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The Indian construction industry is realising the significance of technological innovations not just in terms of reduction in overall cost but also with regards to improving quality as well as saving on time. Niranjan Mudholkar reports
When Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) wanted to lift and place launching girders weighing more than 1200 tonnes in the sea, it employed the services of a technological giant called Asian Hercules for this job. This was the first time that this advanced equipment was used in India. The project has many such firsts to its name where many unique equipment and machineries have been utilised.
“For example, we have used specially manufactured equipment for the erection of cable stay bridge segments,” says Colonel Satish Diwanji, project manager-Bandra Worli Sea Link, HCC.
This sea link is definitely a key project that underlines the progress made by the Indian construction and infrastructure industry. And one of the key reasons behind this progress is the implementation of innovative construction technologies.
Mivan System
Use of advanced technology has enabled the Indian construction and infrastructure industry to not only take up previously unthinkable projects but also has allowed it to complete projects faster and with lesser costs as well as better quality. Most of the innovative technologies that the Indian industry is adopting are new in the sense that they have come to India only recently.
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Incidentally, many of these technologies have been tried and tested by other industries in many parts of the world. For example, the Megapolis project near Pune by Pegasus Properties Pvt Ltd has used the Mivan System. Mivan System is a patented technology from Malaysia and has been or is being used for various projects in the UK, USA, Germany, Thailand and of course in India.
With the Mivan System, all walls, floor slabs, columns, beams, stairs, balconies, together with window and door openings are cast in place in a single site based operation. “By adopting the Mivan technology, we would be able to finish our project in 1/3rd the time required for conventional methods,” says Hemant Kulkarni, GM (marketing), Pegasus. This also implies reduced cost and faster returns.
Moreover, as Kulkarni adds, the final structure will be much stronger, have a better finishing and will be dimensionally accurate. Other companies including L&T too are using the Mivan System in India today with many residential projects in Mumbai, New Delhi and Bangalore going for it. Sattva Group, for example, is using Mivan for its Greenage project in Bangalore.
Pre-casting technology
A technology that has been around for some time but finds renewed interest today is the pre-casting technology. Marg Ltd has become the first company to bring it for large scale construction to India for its ambitious Swarnabhoomi project near Chennai.
“In pre-casting technology, the processes involved are more similar to the production line concepts adopted by the manufacturing technology. Structures are prefabricated in factories and delivered to the construction site complete (or nearly so) under controlled factory environment. These factory produced precast components are then assembled on the site using cranes by skilled precast erection teams. With the introduction of precast walls, slabs, columns and beams, traditional processes on site are greatly reduced in pre-cast concrete construction,” explains Vivek Harinarain, ED, industrial clusters, Marg Ltd.
Marg has entered into a strategic partnership with Surbana International Consultants, a Temasek owned consultancy firm.
Surbana will provide consultancy services for the New Chennai Township Pvt Ltd (a fully owned subsidiary of Marg Limited) in prefabrication technology, design, logistics and township development for the Swarnabhoomi project.
Marg is using the pre-casting technology on a large scale obviously because it offers huge advantages. “Stringent planning process ensures that costs are controlled right from the design stage. Moreover, the energy efficient prefab construction generally reduces construction time by almost 50%, reduces wastage and gives better finishing than conventionally constructed buildings,” says Harinarain.
The biggest technical advantage in the pre-casting technology is that the necessity for formwork is virtually eliminated while on-site concreting and brick-laying is easily reduced to half.
“Even plastering work, especially external, is not required due to the high-quality finish of precast components. Recesses and conduits can be cast-in in the factory for pipes and wiring. The controlled factory environment will yield better quality finish, requiring workers with higher skill level. Through proper production planning, material usage is better controlled, reducing wastage of steel reinforcement, formwork and concrete,” elaborates Harinarain.
The initial cost may seem a bit high for many developers but it is essential to think long-term and look at the overall cost. “Higher productivity, efficient use of materials, savings in formwork and finishing works, and faster construction cycles more than offset the cost of moulds, which often result in net savings for the builder which in turn benefits the developer,” Harinarain adds.
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