Optimization and risk

assessment of tall reinforced

concrete buildings
Prof M T R Jayasinghe
Senior Professor
Department of Civil Engineering
University of Moratuwa
Moratuwa, Sri Lanka

(Power point slides used for a lecture conducted on 12th of August, 2017
at University of Cambridge, Engineering Department )
 An introduction to Thishan Jayasinghe
• Completed B.Sc. in February, 1987 at University of Moratuwa (UOM), Sri
Lanka and then joined UOM as an instructor and then assistant lecturer
• Read for Ph.D. at Cambridge University from October 1988 to December
of 1991. Supervisor was Prof Chris Burgoyne – Rationalization of prestressed
concrete spine beam design philosophy for an expert system
• Returned to Sri Lanka in March, 1992
• Worked as a Lecturer (1992), Senior Lecturer Gii (1992), Senior Lecturer
Gi (1998), Associate Professor on merit basis (2001) and Professor on
merit basis (2003) at UOM and then promoted to the post of Senior
Professor in February, 2011
• Research on Masonry, Tall buildings, Continuous bridges, Energy
efficiency, Thermally comfortable built environments in tropical climatic
conditions, cost effective alternative materials and systems, etc.
• Also, has been very active in the industry – tall buildings, highway
bridges and box culverts, housing sector, Green building projects, etc.
• Worked as a Senior Research Associate at Queensland University of
Technology, Australia during the earlier sabbatical leave
• Currently, a visiting academic at University of Bath, U.K. and main aim is
to promote joint research collaborations
 An over view of the presentation
• Introduction to Sri Lanka
• Tall buildings in Sri Lanka - few examples
• The vertical load resisting system
• The lateral load resisting system
• The mathematical models
• The fundamentals and applications
• Optimization techniques and risk assessment
• The role of Euro Codes for Tall Buildings
• Conclusions
• Acknowledgement
 Introduction to Sri Lanka

Total area – 64000 square km (1/4 the size of UK)

Population – 22 million and more than 2.5 million live in other countries
Hence, a very significant influx of foreign exchange
Demand to move to city centers and hence tall builings
Considered as an ideal destination for retirement due to tropical climatic
conditions
Medical facilities are one of the best in the world and the most experienced
medical consultants of patient’s selection are readily accessible with appointment
within 2-3 hours
 Introduction to Sri Lanka
• Carbon footprint of USA (17 tons), Canada (14 tons), Germony (9 tons),
France (5 tons), South Korea (12 tons), China (8 tons), Malaysia (8
tons), Thailand (4.5 tons), India (1.6 tons)
• Sri Lanka – 0.8 tons – hence one of the greenest economies
• Hydro-power – 30-40%, coal 30-40%, diesel or heavy oil 10%-30%
• Renewable 10% with wind and solar but fast increasing the share
• Many houses are generating own electricity with solar with 6-8 kw
installed capacity and hence carbon neutral or negetive
• 1 kw can give 4 to 6 kWhours per day – much higher than UK
• Most houses with solar will have an electric first car
• Hybrid or petrol second car
• Electric car – Nissan Leaf – Rs 3.8 million (19,000 GB pounds)
• Petrol car – Toyota Corolla hybrid/ Petrol – Rs 6.6 million (33,000
pounds)
• Higher range – Mercedes A 180 – Rs 12 million or 60,000 pounds
• The same car in UK – 23,000 pounds
 Tall Buildings in Sri Lanka – few examples

Under construction (about 4 months ago)

