SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING AND DESIGNBachelor of Quantity Surveying (Honours)

INTEGRATED ASSIGNMENT:MEASUREMENT I (QSB60104)

CONSTRUCTION TECHNOLOGY I (BLD 60104)BUILDING MATERIALS (BLD 62003)

SITE VISIT REPORT

STUDENT NAME:LIEW POH KA

STUDENT ID NO: 0320424

DATE OF SUBMISSION: 27 NOVEMBER 2015

Table of Content

Content Page

1. Introduction

2. Objective

3. Content/Technical Observation

4. Photos and Description

5. Conclusion

Introduction

A site visit was held on 19th of November 2015. We were taken to that site by our programme director, Sr Ang Fuey Lin and lecturer Miss Azrina Md Yaakob. The project for this site visit is a Semi-Detached house project which is located at Seksyen 2A, Antara Gapi, Hulu Selangor, Selangor Darul Ehsan. There are 96 units of 40’ X 60’ Semi-D to be built.

Based on the information, the owner of this project is Perbadanan Kemajuan Negeri Selangor (PKNS). The architect of this project is Zain Hamzah Architect. The structure engineer is Wawasan Bersatu Sdn Bhd. The mechanical & electrical engineer is ZNVA & Associated. The quantity surveyor is MCM Associates Sdn Bhd. The contractor is AJ-Corp Sdn Bhd. The land surveyor is Mohd Hafizi Bin Mohammad. This project was started on 8th July 2014 and will be done on 4th July 2016.

On that day, we were gathered at Taylor’s University Lakeside Campus and took bus to the site visit. There were 82 students and 2 tutors to the site visit. Before going to the site visit, our tutor told us to wear proper attire for safety purpose. We were told to wear long pants, fully covered shoes and safety helmet. When we arrived the site, we were briefed by the project manager who is Mohd Sobri Bin Hj. Ab. Majid from Siak Siong Construction Sdn Bhd. He explained to us about the construction project and the job scope.

From the briefing, we got to know the scope of works included the construction of pad footing, piling, formwork to ground beam, removal of formwork to pad footing. Besides that, they were also doing the staircase, ground floor slab, wall and reinforcement bar. We were pleased to ask questions for our understanding.

Figure 1: We are allowed to walk around in Figure 2: The safety instructor is explaining the construction site about the safety precautions

Objective To understand the basics of the construction process.

To explain the construction of buildings and the scientific principle that underpin the design and construction

Witness the usage of construction equipment on site including mechanical plants

To explore and identify various types of building materials and technology on site

To develop an understanding of the principles of measurement and techniques in preparing the Bills of Quantities and Specification writing

To develop an awareness of the nature, content and significance of tendering and contractual documentation

To have sufficient knowledge and understanding of the Standard Method of Measurement in taking-off quantities

The importance of the awareness of safety and rules on sites

To understand the importance of teamwork in building team and able to communicate well with the construction team members on site

To understand how the construction process goes on

To understand the future job scope and role in the industry

Content / Technical ObservationPad Footing

Pad footings are used to support individual or multiple columns, spreading the load to the ground below. They are generally square or rectangular in plan, with the plan area being determined by the permissible bearing pressure of the soil. The shape in plan will be dictated by the arrangement of the columns and the load to be transferred into the soil. They are provided at shallow depth and are shallow foundations.

Advantages of constructing pad footing:

Less excavation Easy to construct Economically good Building design is simple

Figure 3: Pad Footing

Process of Constructing Pad Footing

Site survey & Site Clearance

Before the construction starts, they need to undergo a site survey. From the site survey, they will need to determine the soil condition. Based on the information I get from the instructor, the soil condition for the site is red clay but for that particular area, the soil is soft soil which is cohesive soil. This is the reason they use pad footing for that particular area instead of piling. Other than that, they need to determine the depth to be excavated from ground level. After site survey, they need to start the construction with site clearance. They will start to remove the tree, vegetation and wood on site.

Site Survey & Site Clearance

Excavation

Formwork to Pad Footing

Placement of Reinforcement Bars

Filling of Concrete

Removal of formwork

Excavation

Based on the information, firstly they need to excavate the topsoil to reach the depth of 1.6m. The topsoil is then deposited on site for future. Topsoil is carried out because topsoil contains organic matter which makes it unsuitable to be load bearing soil. After topsoil, they excavate 1.2m from the reduce level.

Formwork to Pad Footing

After excavation, they pour a layer of lean concrete with the thickness of 50mm. Once the lean concrete is set, they build the formwork to the foundation. The formwork they are using is traditional timber formwork. They measure and cut the formwork in size and nail it to each other.

