Republic of the Philippines

Western Philippines University

College of Engineering and Technology
Aborlan Palawan

Name: Belledo, Rico B. Date: Nov. 13, 2020

Program/Year/Section: BSCE-3B Instructor: Engr. Limco,
Ryan A.
Reflection Paper 1
Burj Al Arab
The Burj Al Arab (Arabian Tower), the tallest hotel in the history built in
Dubai in a manmade Island and now became their landmark.
I been amazed by this structure, who would dare to build a hotel with 321m
tall in the sea? This project is mind blowing project, a one of a kind. The Engineers
and the Architects are very skilled and clever with their ideas and tactics. Building
the hotel is not a joke, making that island for the foundation of the hotel is not easy.
They faced so many trials, for example the storm that strike in their country their
manmade island almost wash away by those big waves. They said those waves is like
a wakeup call for them, but the project must be continued, time is their enemy, they
need to finish the hotel on time. When they are about to build the foundation of the
structure they can’t find any bedrock under the sand, they need to think again if how
they will make a foundation, so Engineer Mike McNicholas the island engineer have
to think for any alternative solution. The materials that they used is substantial, I
can’t even imagine the cost of this project. But making this tallest hotel is not
impossible because the crown prince of Dubai is behind this project.
The ultimate high view restaurant also caught my attention, crown prince
Sheik Mohammed want to have an eating station that like you’re eating in the top of
the clouds. Engineer Anthony McCarter come up with a plan he said it’s crazy, they
built a restaurant at a high of 200m above the sea. The structures, the materials, the
decorations all of it, it’s amazing. Behind those trials they come up with an effective
solution. The wind almost got to be their another problem, because of the wind
making a vortex in the structure making it to build a vibration of the building, so
Volker Buttgereit an Aerodynamicist make his job to stop this problem, every one of
them don’t neglect on their position and obligation just to build their tallest hotel
with a durable outcome. And now this hotel became a landmark of Dubai.
They come up to make a blocks with four holes and make it orderly aligned in
the side of their manmade island to stop the waves from destroying the edge of the
island. This blocks is specialized made just for this project the holes on the blocks
makes the sea water rotate and bring it back into the sea. They can’t find any bedrock
so they come up for 250 steel reinforce concrete foundation files with the length of
10km. they pierced it to the sand. And for the vortex made by those wind blows, the
Aerodynamicist put a hanging weight/tune mass tamper, they put 11 of this on the
vow structures with the weight of 5 tons each to cancel the vibration.
 Reflection Paper 2
Agas-agas Bridge

The tallest bridge in the Philippines was built on southern Leyte, between two
mountains and Traverses along the mahaplag- sogod section of the maharlika highway. In
Agas-agas, called Agas-agas bridge the tallest bridge in the country.
Agas-agas is prone of accidents, the continuous heavy rains result a total closure of
traffic and damage into properties. February 2006 heavy rains causes landslide in Agas-agas
that take 7 lives and severe damage into properties. September 1998, the Philippines
Department make a loan agreement in japan. From the department of japan, they funded the
project to build the Agas-agas Bridge. Year 2003, they finished the design for the bridge, year
2006, they started the implementation and mobilization of the materials and workers and
that exact year they started the construction. At first they made an access road for a way to
transport the materials from abutment A to abutment B. They started the work from the
foundation of columns, 66 board piles support, 6 pieces in the abutment A, 25 into pier 1,
and 35 into pier 2 each with1.5 meter at diameter. They did the right way for the material
testing, grading, slumps, and viscosity test also steel bars are pre tested. Over board piles to
pile capacity of dead, live, and seismic loads to integrate and transmit to the board piles. The
volume of concrete has divided into 4-5 segment of work to cover 400-500 cubic meter of
concrete to continuous work until it finished to produce quality concrete structure to
integrate the 4-5 segment in one structure. The dowels where installed at the exposed edge of
the segment. To increase the flexibility during the earthquake the walls of the columns 1
meter thick, reinforce with steel bars grade 60. The column of pierce with the height of 75
meter and 73 meter for pierce 1 and 2 respectively. Considering those height the jumping
form methods was used for maximum height of 4.6 meters per lift.
They started the construction in 2006 and finished on 2009. The bridge is now well
known as the tallest bridge that connects the provinces of Leyte and southern Leyte. Now the
Agas-agas bridge is became a tourist spot for the foreigners. The travelers can now travel
without any danger using the Agas-agas Bridge.