Computer generated 68 storey Altair

 The architect and the team

Structural Design Engineer – Predrag Error – an engineer from former Yugoslavia and now
practicing in Middle East after gaining experience in Australia and Europe
Check and Certifying Engineer – Thishan Jayasinghe – A chartered engineer can certify only
up to four floors and beyond that needs a special permit.
Only the experienced members of Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka with post graduate
degree in structural engineering can certify tall building having more than 20 floors – needs a
special permission and name on the directory of structural engineers published annually and
used by the Urban Development Authority for approval
Coordinating Engineers – Deepal Wickramasinghe and Bimal Fernando
Other tall apartment buildings – Clearpoint
Vertical garden needed cantilevers up
to 4.8 m to plant trees not obstructed
by columns – made possible with PT
Price – Rs 35 to 40 million or
175,000 to 200,000 GB pounds
Will be affordable only if having
property in a more expensive country
Run by a management committee one
year after the sale of more than 80% of
the apartments
Inspiration for such cantilevers came from bridge capping
beams having 5.5 m cantilevers and constructed with post
tensioned prestressed concrete
During construction – Pier capping beams supporting the precast
beams of 30 m span having a weight of over 100 tonnes
After completion with 5.5 m cantilevers supporting heavy loads
from the weight of the beams and vehicles using the bridge
In use after completion of the 4 lane flyover with a total
length of 560 m
Other bridges in the Eastern Province with
precast prestressed concrete beams
The concrete bridge with minimum carbon foot print – cost is
only 10 GB pounds per sq ft, 300ft long and 10 ft wide
Bridge must assure that cultural pageants with elephants can use
the bridge so as construction vehicles can cross it – hence
designed for 25 units of HB as for BS5400: Part2: 1978
Other tall buildings – Fairmount and Skygarden
 Crescat Monarch in Colombo

Crescat Monarch building with 30 floors was originally designed as an office building, but
subsequently changed to become an apartment building
A mathematical model of Crescat Monarch with both super
and sub structure acting together and also with a transfer
floor over the first few floors
 The vertical load resisting system
• This can consist of Columns, Walls, Pile caps, Piles, etc.
• Columns can be massive – 1.0 m x 1.0 m or 0.6 m x 1.4 m
• Walls can be thin but must ensure not slender about the minor axis when restrained by
the slabs and beams at each floor level (200, 225, 250 300, 350, 400, 500, 600, 700 mm,
etc.)
• Dia-grid arrangement also can be used (Altair indicated in Slide No: 6)
• 200 mm is the minimum, but 225, 250 or 300 mm could be preferred depending on the
number of floors
• The minimum reinforcement of 0.4% (Euro of 0.2%) may not be adequate in the lower
floors and 1.0% -1.5% is usual
• When more than 2% vertical bars are provided, must be restrained as for the columns
• Since columns are much larger than beams, mechanisms will occur in beams when
subjected to earthquakes
• Hence, tall buildings are very safe in earthquakes if detailed properly
• Beams will need special attention to provide adequate confinement
• Piles must be properly tied with ground beams and slabs
• It is a good practice to design the spans critical secctions of the beams for a higher
capacity to allow for differential shortening of the adjacent columns and walls having
different stress levels and hence undergoing varying long term axial shortening
 Transfer beams and plates
Urban development authority regulations need a car parking space
per apartment
The size of a slot is 4.8 m x 2.4 m
This makes the column spacing to be on a grid of 7.6 m to 8.0 m
Car parks also need access with a road of 7.3 m width
Also need access ramps of maximum gradient of 8 degrees
Hence, car parks are generally arranged on split level to reduce the
length of the ramps
The grid of apartments or hotel can be different to the car parks
Apartments and hotels need walls to reduce the space lost for the
vertical members
To reduce the beam depths, many walls are needed in 4.0 to 5.0 m
spacing and hence transfer beams or floors just above car parks
Flat slabs with PT is not very popular due to so many drops needed
Transfer beams in Sky Garden – Rajagiriya due to the
building turning by 45 degrees over the car park area
 Lateral load resisting system
• Tall buildings are vertical cantilevers with almost full fixity at
the ground level
• Hence, needs a very good lateral load resisting system to resist
the wind loads (and earthquake loads)
• Concrete walls can be used (shear walls)
• Concrete walls can be coupled to enhance the effectiveness
• Closed cores could be even more efficient
• When less than 10 floors, shear walls will carry all the lateral
loads
• Above 15 floors, wall frame interaction must be considered
• Outriggers can deploy the outer columns as well
• Band beams can be used to make outriggers more efficient
• Tubular structures and bundled tubes could be even more
efficient so as diagrids
Structural forms for tall buildings
 The mathematical model
• Tall buildings are complicated structures
• Hence, needs a much simplified mathematical model to analyse
• Structural Analysis packages with 3D capability can be used – SAP 2000,
ETABS, Midas Gen, STAAD.Pro, etc.
• ETABS – Burj Khalifa structure
• Axial shortening effects – Midas Gen
• Must prepare the model on paper and should get all the answers before the 3D
model is made
• This is to select the member sizes needed for beams, columns, walls, etc
• Model is there to verify the answers that we know
• It is not to get the answers, but to get to the accurate value only
• When the preliminary calculations indicate 1500 kN, computer model can give
1543 kN and the designer will happily use 1543 kN instead of his approximate
guess of 1500 kN
• Must know how to get these approximate values before the computer model is
made – It is an art
• This will need a thorough understanding from first principles on the behaviour
of tall buildings
Midas Gen was the main software for the Kingdom
tower and ETABS was used for checking
 The fundamentals and applications
• In tall building, even if the building twists globally under wind
or earthquake loads, individual elements like beams, columns
and walls will not be subjected to torsional moments
• Beams resist bending about one axis and shear (hardly bends
about two axes) – but no torsion
• Columns can carry axial loads and may have bending moments
about two perpendicular axes – but no torsion
• Concrete walls will carry axial loads and can have in-plane
moments acting – but no significant out of plane moments – no
torsion – detail the slabs and beams to ensure this
• Slabs will carry loads in flexure and can act as rigid diaphragms
to ensure the deflection at a given floor will represent a global
translation and rotation
• However, there could be exceptions – Must be identified early
 What a 3D model can tell us
Natural periods for any number of mode shapes
Earthquake analysis and wind analysis
The loads on columns, walls, dia-grids, transfer plates, pile caps,
piles, etc.
Cannot tell the bending moments on the slabs
Cannot be used to find the design moments in beams
Slabs can be designed considering yield line theory or computer
modeling with plate elements
Beams must be designed to resist pattern loading and hence a
simplified sub frame consisting of the beam at the floor level
acting with columns above and below can be used
Column axial load at ULS must allow for reduction in floor loads
allowed for the whole structure – true for walls, transfer plates, pile
caps
Same reductions can be used at SLS for pile capacities
Design of beams in a tall building
 Simplified sub frames for analyasis

