NICMAR – SODE

PGP-CM-MODULE-14

COURSE TITLE:

TECHNOLOGY AND
MANAGEMENT
OF HIGH RISE AND
SPECIAL BUILDINGS
COURSE CODE – PGCM42

PREPARED AND SUBMITTED BY:

NAME: MOHAMMED NOMAN
REG NO: 215-06-11-50423-2171
TECHNOLOGY
AND
MANAGEMENT
OF
HIGH RISE
AND
SPECIAL
BUILDINGS
 ASSIGNMENT
Write a detail note on concreting for high rise buildings with regards to
following points like:

a) Slab cycle; its design and implementation.

b) Various aspects and strategies related to CONCRETING at various
heights.
c) Use of batching plant, its significance.
d) Concreting quality assurance and control etc.
High Rise Building:

A building is an enclosed structure that has walls, floors, a roof and usually windows.
“A „tall building‟ is a multi-story structure in which most occupants depend on
elevators to reach their destinations. The most prominent tall buildings are called
„high-rise buildings‟ in most countries and „tower blocks‟ in Britain and some
European countries. The terms do not have internationally agreed definitions.”
However, a high rise building can be defined as follows.

“Any structure where the height of a building can have a serious impact on
evacuation.”

“For most purposes, the cut-off point for high-rise buildings is around seven stories.
Sometimes, seven stories or higher define a high-rise, and sometimes the definition is
more than seven stories. Sometimes, the definition is stated in terms of linear height
(feet or meters) rather than stories.

“Generally, a high-rise structure is considered to be one that extends higher than the
maximum reach available fire-fighting equipment. In absolute numbers, this has been
set variously between 75 feet (23 meters) and 100 feet (30 meters).” Or about seven
to ten stories (depending on the slab-to-slab distance between floors).

The exact height above which a particular building is deemed a high-rise is

specified by fire and building codes for the country, region, state, or city where
the building is located. When the building exceeds the specified height, then
fire, an ever-present danger in such facilities, must be fought by fire personnel
from inside the building rather than from outside using fire hoses and ladders.

For practicality and convenience such a multi-level or multi-story structure uses

Elevators as a vertical transportation system and, in addition, some utilize
escalators to move people between lower floors.
a) Slab Cycle; its design and implementation:
Slab cycle is the amount of time that is required between the casting of slabs,
when we have got various slabs to cast. Slab cycle involves various activities
like marking, shuttering of columns, reinforcement laying, casting, de-
shuttering, curing, staircase reinforcement, staircase casting, et cetera. The
aim should be to optimally utilize our resources to keep this time minimum.
The lesser the slab cycle time the faster our structure would get completed.
b) Various aspects and strategies related to CONCRETING at various heights:
Concrete is the most versatile, effective and main component of any
construction. The challenge to pouring of concrete arises when it is conveyed
from heights. It requires
i. High Performance Concrete (HPC):
The strength of the high performance concrete ranges from 50 Mpa –
100 Mpa
Requirements:
 Very low water / cement ratio generally less than 0.3
 Considerably high cement content
 Part of cement is replaced by cementitious materials
 Use of high efficient superplasticizers

Challenges for making high performance Concrete:

 Variations in fine and coarse aggregates

 Different source of cement with varying mineralogy
 Different cementitious material properties
 Varying climatic conditions
ii. Conveying (pumping) concrete to the required height:
Because of very low water / cement ratio and high fines content, the
concrete becomes very sticky, very viscous and difficult to pump. Sika
viscocrete (superplasticizer) technology helps in reducing the viscosity,
 yield stress, giving better fresh concrete behaviour even at such low water
/ binder ratio so that concrete can be pumped easily to the required height.
iii. Workability over time:
To bring the concrete from long distances or site batched concrete. the
concrete should have minimum flow retention period of 2-3 hours for
pumping and finishing and it should set normally . sika viscocrete
technology helps in retaining workability for hours without any effect on
the setting time of the concrete.
c) Use of batching plant, its significance:
Construction of high rise buildings requires huge amounts of concrete. There
is always a need of central mixing plant with storage bins of adequate
capacities for the production of concrete in such huge amounts. The plant
must be accessible for transportation for both ingredients for batching and
placing of concrete produced at the desired location.
The batching plant comprises
 Storage bins
 Weigh hoppers
 A central plant mixer

A plant that has a central plant mixer is referred to as a central mix plant.
The ingredients like aggregates, cement, water and admixtures need to be
delivered to the batching plant directly or stored for later transfer to the
plants storage bins. The ingredients are delivered to the mixer after batching.
Aggregates can be delivered to the storage bins if conveying system is
readily available for the purpose. Cement is transferred to watertight silos /
bins by pneumatic pumping or by using screw conveyor or bucket elevator.
Water and liquid admixtures may be pumped to storage vessels. The storage
bins are available in almost all conceivable size and shape.

The increasing development in urban centres has prompted the demand for a
suitable concrete batching plant. A concrete batching plant is a device that
mixes various ingredients to form concrete. The plants are used in various
projects like construction of roads, bridges, and buildings. Urban areas are
the hub of various activities thus will experience developments in real estate
and infrastructure. Middle-east is among the fastest growing regions and has
experienced increased demand for concrete. Concrete batching plants are
easy to transport from on site to another and the installation and setup time is
minimal. Earlier the traditional plants had to be setup near the source of raw
materials. The modern batching plants have offered flexibility in the site
location. The batch plant can be setup in the area where it will serve a town
and the surrounding environments where traffic congestion results to higher
delivery costs. There are also situations where a plant needs to increase its
productivity capacity due to a limited timeline of completion of the project,
the plant can be easily relocated. The plant has also reduced accidents which
are mainly caused by operator errors.

