction
of formwork takes time and involves expenditure up to 20 to 25% of the cost of the
structure or even more. The operation of removing the formwork is known as
stripping. Stripped formwork can be reused. Reusable forms are known as panel
forms and non-usable are called stationary forms. Timber is the most common
material used for formwork. The disadvantage with timber formwork is that it will
warp, swell and shrink. Application of water impermeable cost to the surface of

17
wood mitigates these defects. A good formwork should satisfy the following
requirements:
1. It should be strong enough to withstand all types of dead and live loads.

2. It should be rigidly constructed and efficiently propped and braced both

horizontally and vertically, so as to retain its shape.

3. The joints in the formwork should be tight against leakage of cement grout.

4. Construction of formwork should permit removal of various parts in desired

sequences without damage to the concrete.

5. The material of the formwork should be cheap, easily available and should be
suitable for reuse.

6. The formwork should be set accurately to the desired line and levels should
have plane surface.

7. The material of the formwork should not warp or get distorted when exposed to
the elements.

8. It should rest on firm base.

4.9.1 Economy in Formwork

The following points are to be kept in view to effect economy in the cost of
formwork:

1. The plan of the building should imply minimum number of variations in the
size of rooms, floor area etc. so as to permit reuse of the formwork repeatedly.

2. Design should be perfect to use slender sections only in a most economical

way.

3. Minimum sawing and cutting of wooden pieces should be made to enable reuse
of the material a number of times. The quantity of surface finish depends on the
quality of the formwork.
18
Formwork can be made out of timber, plywood, steel, precast concrete or fiber
glass used separately or in combination. Steel forms are used in situation where
large numbers of re-use of the same forms are necessary. For small works, timber
formwork proves useful. Fiber glass made of pre-cast concrete and aluminium are
used in cast-in-situ construction such as slabs or members involving curved
surfaces.
4.9.2 Timber Formwork:
Timber for formwork should satisfy the following requirement:

1. Well-seasoned.

2. Light in weight.

3. Easily workable with nails without splitting.

4. Free from loose knots.

Timber used for shuttering for exposed concrete work should have smooth and
even surface on all faces which come in contact with concrete.

Table - 4

Normal Sizes of Members for Timber Formwork:

Sheeting for slabs, beam, 25 mm to 40mm thick

column side and beam
bottom
Joints, ledges 50 x 70 mm to 50 x 150
mm

Posts 75 x 100mm to 100 x

100 mm

19
4.9.3 Plywood Formwork
Resin bonded plywood sheets are attached to timber frames to make up panels
of required sizes. The cost of plywood formwork compares favourable with that of
timber shuttering and it may even prove cheaper in certain cases in view of the
following considerations:

1. It is possible to have smooth finish in which case on cost in surface finishing is

there.

2. By use of large size panels it is possible to effect saving in the labour cost of
fixing and dismantling.

3. Number of reuses are more as compared with timber shuttering. For estimation
purpose, number of reuses can be taken as 20 to 25.

4.9.4 Steel Formwork

This consist of panels fabricated out of thin steel plates stiffened along the
edges by small steel angles. The panel units can be held together through the use of
suitable clamps or bolts and nuts. The panels can be fabricated in large number in
any desired modular shape or size. Steel forms are largely used in large projects or
in situation where large number reuses of the shuttering is possible. This type of
shuttering is considered most suitable for circular or curved structures.

4.9.5 Steel Forms Compared With Timber Formwork:

1. Steel forms are stronger, durable and have longer life than timber formwork and
their reuses are more in number.

2. Steel forms can be installed and dismantled with greater ease and speed.

3. The quality of exposed concrete surface by using steel forms is good and such
surfaces need no further treatment.

20
4. Steel formwork does not absorb moisture from concrete.