However, the results from this simplified sub-frame analysis must be compared with those
from the 3D model at the supports and it is also necessary to allow for differential shortening
of vertical members by designing for a higher moment at the span critical sections
 Approximate determination of column and wall loads
Can be calculated using the tributary area
Hence, approximate column and wall sizes can be determined
Columns size from: N = 0.4 fcu Ac + 0.87 fy Asc
Thickness of a slab determined using deflection criterion – must be minimized
Beam size has a magic number – the depth is 450 to 600 mm irrespective of the span with
6.0 m or longer spans having a maximum depth of 600 mm
In office buildings with isolated columns, 600 mm and 350-400 mm width
In apartment buildings with many partition concrete walls, it is generally less than 500 mm
Wall thickness is 300 mm minimum at the lower floors
Can be reduced to 250 or even 200 mm towards to upper parts
Must carry corner reinforcement for enhanced ductility needed for earthquake resistance
May be generous in the use of U-bars to connect two vertical layers and a spacing of about
600 mm centers with 8 mm or 10 mm high yield bars could be adequate
Beams also can have enhanced ductility with 8 or 10 mm links at 150 c/c close to the
supports
Columns also can have close links of 8 or 10 mm for about 0.6 m
8 mm high yield bars can bring about a very significant saving for the whole building when
used for confinement instead of 10 mm high yield bars
 Optimization techniques and risk assessment
• Tall building must be designed to be economical
• It cannot be overdesigned and hence must be optimized
• However, optimized structures can carry a greater risk
• Optimization can be started with slabs
• Select the minimum thickness possible, but greater than 125 mm for
apartments and more than 150 mm for office – due to sound
insulation requirements
• Optimize the main reinforcement and consider using 8 mm bars as
distribution reinforcement
• Any saving in a slab is repeated 40 times in a 40 storey building
• Slabs never ever fail in tall buildings when the concrete is C25 or
above due to arching action possible due to restraints
• Hence, designer shall have no fear for optimizing and making
substantial cost savings with reinforced concrete solid slabs
 Optimizing beams

