Government of Nepal

National Reconstruction Authority

The Central Level Project Implementation Unit (Education)
Gyaneshwar, Kathmandu.

Disaster Resilience of Schools Project

Seminar on Errors and Remediation during Construction

“Construction errors and intervention in design”

Jitendra Bothara
FENGNZ, FNEA, CPEng, IntPE (NZ)
2019 January 21
House Rules
 Experiences

• Construction errors
• Errors and implications
• Design intervention
• Modular construction/ Standardisation
 General

• The design intervention is based on

• Extensive visit to school buildings under construction
• Review of existing construction drawings
• Review of design methodology
• Discussions with school building stakeholders.
• Goal
• Understand sources of errors
• Mitigate these at their source
 General

• The focus of design intervention is:

• To develop a modular construction system
• Simplification of and improvement in design methodology
• Simplification of construction details
• Consistency/ Uniformity between details of the various buildings
• Economic structures
• Reduced confusion

• Goal
• Minimise errors
• Minimise supervision/ monitoring activity
Architectural
 Door
• Door hinges with long arm revolve 180o
 Doors
• Note door opening obstructing corridor (exit way)
• Use parliament hinge
 Section
• Canopy provided on all sides
Railing and drip
 Door/ Window
• Sizes of door/ windows standardised
Door/ window
 Roof slope
• All roof slabs to be provided with 1% slope
Structural
Quality of materials
 Choosing aggregates

Flaky ,elongated and riverbed aggregates shall not

be used.
Aggregate should be hard, coarse.
What about gradation of aggregates?
 Initial setting time

• Concrete: 30 min
• Mortar: 2 hrs
Once water is poured, concrete/
mortar shall be used before initial
setting.

But what is our practice?

Compaction with a temping rod.
Is it good practice?
 Notes and specifications
• All standard designs have been provided with:
• Same notes
• Same details
• No more 25mm ф bars
 Site selection
Avoid
• Kholsa/ Khola/
• Rickfall/ landslide
 Site selection
• Fill soil
 Site preparation - Drainage

• Provide proper:
• Drainage
• Catch drain
Foundation excavation in sloping ground

7-8m
 Foundation excavation in sloping ground
• Provide stepped
foundation system
• Goal
• Avoid creating new
environmental hazard
• Reduce excavation
• Communicate with Standard design

CLPIU Specific design

RC Wall
 Classification of foundation soil
• Foundations provided
for safe bearing
capacity of:
• 100kPa
• 150kPa
• 200kPa
• In case of any doubt or
soft soil:
• Further investigation
required
• Communicate with
CLPIU

(Ref: NBC 202)

 Foundation base

• Is the provided foundation base is

better than the original soil?
• If soft rock or better found, no need
to dig full foundation trench
• No stone soling required
• Only PCC required for clean surface
 Foundation

• Note:
• Is foundation base stable?
• Is concrete quality acceptable?
• Only solution
• Be diligent on site
• No manual or training can replace intuition!!!!
 Foundation and foundation beams

Concrete infill between

foundation and plinth
beams
Foundation and foundation beams
 Foundation

Foundation for
foundation beam Floor slab thickening
Foundation
230mm thick wall for 230mm thick wall
 Pad Foundation
• No more trapezoidal foundation
section
• Use rectangular foundation
section
 Column Details
• Same stirrup through out the height of column
• Note: beam-column joint area
• Column bars must be lapped at the mid-height column
 Columns
• No solution other than diligence on site!!!!!!!!!
 Cover blocks
• Requirements of clear covers to rebars clearly defined
• Use cover blocks for foundation, columns, beams and slabs
 Honey combing in concrete
• Honey combing at the bottom/ top of the column
• Concrete drop from 8’ height leading to segregation of concrete at the base,
• Lack of compaction
• Bleeding (loss) of slurry
• Cast column in two stages
with joint at mid height!!!
• Use chute
Cover to rebars in column
Ground floor slab concreting
 Beam Column joint
• Beam rebar congestion in end or corner columns – quality of concrete
• Column casing in two states – upper stages usually inferior concrete
• Lack of beam bar anchorage
Column Plan
Column details
 Beams

• All upper storey beams

provided with stubs
• To avoid rebar congestion in
end or corner columns
Beams
 Slab

• Note the thickness of slab

• Note the difference in concrete
quality
 Suspended Slab

• All upper floors have been

provided with canopy
(chhaji)
• Protect wall from rain
• Beam stubs
• All top main bars 10mm dia
Suspended slab
Slab section
Staircase
Staircase
Staircase
 Stair details
• Isolation of landing beam
 Bands

• Central part of wall not

restrained against toppling
Restraining walls with door openings
Restraining walls with door openings
Anchorage of band bars
Anchorage of band bars
• No bars/ straps installed outside of colunm
• Either Junge pillar or drill and install epoxy
Bands: Restraining solid walls and with window openings
Terminating column reinforcements

How the parapet wall

be protected?

≥12 largest beam bar

diameter
Terminating column reinforcements

Continue column bars in

stub!!
Railing/ Parapet

• Brick kicker
• Steel railing
Railing/ Parapet
Railing/ Parapet - Details
Electrical
 Power Ducting in beams

• No power ducts in beams :

• Within 2xdepth of beam from
column face

• A few of ducts can be provided

in the midspan of beam (away
from columns) in an
unavoidable situation
• Provide separate duct for
power cables
Senitary/ Plumbing
 Toilets
• Bathroom floor slope
• >1%
 Toilets
• Sink slope
Thank you.