MEKELLE UNIVERSITY

ETHIOPIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY-MEKELLE

SCHOOL OF CIVIL ENGINEERING
Internship final report

Prepared by- Hermela Abraham

ID.No. - EITM/UR 134460/10
Contents
 Background history of hosting company
 Over all work flow
 Over all site experience
 The section of company I have been working on
 Work piece I have been executing
 Challenges and measurements I have been taking
 Causes and effects of selected project
 Literature review
 Results and conclusions
 Over all internship benefits
 Conclusion and recommendation
 Back ground of hosting company
 The hosting company I have been working named GEBREAMLAK KNDEYA GENERAL CONTRACTOR.
 The company is established with the purpose of providing various construction services. The main customers
of the company are Private sections like investors and bodies seeking to invest on different parts of the
country especially on region.
 Some of its projects are
 Residential buildings around diaspora in Mekelle in 5 different sites
 Residential buildings around 70 Kare in Mekelle in 3 different locations
 Construction of church in wukro
 Construction of g+3 hotel around 22 in Mekelle
 Residential buildings around wukro…. etc
 Over all organization and work flow
 Project
manager

Site Construction Finance

administration engineering

Store
keeper
Project---- A G+2 Residential building Office
Site engineer
engineer
Location---Tigray/Mekelle/Gefih Gereb/ around 70
Kare
Forman
Client---Ato Haftom Desta Hagos

Contractor---GEBREAMLAK KNDEYA GENERAL Skilled and un

CONTRUCTOR skilled labour

CONSALTANT----SG ENGINEERS & ARCHITECTS

CONSALTANT
Section of the company I have been working on
month experience in the company I had the opportunity to engage in some of sections of the company such as
site works and office works. Some of the activities I have been engaged in those sections are
 Office works
 Site works

Work piece I have been executing

 Office work
 Reading an interpreting drawing
I was able to see and understand the Architectural drawing and Structural drawing better and know every symbol
abbreviation for every action and I able to communicate with different workers using it.
 Preparing takeoff sheet
I prepared takeoff sheet of concrete work and form work for beam, column and footings.
 Bar schedule
Bar schedule is a tabular format that is specially used for estimating the quantity of reinforcement bars required
for a given project.
 T L* L* Descri Loca Diamete Total length
. W* DESCRI T. W* DESCRI ption tion r(mm)
G H Squ PTION G H Squ PTION
N Tot
O. NO. al
ba elem len
r ent gth

Ø6 Ø8 Ø1 Ø1 Ø1 Ø1
0 2 4 6

 Site works
 Site clearance
is measured in 0.2
It is the process of clearing the bushes and Site clearanceW/m area0.3 0.6 0.8
units (m 2 1.2 1.5
) if the depth of the surface to
22 95 17 88 08 79
be cleared is not more than 20 cm. ∑W
 Setting out
Setting out is a process of developing the physical positions of corners and walls of a building, and its done by
transferring dimensions from the layout plan.
 Site investigation
The site investigation works are done by experience. The soil nature in the site was stable soil with very high bearing
capacity and desirable for construction.
 Bulk excavation
To remove weak or undesired soil by another soil of better engineering characteristics.
 Trench excavation
It is the excavation for masonry work.
 foundation
 isolated footing
These footings are sometimes known as column footings and are used to support the individual columns or other
concentrated loads. It is constructed from concrete and reinforcement bar.
 Footing column/Short column
Sub structure member found beneath the grade beam
 Stone masonry
The stone masonry has constructed to connect the whole successive external columns.
 Back fill
This process is performed after the footing pads and footing column have gained their strength, and also this selected
material was filled up
  Grade Beam
Grade beam is a line of reinforced concrete member constructed round the ground floor slab of the building .
 Hardcore and stone filler
Is a hard basaltic or equivalent stone filled between the grade beams above the back fill.
 Construction Materials
Bar
Form work bending

Concrete
Stirrups
Reinforcement
Bar bending=16* bar diameter
Hooking Length- is the extra length provided at the end of stirrup bars.
Hooking length is usually taken to be 5 cm and should be bent in a 1-35’ and not perpendicular.
Lap length/splice length- is the length which overlap side to side to make a continuous section of reinforcement length.
Lap length for tension members = 40 * diameter of bar
Proportioning of concrete ingredients
Volume batching, uses different sizes of boxes for measuring aggregates and an open plastic container for measuring
water. Proportions used in our site are
Compressive strength C-25
Ratio of ingredients 1:2:3

Box size(cm3) 40*50*18

Water to cement ratio 0.6

Placing of concrete
In our site placing of concrete is taken place by using a man power.