• Beams never ever fail if extra capacity is available in the span sections
• Moment redistribution is allowed up to 30% for the moments at the
columns or supports
• However, a good practice is to restrict it to 20% so that higher capacity
will be available over the support to take account of unforeseen effects
• Hence the support moments can be reduced and no need to provide extra
reinforcement for enhanced safety or reduced risk
• However, be generous with span moment capacity and provide one or two
extra bars ( provide 4 nos of H20 when only 3 nos of H20 is needed)
• Axial shortening of columns and walls due to loads, shrinkage and creep
can give a significantly changed bending moment diagram
• However, the extra capacity at the spans will assure absolute safety
• Provide closer links at columns or walls to enhance ductility
• H8 or H10 links at 150 centers can assure constructability
• Provide minimum top reinforcement at the ends of secondary beams to
prevent torsion on primary beams
 Optimizing columns and walls
• Optimized only by selecting the minimum concrete section (cross section
in columns and thickness in beams)
• Must be very generous with vertical reinforcement and hence no
optimization (provide 1.5% or more when 1% is sufficient, especially in
the lower floors)
• Adequate transverse links can be provided to prevent buckling of the
vertical bars
• Closer restraints at the floor levels to enhance ductility for about 0.6-0.8
m above and below a slab
• T8 links at 125-150 mm is preferred at the slab levels
• T8 links at 12 x diameter is sufficient in the rest
• Columns can have higher strengths like C30, C25, C40 or C50
• Cost of not optimizing the column r/f carry only a very little penalty, but
can reduce the risk significantly
• Ideal to use fly ash in concrete used for columns since a significant
increase in strength of concrete can be gained with time and hence 90
day or 365 day strengths could also be considered despite some codes
allowing only 28 day strengths
 Assessment of column moments – must look at moments
about two perpendicular axes

Moment about 3-3 axis Moment about 2-2 axis

At the transfer beam levels, the moments about 2-2 axis is much higher than
about 3-3 axis and hence column moments must be checked about both major
and minor axes
An apartment building with transfer beams
A view at car park levels and piles with pile caps – both super structure and sub
structure modeled together with soil represented as springs to model the
resistance to lateral movement provided by the soil mass surrounding the piles
Transfer floors with large beams supporting walls above and
supported by few columns below
Extruded view of transfer beams and indicate that beams may not
be loaded symmetrically
 Challenges with transfer beams
• Transfer beams may not be loaded on the beam center lines
• Hence, can be subjected to bending, shear and torsion
• In transfer beams, depth is needed to resist flexure
• The width is needed to resist torsion with links and extra
longitudinal bars
• Hence, 1500 mm deep and 1000 mm wide section could be
common and torsion may need 16 or 20 mm outer torsion
links at 150 c/c
• Will need a top slab of 200 or 250 mm – useful in reducing
twisting
• The slab must carry a double mat reinforcement to ensure
torsional rigidity
• Can be of H12 bars with H10
 Torsion in transfer beams

Rigid horizontal links

providing connectivity
between the shear
wall and the transfer
beam represented with
a line element located
at the center line

High torsional moments can be seen in the transfer beams due to shear walls not
coinciding with the centers of the beams where the connectivity between the shear
walls and the transfer beams have been modeled with rigid horizontal links
 Challenges with concrete technology
• A large beam concreted in warm humid tropical climates may
have a placing temperature of 32o-34o Centigrade
• Due to heat of hydration, the interior of the section may reach
a temperature in excess of 70 degrees
• Hence, the danger of Delayed Ettringite Formation (DEF)
• DEF can destroy beams and hence must be prevented
• Transfer beam is one of key elements of the structure
• What is preferred for the transfer beams – C30 or C40?
• We have to use high strength concrete only in optimized
section
• A very large section means that the section is not optimized
• Hence, use C30 or C35 which allow the use of less cement
• Nothing can be gained by using C40, but it increases the
potential for DEF attack
 DEF in Southern Highway bridge pile caps in Sri Lanka – The British
consultant and the Japanese contractor underestimated the potential and
portland lime cement was allowed when specification clearly indicated
only Portland cement and also too much optimization of pile caps
 Use of charts to determine the likely temperature rise – this
case has no fly ash and only the cement

