Executive Council Meeting

The 28th Executive Council meeting of INSDAG was held at the SAIL office, New Delhi on 3rd August 2006. The status on projects, financial status and other activities of INSDAG were explained to Executive Council Members. Due to appointment with Steel Minister, President Mr Sajjan Jindal was present in the EC meeting for half an hour only. Rest of the meeting was chaired by Mr S S Chakraborty, Vice President INSDAG. Several suggestions came from members and several decisions were taken. Members in general appreciated the contributions of INSDAG during the year. The new Project Review Committee and Executive Committee of INSDAG were formed.

Annual General Meeting

The 9th Annual General Meeting of INSDAG was held at the SAIL office, New Delhi on 3rd August 2006. The members were briefed on INSDAG's achievements during the year. Members appreciated the contribution of INSDAG. The Executive Council was formed and Council Members unanimously elected Mr Sajjan Jindal as President for the year 2006-07. The three Vice Presidents of 2005-06 i.e. Mr S S Chakraborty, Dr T Mukherjee and Mr K G Hariharan were also re-elected as Vice Presidents for the year 2006-07. President's Report and Annual Accounts for the year 2005-06 were passed by both the Council and AGM members.

Meeting with Addl Secretary Steel

Additional Secretary, Mr. A. K. Rath, Ministry of Steel, visited INSDAG on 27th September '06. Director General, INSDAG briefed him on the various activities of the Institute. He also briefed on the achievements and the future goals of INSDAG. Mr. Rath commended the efforts of INSDAG and said that all help would be extended to INSDAG towards steel promotion.

RINL's Model Steel Village

Director General, INSDAG, had a meeting with Secretary (Steel), SAIL and RINL on Model Steel Villages at Delhi. RINL has already submitted their action plan envisaging completion of entire construction of model steel village, based on INSDAG's model, by December 2006. Secretary (Steel) desired that maximum number of items, designed by INSDAG, for rural purposes should be incorporated in the RINL steel village.

Meeting with Raheja Group

Joint Director General had a meeting with Mr. Tidke, Sr V P of Raheja Group of Construction at Mumbai and appraised him about the usefulness of Steel-Concrete Composite Construction in all modern construction activities and the same could be extended to underground parking also. It was further clarified that INSDAG is in touch with SIMPARK infrastructures Ltd, the leaders in developing underground multilevel car park. Any project pertaining to underground multilevel car parking system would be jointly executed with them. Mr. Tidke showed interest for their project in Mumbai as well as Hyderabad and indicated that he would be in touch with INSDAG for the purpose.

SAIL's Model Steel Village

SAIL has also intended to develop 5 model steel villages around its Plants (Bhilai, Bokaro, Rourkela, Durgapur, IISCO-Burnpur), based on INSDAG's design, in order to promote usage of steel in rural areas. The amenities in the village will include Rural Houses (200 sq. ft & 120 sq. ft), Panchayat Meeting Hall (900 sq. ft), Rural School building (1200 sq. ft), Bus Shelter, Elevated Water Tank, Health Centre (200 sq. ft & 400 sq. ft), Community Toilet Block.

Meeting of Living Steel

The 4th meeting of the Living Steel programme TEAM INDIA PROJECT was held on 17th & 19th August 2006 at Shrachi Towers, Kolkata. Members of the winning architect for the Kolkata competition, "Piercy Conner Architects & Designers, UK", were present in the meeting. They had a discussion with the local Architects and visited Rajarhat, the proposed site, and delivered a presentation on the winning entry.

Steel Bullock Cart by SAIL

INSDAG had a meeting with Mr S K Roongta, Chairman, SAIL at Delhi where it was decided that SAIL would sponsor full fabrication cost of 100 nos. additional Bullock Carts for distribution by Hon'ble Steel Minister in Bihar. INSDAG will organize and deliver the Bullock Carts within the time frame, indicated by Secretary (Steel).
Essar's Service Center Complex
Essar steel is planning to construct new service centre at Bahadurgarh. Essar officials, escorted Joint Director General to their site at Bahadurgarh and showed the area where Essar's new Service Center Complex would be constructed. They also made it very clear that entire design is to be done by INSDAG. The design would include industrial superstructure, gantry girders and foundation of the buildings, all machine foundations, administrative office etc. Accordingly, INSDAG has submitted the proposal to Essar.

Essar's Service Center Complex

Essar steel is planning to construct new service centre at Bahadurgarh. Essar officials, escorted Joint Director General to their site at Bahadurgarh and showed the area where Essar's new Service Center Complex would be constructed. They also made it very clear that entire design is to be done by INSDAG. The design would include industrial superstructure, gantry girders and foundation of the buildings, all machine foundations, administrative office etc. Accordingly, INSDAG has submitted the proposal to Essar.