Curing process
Concrete needs moisture for hardening and attaining its full strength
Site challenges
 The lack of appropriate time management which made them to project delay and made us not see much.
 The lack of skill to communicate with new people and get them to help me.
 The lack of confidence to ask what I feel is blurring.
 The failure to understand the site language and the procedure of the work.
 The uninviting face of some site work.
 The failure of correct proportioning concrete ingredients in the site
Measures taken to overcome the challenges
 Having the above listed challenges, I took the following measures as solution.
 Preparing myself before going to site, analyzing what I saw the previous day and preparing list of questions to
ask.
 Approaching to some of the inviting faces and asking what I prepare.
 Writing and practicing the site languages, and taking image of their representative.
 For the involuntariness of the site engineers and Forman’s to see the works I am trying to tell them frank that I am
a learner but not a fault finder.
 Causes and effects of selected project delay
Delay means loss of income according to and for the owner or client. In case of contractor, delay refers to the higher
costs due to longer work time, labor cost increase and higher fabrication costs. On time completion of project is an
indicator of efficiency But there are many unpredictable factors and variables resulting from various sources
affecting construction projects.
 Problem statement
Project delays seem to happen more often than not. This kind of challenge was also a big problem in our site. The
lateness of our site’s project exceeds the date specified in the contract and the date decided by the parties for delivery
of the project. This slips over the planned schedule and I considered as a problem in our construction project. Delays
add to project costs. Every day you’re late is another day for inflation and paying for other resources that weren’t
factored into the budget and which did not considered by the parties of the project.
Research Objectives
 To assess the causes of delay of projects in our site, asses effects of delay on the specific project, identify the
responsible body (client, consultant, contractor, external related factor) for the delay of projects, rank the causes
and effects of delay of building construction
Literature review
Sander and Eagle (2001) define Project delay is an event that causes extended time to complete all or part of a
project.
Bermiah (2008) stated that Delayed completion of any project is generally caused by the actions or inactions of the
project parties including the contractors, consultant and clients. Based on these sources and the contractual risk
allocation for delay causing events Bermiah classified project delay in to four categories as follows;
 Critical and non- critical
 Excusable but non-excusable

Research gap
Construction projects have been increasingly growing in Ethiopia. However, few studies were conducted as country
Results and discussions
Causes of project delay
Financial difficulties facing the contractor, Too many change order by the owner, Poor scheduling and planning of
the project by the consultant, delay in payments by owner, Lack of communication between parties of project, poor
Effects of Delay
According to (Aibinu and Jagboro, 2002), there are six effects of delay in construction project.
1. Time Overrun
Construction time overrun is defined as the time overrun either beyond completion date specified in the contract, or
beyond the date that parties agree upon for the delivery of the project
2. Cost Overrun
It is an unexpected cost that happens because of the financial shortage due to the fact that the amount specified
during planning can not meet the project expenditures which results in the project delay beyond the scheduled time.
3. Dispute
It is arisen among the project parties during the construction project. The project engineer as a mediator party has to
solve any dispute early during construction otherwise the project completion will be late.
4. Arbitration
It is a way to resolve dispute outside the courts, a third party is agreed upon by the project parties to solve the
dispute.
Arbitration is more efficient than litigation as regard to cost and time.
 Here are some ways to avoid project delay:
 Set realistic goals for your projects
 Schedule carefully
 Gather the right resources
 Hold a team meeting
 Over all internship experience
I have improved the following skills below
Upgrading theoretical knowledge- Most of theoretical knowledge I gathered were from the office work.
Improving practical skills- tying, cc, quantity
Improving industrial problem solving capability- solutions for problems
Improving team playing skills- working together
Understanding about work ethics issues- responsibility
Entrepreneurship skills- creativity, leader ship, problem solving…
conclusion
This internship period allowed me create valuable connection and gain a priceless experience. It gave me the chance
to revise what we have learned for the past four years directly or indirectly.
I have seen a lot of new things which we weren’t able to see in class. The courses we have taken until now didn’t
give us much information on what to expect out there. But the internship program enlightened us on what to expect
and what challenges we may face as civil engineer.
Recommendation
 To hosting company
First Client: has to be aware about the project type and size of building project that are going to be carried and the
budget required to complete the project.
Second consultants should consider: prepare clear drawing and design, bill of quantity before tendering the projects
Finally contractors should consider: to take action on proper management and planning on the issue like how to run
and complete the project on their schedule time and budget.
To university
I recommend the university to arrange a strong orientation program and the university should have communicate
with the hosting company in order to accept students in a good way to train them and to know what is expected from
them.