Peak temperature variation of various concrete mixes with a placing temperature of 32oC and 0%
fly-ash
 Use of charts to determine the likely temperature rise – 15% fly
ash to replace the cement and hence cementatious content

Peak temperature variation of various concrete mixes with a placing temperature of 32oC and
15% fly-ash
 Use of charts to determine the likely temperature rise with
25% fly ash – the maximum that is used with confidence

Peak temperature variation of various concrete mixes with a placing temperature of 32oC and
25% fly-ash (in the chart, 325 kg/m3 means the addition of cement and flyash)
 Use of transfer floors

• Transfer floors will be very robust due to the large thickness

• This will allow a massive torsional capacity
• Hence very safe irrespective of the location of loads from above
• However, punching shear could be a danger
• Can be prevented easily be providing vertical properly
anchored bars around the critical perimeters
• It is usual to anyway have H16 or H20 bars at 400 mm to 500
mm centers to ensure a proper support for the top
reinforcement mat
• These r/f can act in shear once the concrete is hardened
• The weight of the transfer floor is the biggest challenge
• Will need a number of floors with shoring to take the load
• Casting in two stages could be a better solution – the solution
adopted for Crescat Monarch
The transfer floor of Crescat Monarch
 Solution in Cinnamon Red Hotel
• The construction was awarded to a leading construction firm in Sri Lanka on
fixed price design and built basis for a very high specification
• The in-house design team designed the building working with the architect
nominated by the client
• Due to car parks, restaurants, gymnasium, meeting rooms, etc. needed before
the start of the hotel floors, transfer floor was needed at the 10th floor level
• The cost was becoming too much for the fixed price contract and the design
team invited to go for a value engineering solution
• The solid transfer plate of 1.5 m thickness was converted to a cellular structure
with top and bottom slab –still looked like a solid slab, but it was hollow
• The bottom slab of 350 mm thickness facilitated the construction of the large
beams and the top slab
• The top slab of 250 and the bottom slab of 350 mm assured flanged beam
action to resist moments due to vertical loads and hence was very efficient in
transferring the heavy loads from the shear walls
 The 26 storey, 3 star city hotel with five star facilities and an
“Infinity” swimming pool at the roof top with panoramic view
 Cellular Transfer Plates – Optimization
• It needs a bottom slab of 350 or 400 mm acting as a flat slab
initially
• Can have shoring when the beams and the top slab is cast although
slab alone can take all the loads if designed for such loads
• Providing shoring gives better composite action and also allow the
reinforcement in the slab to be reduced
• Used formwork not suitable for quality work can be utilized for the
sides of the beams and the soffit of the top slab since formwork
cannot be recovered
• Bottom slab will have two mats of reinforcement
• The beams can be wide, but will not need to carry torsion
• Hence, a width of 600 mm will be sufficient
• The torsional shear will flow through the top and bottom slabs
• Hence, a top slab of minimum 200 mm is needed (two mats of
reinforcement and 250 mm is the preferred thickness)
 Piles
• A good understanding of the pile capacities is very useful
• Rules of thumb – 900 mm piles – 3000 kN, 1000 mm – 4000 kN
• 1200 mm – 6500 kN, 1500 mm – 10500 kN, 1800 mm – 14000
kN, etc.
• Such knowledge will allow easy selection of number of piles
when the column loads are known under service conditions
• Must consider the effects of wind in all the critical directions
• Earthquake resistance is gained by using ground beams to connect
all the individual pile caps where adequate confinement is assured
close to the pile caps to enhance the ductility
• Ground beams can support the ground slab as well
• Ground beams can be 800 mm to 1200 mm deep to give the
stiffness to ensure the rotation at the ground level is almost zero
• Ground beams are provided with little extra r/f at the pile caps to
ensure extra capacity for extreme events like earthquakes
Can we exceed the above capacities for piles? Can we optimize?
• Piles carry vertical loads in end bearing and skin friction
• End bearing will not generally exceed 5 N/mm2, but in very
strong rock with RQD close to 100%, can go up to 7 N/mm2
• Hence the maximum capacity is limited
• However, in very tall buildings, the above capacities can be
totally inadequate
• In Altair, 1200 mm pile carried 11000 kN and 1500 mm diameter
bored pile carried 17000 kN
• This is achieved by having 10 m socketing into the fractured rock
where almost all the load will be transferred via skin friction
developed within the severely fractured rock
• The strength of concrete used for piles was in excess of 60
N/mm2
• Test piles of 1200 mm diameter took 20000 kN without any
settlement once allowed for axial shortening
 Lateral stability of piles and the building
• Deep piles in very weak peaty soils can buckle and fail individually
• This situation must be considered and if possible, go for large
diameter piles that will never buckle (sometimes, more than 2.0 m and
up to 2.5 m which will need BG 30 machines by Baur, Germony – or
similar machines by other manufacturers)
• Lateral loads on the building can be resisted by the piles acting as a
group since connected by pile caps and ground beams
• The behavior can be simulated by having lateral springs
• A proper spring constant has to be used
• For very weak cohesive soils, it could be 200 to 300 kN/m3
• For sandy or laterite soils of tropical climates, it varies with the depth
and can even exceed 200,000 kN/m3 at a depth of 15-20 m
• Piles are generally provided with 0.8% r/f at the top 12.0 m and can be
reduced or no r/f below this
• Very close links (H10 at 125 mm spiral) in the top part of the piles
BG 30 from Baur – up to 2.5 m diameter, easily 30 m or more
A model with super structure and sub-structure together with soil
represented by springs
 The role of Euro Codes for Tall Buildings