Presentation before NRRDA & Bihar Government

INSDAG delivered a presentation on "Construction of Steel / Steel - Concrete Composite Bridges" under PMGSY scheme before NRRDA and Bihar Govt. officials at Patna. Officials of NRRDA and Bihar government participated in the programme and appreciated the presentation. Mr. Srivastav, Director along with other senior officials of NRRDA discussed INSDAG's proposal of preparation of handbook for rural bridges as already submitted to them. NRRDA further explained that out of three widths of the bridge system initially considered by INSDAG, only two widths are to be considered for design. NBCC officials along with Mr. Kataria of NRRDA approached INSDAG to get a few detailed feasibility reports of some of the bridges coming up in Bihar. They also indicated that about rupees 130 crores was set aside for these bridge projects and requested INSDAG to work out modalities for preparation of detailed feasibility report.

HITEX, HYDERABAD

The Hyderabad International Trade Exposition Centre (HITEX) at Madhapur, Hyderabad designed by M/s. L&T Limited, Engineering Design Research Centre constitutes the Exhibition Centre (50m x 72 m x 10.5m) with Curved Roof, Entrance Plaza (52m x 52 m x 9m) with Monoslope Roof and the Welcome Arch (21m x 21 m x 32m). The type of structural sections used were mainly Built-up sections with plates, I-Sections, pipes, Mild Steel Rods, Angle sections, Channels, SHS/RHS tubes weighing 1110MT. The erection work was carried out using 2 Nos. E2/18B Tower crane and TATA 280. The main Architect was M/s. J.V. Consult Architects of Germany. The barrel vault shaped roof of the exhibition hall which spans 48m and length 72m is made of fusion welding quality ST-42W Structural steel members. The sections were pre-engineered and prefabricated in a factory. The built-up sections were made of plates varying from 5 mm to 12 mm thickness and uniform depth of members. The tie rods at column locations were given to eliminate thrust on columns and were supported by inclined suspenders made of tubes. The entire roof is formed of 3m x 3m grid triangles. All steel members were painted with two coats of epoxy over a coat of red-oxide primer. The entire trade fair complex was designed and executed in a period of 11 months and inaugurated on January 15th, 2003.

LIBRARY, TUMKAR

The library building of Sri Siddhartha Education Society (SSES) designed by Geodesic techniques (P) Ltd. is located in Tumkur, 80 kms from Bangalore. The Library building consists of a glass clad Geodesic dome and an internal building. The library structure is based on the concept of a 'Skin' over 'Skeleton'. The geodesic dome framework has been possible only due to the use of steel. The nodes are made using forged steel and the members are fabricated from steel tubes. The members and nodes are connected using high tensile steel fasteners.

The entire framework has been pre-fabricated and assembled at site. The nodes are drilled and members fabricated precisely for easy assembly at site. All the steel components used are lightweight and can be easily handled by individual persons, without need for cranes and heavy material handling equipment. Assembly and erection were carried out with semi-skilled workers and minimal scaffolding to reach the upper levels. Transport to site was also easy because all the components are linear members. The high degree of redundancy built into the structure results in an inbuilt factor against total failure when individual members fail. The redundancy ensures redistribution of forces and availability of time to take corrective action in case individual members fail due to unforeseen seismic forces or dynamic impact loads, such as bomb attacks. Total weight of steel used was 35 tons.

FOOD COURT, BANGALORE

The 40,000 sq.ft. Food Court at Golf Link Software Park, Bangalore, Architected and Designed by Construction Catalysers, houses various multi-cuisine restaurants with requisite seating, cooking areas and auxiliary services was the design solution offered in response to the brief for the creation of a recreational food court building for the employees of IBM at Bangalore. The structure was to be a lightweight and aesthetically designed one, which could be constructed at a fast pace. The solution that finally crystallized was in the form of a building with pre-fabricated components in structural steel along with lightweight new-age materials. A circular footprint with polar symmetry was conceived for its superior advantages in terms of industrial standardization. Open planning provides large continuous spaces that easily adapt to the functional requirements. Also, these could adapt to any chang that the building might be put to in the future. The continuous vision afforded by the light structure strengthens the impact of height and vastness of the enclosed space. The stretched membrane roof slopes inwards like the petals of a flower and draws the eye towards its centre. A cut out at the centre reveals the sky and lets in the rainwater, which is collected in a water body and recirculated. Structural steel and lightweight roofing and façade materials have been put together with innovative joinery to create this technically sound building. The supports, connections and materials are honestly displayed and impart a beautiful modern aesthetic language to the structure. The prefabricated steel components have been designed and fabricated such that 80% of the total work involved in the construction was carried out at the workshop prior to the commencement of work on site. The structure consists of 18 peripheral steel columns that support a peripheral ring beam. An internal ring beam that defines the central cut out is supported by 18 pre-stressed cables, which connect to the lowest level. There is no cross - supporting for the roof. Panels of pre-stressed P.V.C. membrane that have been seamed together stretch continuously between the two ring beams with an inward slope forming the roof cover. The roof is strong enough for a person to walk on it for maintenance purposes. Over 70% of the periphery is in mesh and the balance is in glass and steel sheets. The main structure itself supports the floor and roof avoiding the need for a secondary or tertiary structure. The intermediate levels have castellated steel sections with steel chequered plate flooring.