Importance:

 High quality concrete is produced due to the accuracy in measuring

and mixing the ingredients.
 The batching plant located at the construction site saves transportation
time and risk of delays which will in turn save costs.
 Due to congestion in urban areas which makes some construction sites
unreachable, a concrete pump enables conveyance of concrete. Also in
areas where there are weight and access restrictions the concrete pump
offers versatility where concrete id poured to a site by a concrete
pump.
 Small construction sites that require a small quantity of cement, they
can have a mobile batching plant near the construction site. After the
concrete is ready it can be transported to the site by a truck.
 Demolished concrete from a dismantled site is limited, a compact
batching plant occupies little space at a site in addition to being very
 easy to maintain. Also due to limited space for raw materials storage
makes it the most viable option.
 Batching plants are automated to mix the ingredients evenly and
quickly resulting to high efficiency. It also increases production
capacity.
 Apart from relevant authorities the batching plant requires no prior
planning. The concrete pump is set up immediately.
 Construction sites have a large number of casual workers. The batch
plants will reduce the labor costs since it comes with an automated
mixers and loaders.
 The same quality and standard of concrete is maintained on every mix
since it maintains the same mixing ratio and uniformly mixes the
ingredients.
d) Concreting quality assurance and control etc:
Quality Assurance: It is defined traditionally as “all those planned and
systematic actions necessary to provide adequate confidence that a structure ,
a system or a component will render or perform safe and trouble-free
services and satisfy specified requirements.” QA is a management tool. The
owners or their representatives are responsible for quality assurance.
Quality assurance is a part of quality management focused on providing
confidence in fulfilling the quality requirements.
Quality Control: It is traditionally defined as “those QA actions required to
keep control and regulate factors to attain predetermined qualitative
characteristics related to materials, processes and services.” Executing
agencies use operational techniques and activities to fulfil the requirements
for quality. As rectification of unsatisfactory work would escalate cost and
delay the progress of construction activities, executing agencies need to pay
utmost attention to quality so as to avoid subsequent rectification/reworking.
QC is a production tool. QC is a part of quality management and is focused
on fulfilling quality requirements to attain predetermined qualitative
characteristics related to materials, processes and services.
Importance properties of concrete:
 Workability
 Non-segregating
 Setting in specified time

The essential properties of hardened concrete:

 Strength
 Water-tightness
 Durability
 Volume stability
 Abrasion resistance
 Economy

Quality of fine and coarse aggregates: Aggregates form the bulk of the
volume of concrete about 60% to 75% of total volume and by far the largest
amount of aggregates used in concrete is mineral aggregates such as gravels,
crushed stones and stones. Aggregates are inert materials. Their physical,
thermal and chemical properties may influence the performance of the
concrete. They should be free from substances such as iron pyrites, coal,
mica and organic impurities which affect hydration of cement and durability
of concrete.

Aggregates are classified into two groups:

 Fine aggregates passing through the 4.75mm sieve and within the
grading limits.
 Coarse aggregates retained by the 4.75 mm sieve ranging up to
150mm.
Next to water-cement ratio, it is the aggregates that have the most significant
effect on the workability of concrete. This is primarily a function of the
surface area of aggregates in a given volume of concrete and
consequently of the demand of mixing water that aggregates create. The
lower the surface area of the aggregates, the lower is the demand for mixing
water for a given workability. Conversely, if the water content of a mix is
fixed, as it normally is from the consideration of strength, workability will
increase when:

 Maximum size of aggregates is increased

 A coarser overall grading of the aggregates is available as the ratio of
coarse to fine aggregates increases
 The particle shape approaches a sphere – the rounded particles
increases workability most, followed by irregular ones, then by
angular ones and finally by flaky and elongated ones
 The surface texture of the aggregates becomes smoother

Quality of water: The function of water, the active component of concrete, is

two fold:

 To react with cement chemically (hydration) to form a cement gel

wherein the aggregates remain in suspension till hardening of cement
paste
 To serve as lubricant between fine and coarse aggregates so that the
concrete may be easily placed and compacted – to make concrete
workable for specific use.

Water that is to be used in concrete shall be clean and free from such
impurities as suspended solids, organic matter and dissolved salts which
are frequently contained in natural water and which may adversely affect
the properties of concrete, especially setting and hardening. Water should
for the same reason be free from injurious oils, acids, alkalis, organic
 matters, salts, silts or other deleterious impurities. Mixing water for
concrete is required to be fit for drinking or to be taken from an approved
source. The sources of satisfactory water can be lakes, streams or wells,
groundwater.

Use of admixtures: Admixtures are added to concrete to change its

properties.

Types of admixtures:

Chemical:

a. Water reducers: They decrease the water requirement for a concrete mix
and cement content is decreased without loss of strength. Super
plasticizers are example of high range water reducer.
b. Set Accelerators: these are used to decrease the time from the start of
addition of water to cement to initial set and to increase the rate of
strength gain of concrete. Calcium chloride is a type of set accelerator but
it corrodes steel.
c. Set retarders: They delay the initial set of concrete. Water reducers to
some extent are set retarders. The initial set is delayed for several hours to
several days. They increase the compressive strength of concrete
d. Air entraining admixtures: these are used to create air bubbles in the
concrete intentionally to protect it from freezing and thawing. It creates
less bleeding and less corrosion.

Bibliography/references:

 Textbook of construction technology