5. Steel formwork does not shrink or warp.

4.9.6 Construction of Formwork:

This normally involves the following operations:

1. Propping and centering

2. Shuttering

3. Provision of camber

4. Cleaning and surface treatment

4.9.7 Order and Method of Removing Formwork:

The sequence of orders and method of removal of formwork are as follows:

1. Shuttering forming the vertical faces of walls, beams and column sides should
be removed first as they bear no load but only retain the concrete.

2. Shuttering forming soffit of slabs should be removed next.

3. Shuttering forming soffit of beams, girders or other heavily loaded shuttering

should be removed in the end.

4.10 READY MIX CONCRETE

A concrete whose constituents are weight batched at central batching plant

mixed either at plant itself or in truck mixers and then transported to the
construction site and delivered in a condition ready to use, is termed as ready mix
concrete. Ready Mix Concrete is produced under factory condition and permits a
close control of all operations of manufacture and transportation of fresh concrete.
Thus the concrete quality and quantity are specified by the customer. Here they use

21
M40 concrete for foundation, footings, columns, beams and light weight concrete
for slabs.

Fig 7 & 8

4.10.1 SLUMP CONE TEST

Fig 9

22
 A simple, robust and inexpensive field test method has been proposed for
rheological behavior of concrete. This is to reduce to physical properties or
parameters, namely yield stress and plastic velocity. The measurement of time
necessary to reach an intermediate height between initial and final values appeared
to be good means of differentiating among the concretes according to their plastic
viscosity. The range of concretes that can be characterized in this process is
approximately that for which the slump is greater than 100mm. Here in this
company they range the values from 90 mm to 110 mm. Thus altering in the outer
environmental condition (ie partly cloudy and drizzling conditions)

4.10.2 ADMIXTUERS

Chemical admixtures are the ingredients in concrete other than portland

cement, water, and aggregate that are added to the mix immediately before or
during mixing. Producers use admixtures primarily to reduce the cost of concrete
construction; to modify the properties of hardened concrete; to ensure the quality
of concrete during mixing, transporting, placing, and curing; and to overcome
certain emergencies during concrete operations.
Successful use of admixtures depends on the use of appropriate methods
of batching and concreting. Most admixtures are supplied in ready-to-use liquid
form and are added to the concrete at the plant or at the jobsite. Certain admixtures,
such as pigments, expansive agents, and pumping aids are used only in extremely
small amounts and are usually batched.
The effectiveness of an admixture depends on several factors including:
type and amount of cement, water content, mixing time, slump, and temperatures
of the concrete and air. Sometimes, effects similar to those achieved through the
addition of admixtures can be achieved by altering the concrete mixture-reducing

23
the water-cement ratio, adding additional cement, using a different type of cement,
or changing the aggregate and aggregate gradation.

Fig 10

4.11 FIRE AND SAFETY MEASURES

4.11.1 Safety Measures Every Construction Worker Must Take

Regarded as one of the most dangerous occupations, construction work can

be considered anything but fully safe. Heights, large and mobile equipment, edges,
deep holes, and wobbling stairs are a reality in many construction sites, no matter
how modern or careful the contractors claim them to be. Obviously, the employers
do need to take care of the safety and security of the workers, but the workers need
to keep in mind a lot of precautions themselves when working in such hazardous
conditions.

4.11.2 Double-Check Your Work Areas

Scaffolds are an integral part of most construction sites and are associated
with a high number of injuries. So when you are going to be working on them, you
must ensure your safety first. Check with your supervisor or find out yourself

24
whether the scaffold has been inspected by a professional or a competent person.
Never work on an incomplete scaffold which does not have a strong platform or
base.

Ladders are other essential construction site tools with a high potential for
danger. Check the ladder thoroughly before using it. If you find any part of the
ladder wobbly, do not us it. A ladder should be of proper strength and of a height
that always keeps it at least one meter above the landing. All of the steps or slabs
of the ladder must be secured properly. The upper and lower end of the ladder
should preferably be fastened or secured properly. If not, ensure there is someone
manually keeping it secure in order to prevent a fall from height.