• Effects of axial shortening must be considered

• Modern software like Midas Gen can easily handle that
• Even ETABS models can be imported to Midas Gen and checked for axial
shortening
• Effect of construction sequence must be considered
• Even SAP 2000 allows simulation of staged construction
• The forces and moments in Transfer Beams and Transfer Floors are
adversely affected by staged construction (Easily handled by ETABS and
Midas Gen
• It can cause an increase of about 15-20% in the bending moments, about 10-
15% increase in shear
• The effect on torsion may be less than 5%
• The standards like Euro Codes may not be adequate
• The designer must have his/her own rules that can be more stringent than
what is given in codes written for normal buildings
 Conclusions
• Design of tall buildings is a very challenging task that involves a great deal of
risk
• The designer can have peace of mind only if the risk has been properly
assessed and then managed strategically
• Still the design can be simplified significantly which will allow optimization
• We have to very generous with the r/f of vertical members
• Beams also need higher capacity in spans
• Transfer beams and floors must be designed considering the loads as for
columns
• Pattern loading need not be considered for transfer beams and floors
• Cellular transfer floors can easily replace more expensive thick solid slabs
that would be very difficult to construct
• Foundations need a very careful attention and modeling
• Geotechnical engineer must advice, but structural engineer can work with
him to further optimize
• Geotechnical engineers services with FEM modeling using Plaxis 2D, 3D,
Midas Soilworks or GTS must be taken for all the sub-structure work though
the main member design would be carried out by the structural engineer
 Conclusions
• The 3D computer model can be either a representation of the actual
structure (results in very heavy models that takes few hours or days to
run) or
• A very simple mathematical model that is very different to the actual
structure, but can give a very accurate simulation of behaviour and all the
forces and moments needed for design
• My preference is for a mathematical model since it can allow the quick
assessment of the implications of various decisions
• Architects are more interested in the real structure and its appearance
• However, some structural engineers like models that is appreciated and
understood by the architects/clients and hence produce very heavy models
that are very difficult to optimize
• Sometimes, those models are considered superior as well
• However, the reality is an accurate simple mathematical model that can
give answers in few seconds is the one that show the creativity of the
structural engineer
• We must understand the first principles very well to be successful as a tall
building designer who produces optimized and economical solutions
 Acknowledgement
• Academic staff of University of Moratuwa who gave me a solid start
• Prof Chris Burgoyne, my mentor and a brilliant engineer who showed me
the way forward
• Prof Christoper Calladine and other staff who made my life in Cambridge
very enjoyable and a life time experience
• My very good friends, Prof Campbell Middleton and Prof Tim Ibell – I am
very lucky to meet them in Cambridge
• Both, Cam and Tim and also my wife Chintha proof read my thesis and I
was told there are no corrections after the viva by two top examiners
• The staff at University of Moratuwa for all the support and
encouragement for career development
• The Sri Lankan construction industry that allow us almost any wish we
have to be fulfilled
• All my co-researchers for their hardwork
• Cambridge University Engineering Department academic and academic
support staff for their kind assistance to organize the lecture
• Staff of University of Bath for facilitating our sabbatical leave at Bath
 Key words for searching on Intenet to learn about Sri Lanka
• Altair Sri Lanka
• Fairmount Rajagiriya
• Skygarden Rajagiriya
• Clearpoint Rajagiriya
• Elements Rajagiriya
• Crescat Monarch
• Heritanc, Kandalama, Cinnamon Bay, Beruwala Earl’s Regency, Kandy
Citrus, Wadduwa Magampura holiday resort Blue waters – Wadduwa
Rest house, Polonnaruwa Jetwing Blue, Negambo
• Ruins of Anuradhapura, Ruins of Polonnaruwa, Galle Fort,
• Yala Safari, Udawalawe Safari
• MAS Intimates Thurulie, Nelung Art Center
• The clothing factory in Sri Lanka - Thurulie
• Architect Moshe Safdie
• ICSECM 2017
Straw panels as a walling material
Testing on Durra panels (compressed straw panels)
Construction with Durra panels
Method used to convince the general public of the load
carrying capacity of compressed straw panels by the
manufacturing company
Rapid construction with alternative materials