Placement of Reinforcement Bars

When the formwork is done, they start to put the spacer block on the lean concrete. Spacer block is to separate the reinforcement bars and lean concrete so that the reinforcement bars will not lay directly on the lean concrete. After that, they start to lay the reinforcement bars. The arrangement of main and transverse reinforcement bars which are in technical drawings are normally depicted by lines and dots respectively are laid on the spacer block. Also, the bar-bender will tie main and transverse reinforcement bars before lower the whole thing into the pit and formwork. When the footing reinforcement bars are done, they continue with the column reinforcement bars.

Filling to Concrete

After all the footing reinforcement bars have been laid, the Grade 30 reinforced concrete is poured into the formwork. It needs days to let it set, harden and also for curing.

Removal of Formwork

After the formwork is set, it’s the time to remove the formwork. The labors will remove the formwork by removing the nails.

Material Involves in Constructing Pad FootingConcrete mixes

Concrete is strong in compression but weak in tension. Concrete is a heterogeneous material. It contains of cement, sand gravel, rock aggregate and water. The ratio for concrete is Ratio: 1: 2: 4 (cement: sand: aggregate). Concrete is produced from local resources with many grades of fine and course aggregate to meet standard and special mix needs. It is the world’s most widely used building material. The concrete appearance can be influenced by the formwork used, surface treatment after casting, composition of concrete mix and quality of workmanship. There are 4 ways to test the concrete by slump test, compacting factor test, vebe consistometer test and flow test. They are to test the workability and flow value of the fresh concrete.

Based on the information from site visit, the concrete they are using is Grade 30. They used concrete on lean concrete and also for the foundation after the formwork has built. Also, they mix the compositions in the concrete mixer that shown in figure

Figure 4: Concrete mixer that can be found on site

Reinforcement Bars

Rebar uses ridged carbon steel to create reinforced concrete structures. The ridges allow the bar to adhere to the concrete and stay in place as surrounding structures put tension on the beam, thus enabling the concrete to support increasingly heavy structures. To perform its function best, rebar should lie in the bottom of a beam and be of a size that supports the correct amount of weight. Rebar also helps to control the natural shrinkage that occurs following concrete installation as well as the expansion and contraction that occur due to changes in temperature.

There are 2 types of reinforcement bar that we have learned which are high tensile steel rod bar and mild steel rod bar. They are available in many different diameters. Based on the information we get from the site visit, they are using T12 and T16 which are high tensile steel rod with 12mm diameter and high tensile steel rod with 16mm diameter respectively.

Figure 5: The rebars with bend

Formwork

Formwork is a structure, usually temporary, used to contain poured concrete and to mold it to the required dimensions and support until it is able to support itself. It consists primarily of the face contact material and the bearers that directly support the face contact material. Formwork must be strong enough to support the load of wet concrete and must be accurately set out.

Based on the information, the formwork that they are using on site is traditional timber formwork. They are using timber as the material. Traditional timber formwork can be reused and easy to work with hammer and nails. It has cheaper production cost so that it is cheaper compare to other formwork.

Figure 6: High tensile steel rod that found on site

Photos and Descriptions

Figure 7: The labors are building the formwork to ground beam

Figure 8: There are mesh fabric reinforcement

Figure 9: The labor is tying column rebars (link)

Figure 10: The pad footing has been constructed

Figure 11: The workers are removing the formwork

Figure 13: This is the photo of piling

Figure 12: The pad footing is done

Figure 14: They are done with the concrete of column and

beam

Conclusion

From this site visit, I understand more about the construction. I managed to understand the

basic process and practical aspect of construction techniques on site. I can gain more knowledge

when I had this site visit. Besides, it is important to know about the safety precaution rules, site

investigation, job scopes of the professional workers. Also, I have gain the experience staying

outdoors under the hot weather to do what we are going to do in future.

As my 1st semester is going to end soon, I finally know we should have strong foundation

before we are moving on to next semester. Probably next semester will be tougher if we do not

have strong foundation during our 1st semester. From this report, I get to understand more about

the construction of pad footing and the material used. I did a lot researches on pad footing to

know the process of constructing it. Besides that, I’m given much information during the site

visit. The information I get help me a lot on this report too.

Lastly, I think this site visit benefits a lot on my subject and for my future as it prepare

me to overcome many upcoming problems. I am really appreciated for the chance to have site

visit for the exposure. This would have more practical knowledge as it gives me preparation for

the future to become a successful quantity surveyor.