DURGA PUJA WITH STEEL

Kolkatans would be getting habi-tuated to Steel Intensive Puja Pandal. Last few years have seen a number of Puja Pandals which have come up with Steel cladding and framing. Steel framing for such temporary structures are now one of the most preferred framing system. More because of its reusability and safety. Sanghasri, Sodepur was one of the committee to adopt steel for it's pandal this year.

WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL

The 293,000 sq ft (89,300 m2) sculptural steel beacon, which serves not only the philharmonic but also the Los Angeles Master Chorale, stands in breathtaking contrast to the traditional cityscape surrounding it. The parking structure was to be founded on spread footings and use a flat plate design in which concrete columns connect directly to concrete slabs. This extraordinarily thick slab was designed to accommodate the weight of construction cranes for the facility itself and later helped transfer loads as the structural steel design of the concert hall was updated.

With a number of design options, ultimately the architectural team settled on a structural steel braced-frame approach without energy-dissipating devices. The demands had also been altered to accommodate a major architectural change: the decision to change the exterior cladding from stone to stainless steel, thereby significantly reducing the mass of the structure.

The structural design work was divided into three fairly distinct, although closely interrelated, segments. The first was the design of the main structures above the base level. The second involved checking and upgrading the existing garage structure to accommodate the revised design loads of the WDCH. The third had to do with the design of the CalArts Theater and limiting the effect that inserting it into the parking garage structure would have. In many areas a secondary framing system had to be developed to support the exterior finish of the various elements. The engineers found that the braced frame's lateral-load-bearing system, which relies on concrete shear walls extending from the parking garage to an elevation 32 ft (9.8 m) above ground level to act as diaphragms, provided stiffness and helped to achieve some of the required cantilevered portions of the structural frame in the main concert hall. The exceptional efforts of the design team, including the civil and structural engineers serving in various areas of the profession, played a major role in carrying this project to successful completion. Ref : Internet

RHEOLA BRIDGE IN SOUTH WALES

EVELINA CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL

SURTEES BRIDGE

VALUE ENGINEERING & LIFE CYCLE COST ANALYSIS OF IRON AND STEEL PIPES

This publication aims at portraying the importance and economic aspect of Iron and Steel Pipes. Pipelines are major invest-ments in water supply projects and as such constitute a major part of the assets of water authorities. Pipes represent a large proportion of the capital invested in water supply undertaking and therefore are of particular importance. Therefore pipe materials shall have to be judiciously selected not only from the point of view of durability, but life and over all cost which includes, besides the pipe cost, the installation and maintenance costs nece-ssary to ensure the required function and performance of the pipeline throughout its designed life time. All aspects covering selection and suitability of pipes have been covered

(Pub: INS/084; Price: Rs. 300/-)

INSDAG YEARBOOK 2006

The third yearbook of INSDAG presents expert articles on steel based construction and is more focused on modern applications of steel in buildings, bridges and on its better serviceability in various conditions. These refer-ences are highly needed for fast and proper infras-tructure development in India. Adoption of the best practices of design and construction can only provide us fast and durable structures, which are comparable to the ones being built in the parallel economies like China, Japan, Brazil and South Korea. An effort has been made to showcase some of the examples that this is just the beginning. Many more are yet to come. The publication includes technical articles from National and International experts.

(Pub: INS/085; Price: Rs. 300)

Frenchman Edouard-Rene Lefebvre de Laboulaye first conceived of a monument celebrating the friendship between France and the United States. De Laboulaye spearheaded the effort to create the monument, and a young sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi sketched ideas for what this monument should look like. Eventually, Bartholdi became the designer for the Statue of Liberty, and he enlisted the great French Structural engineer, Gustave Eiffel, to build the internal structure of the statue. The method of fabrication followed was the "Repousse Process". Construction on Lady Liberty began in 1875 in France. The Statue of Liberty was completed in June of 1884, and it was officially presented to the U.S. on July 4, 1884. It was shipped in pieces to the U.S. in 1885 and reassembled in New York by 1886. It is surprising to note that the main material used for building the statue was Steel and Copper. The weight of copper used in Statue: 179,200 pounds (81,300 kilograms), while the weight of steel used in Statue: 250,000 pounds (113,400 kilograms).