The two storey house with the walls, floors and the ceiling all out of Durra
including bathroom areas
Use of precast prestressed concrete panels of 90 mm thickness, 1.0 m
width and up to 6.0 m length for concrete floors - Panels connected
with 40 mm thick reinforced chip concrete screed

Pre-cast Pre-tensioned slabs spanning on steel beams with a reinforced in-situ topping on top
Precast prestressed concrete panels made continuous with
an innovative method to reduce vibrations in thin panels
A/C ducts of air conditioning system mounted under the
structural members
Upper precast concrete floor completed with ceramic tiles
and the ceiling erected rapidly with flexi-board mounted
Durra Panels – the same used for interior skin of the walls
 Rapidly constructed buildings with alternative materials and
systems
• Serious problem in a 8 storey building of a hospital
• We issued the evacuation order
• The total area of the hospital was 110,000 sq ft
• 8 storey building had 70,000 sq ft
• Hospital lost nearly 2/3 of space overnight
• This created a very serious situation needing the government minister to
intervene
• So, 50,000 sq ft was promised in 50 days out of which, 30,000 sq ft in 30
days and the total cost of the project was Rs 200 million (1,000,000 GB
pounds or a good house close to Cambridge town with 1500 sq ft)
• A total area of 58,000 sq ft was created in three numbers of two storey
buildings (50 m x 15 m footprint per two storey building) and a three
storey building with 30 m x 12 m foot print) in 52 days
• We used alternative materials and systems to achieve that
• State Development and Construction Company (SD&CC), a semi
government construction company, undertook and completed this work
Alternative systems has resulted in much shorter construction
times At Negambo hospital – the progress at 6th of July
Progress – 16th July – the buildings with 3.0 m long eaves
to ensure adequate shading
23rd of July – Two storey buildings that can resist cyclones of probable
magnitude and also an earthquake up to 7 on Richter scale
Three story building – the same concept can be used even
in a tall building once adequate attention is paid to detail
Two storey house with light weight panels – the structure to be completed
in 20 days for a two stoery house with living, dining, pantry, a bed room
in ground floor, a toilet and bath, a store room, three bed rooms in the
upper floor with one study room and a balcony and a roof top garden at
the second floor level with a water tank located over the staircase, floor to
floor height of 3.0 m – cost of the structure to be 15 GB pounds per sq ft
and also using a lot of waste materials
Staircase out of lightweight panels
Precast prestressed concrete beams used for slabs
Placing of precast beams for the upper floor slab