4.11.3 Be Vigilant With Electricity and Equipment

Construction sites require a lot of electrical installations. Lifting equipment

mostly involves electricity and weights. When working with such equipment, you
need to be extra cautious to see there is no wear and tear in the machine and also to
follow the safety precautions listed for the equipment. If you do not know them,
seek help and instructions from a site supervisor or co-worker who has worked
with the equipment before.

If you are using plugged-in portable devices, such as grinders or drills, you
should always check that the cables are protected, the metal casing is grounded,
and the power supply is provided with an earth leakage circuit breaker. Never
allow the electrical tools to come in contact with water.Never stand or work
immediately below a heavy suspended load. And always check that you are not
exceeding the permissible levels of load.

You'll need proper training before operating some equipment, including a

material hoist and a crane. Ensure the hoist is operated only after the gates are
25
locked properly. Know the working load limits of a hoist and never exceed those
limits. Most importantly, when using material hoists, make sure the
communication between you and the operator are clearly understood. Any error
here can cause a major accident on the site.

4.11.4 Maintain Fencing and Prevent Fires

Notice the number of fatal injuries and falls that happen in areas where there
is no fencing. Dangerous areas that you see without fencing or with broken and
damaged fencing should be avoided until they are completely repaired or a proper
fencing is in place. If this is not happening in time, inform your site supervisor
immediately.

With the machinery that is present, along with combustible chemicals and
welding operations, there is always a possibility of fire on a construction site. Be
alert and take some measures to prevent them. Open flames should be kept away
from construction sites because of the presence of flammable materials (especially
on oil rig sites).

All workers should know the escape or exit route if a fire occurs. Knowing
where the fire extinguishers are and how to use them may prove to be very
advantageous in many situations and is therefore highly recommended. Employers
should train workers to use this emergency equipment.

4.11.5 Safety in the Workplace

Safety in the workplace is very important, so here are some safety
precautions to take:
4.11.5.1 Fire Safety
Fire, and especially the smoke that accompanies it, is a recognized killer. In
any event a business will be disrupted, stock damaged and profits lost.
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4.11.5.2 Electrical safety
The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 apply to all workplaces and the
electrical equipment used in them. They require precautions to be taken against the
risk of death or personal injury from the use of electricity in work activities and
commercial premises.
4.11.5.3 Manual handling
More than one third of all over-three day injuries reported each year to the
HSE and Local Authorities are caused by manual handling (the transporting of
loads by hand or by bodily force). Most of the accidents cause back
injuries (50%). The majority of manual handling injuries build up over a period of
time rather than being caused by a single handling incident.
4.11.6 Keep First Aid Close

While it may not be possible for workers to carry first aid supplies with them
all the time, both the site supervisor and contractor should ensure that first aid is
always accessible to the workers. If as a worker you find that first aid you will
need is not around, inform your supervisor immediately. Basic first aid for minor
burns, cuts, and falls should be available on site so that the required medical
assistance can be provided to the workers immediately. This is beneficial to the
employer, as well, because this ensures that after resting for some time, the worker
can return to his work as soon as possible. Some injuries when treated immediately
helps in limiting the damage immensely and prevents infections from spreading.

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 CHAPTER – 5

5. CONCLUSION

The practical training program was highly informative and gave us a lot of
experience regarding the field practices. So far according to our curriculum we
were familiarized only to the theoretical ideas and facts, but now we got an
opportunity to expose ourselves and to know about the following:

 Practical difficulties
 Sequence of work carried out at site
 Amount of hard work required
 Erection of reinforcement for various Structural elements
 Casting of Structural elements
 Interdependent activities that has to be maintained

This practical training made us to understand that field observation plays

very important role in designing a structure. A good structural engineer should not
only be an expert in designing a structure, he must also have immense site
knowledge in order to counter the practical complications.

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