A local council passing a law that building should be
1.5 to 2 6m away from the boundary line is good but
this law really should not apply to developers in
cosmopolitan areas. I mean, the engineer has ways of
protecting even when buildings are exactly on the
boundary line. So this law is a result of those who
draft it who are not aware of the engineer's capability
and for not having consulted the engineer, they thus
try to assume the position of being the engineer.
Which is very terrible to the society. You who are of
another profession or layman should not tamper with
life that way or arrest development with skimpy laws.
Nathan Ddumba
Friday, August 27, 2010
FOUNDATIONS OF BUILDINGS.
FOUNDATIONS OF BUILDINGS.
-------------------------
what do we do when soil investigations are done at the site?
What are we looking for?
And who demands these values?
It is the engineer to make sure your building is safe.
What is needed is
- the shear strength parameters of the soil
and
- the unit weight or density of the soil
These will be needed should an engineer want to determine
the safe bearing capacity of the soils underneath the
foundation to be of the building.
Then again, should the engineer want to know how
far deep you will have to excavate, the following
site investigations would be needed:
- depth of the excavation
- shear strength parameters
- the water table position.
With these, the engineer will tell you how deepest
down you can indeed excavate.
Chucks of soil normally fail but not necessarily the
whole shoil mass failing, so stand warned, such result
from cracks within the soils which are so so hard to determine
But know for sure, when there is a road or a building nearby,
expect unknown such failures and the engineer will not
ever have the slightest idea of where they will begin from
but can estimate, say 70% of the possibility.
Soil is the most unpredictable element around because
of repeated forces impacted upon it by man's activities,
Nathan, dec2009
-------------------------
what do we do when soil investigations are done at the site?
What are we looking for?
And who demands these values?
It is the engineer to make sure your building is safe.
What is needed is
- the shear strength parameters of the soil
and
- the unit weight or density of the soil
These will be needed should an engineer want to determine
the safe bearing capacity of the soils underneath the
foundation to be of the building.
Then again, should the engineer want to know how
far deep you will have to excavate, the following
site investigations would be needed:
- depth of the excavation
- shear strength parameters
- the water table position.
With these, the engineer will tell you how deepest
down you can indeed excavate.
Chucks of soil normally fail but not necessarily the
whole shoil mass failing, so stand warned, such result
from cracks within the soils which are so so hard to determine
But know for sure, when there is a road or a building nearby,
expect unknown such failures and the engineer will not
ever have the slightest idea of where they will begin from
but can estimate, say 70% of the possibility.
Soil is the most unpredictable element around because
of repeated forces impacted upon it by man's activities,
Nathan, dec2009
KAMPALA'S BUILDING INFRASTRUCTURE.
In light of the recent catastrophes since the begining of the new millenium, it's on a sad note to have had life lost due to the laxity in the building procedures. During the end of the last millenium, such catastrophes were so minimal and did not cause public alarm. Before, buildings were simply done and barely was anyone involved in putting up a big structure. All businesses seem to have existed in buildings built in the 1970s and before.
Best practices are always, or should be, set for all buildings and their are normally presented in form of technical specifications. In most cases they are standard. All major projects in Kampala should include along them technical documents. The selected contractor is also supposed to produce a construction procedure document indicating how they are to go about the project. Because there are laws existing hence they can work but failure to revise them over certain periods hence the problem. One major problem is when a law to include provision for parking set forth.
QUOTE:
[
The building professionals in Uganda have failed to impress upon us a set of best practices that are ideal for the soils, drainage in Uganda. It is an open secret that even the most elegant structures in the city have cracks: some major, others minor revealing compromised foundations.
]
Best practices are always, or should be, set for all buildings and their are normally presented in form of technical specifications. In most cases they are standard. All major projects in Kampala should include along them technical documents. The selected contractor is also supposed to produce a construction procedure document indicating how they are to go about the project. Because there are laws existing hence they can work but failure to revise them over certain periods hence the problem. One major problem is when a law to include provision for parking set forth.
QUOTE:
[
The building professionals in Uganda have failed to impress upon us a set of best practices that are ideal for the soils, drainage in Uganda. It is an open secret that even the most elegant structures in the city have cracks: some major, others minor revealing compromised foundations.
]
THE DEVELOPER'S DRAMA THROUGHOUT HOME CONSTRUCTION.
The developer, also called the-boss/client/owner, is ordinarily faced with two major monsters on a building project, namely, the foundation and the suspended slabs.
1. The foundation.
"Say, how in heavens, can over 75bags of cement get buried in the ground?"
Such has always been the developers's rants when building foundations for their residential houses. And when the ground floor is cast, after taking on another, say, 75bags, the developer is dried up after drying up the cement-store. Rests a bit for say a month or so until the developer garners enough power to continue with the...er...superstructure(construction above the ground floor).
2. The suspended slab
The word 'suspended slab' is an engineering term.
Ideally all those floors not supported directly by the ground are suspended, hence suspended slabs...such as the 1st, 2nd, 3rd floor e.t.c
And before their quotations are complete, you, the developer, are already yelling..."You're kidding, you expect me to give you 150bags of cement in just two days for this little first floor slab".
And not for long, you, the developer, are already looking for a less expensive builder(70% fake) who will conform to your desires, saying that, "hey boss, 70bags can also work, dont worry, I've done it before here and there for 5years "
...and the fracas is already on even before the quotation for the reinforcement bars has been done.
So we have to accept that these slabs are monster-eaters in that the whole lot is best done at once and not in stages. Meaning that you've got to splash the 15m-Ushs(8600USD) all at once for a slab, of say, 150m2 area in less than a week. That's when you feel for the owner...I mean it takes an ordinary middle-class citizen a year or so to earn this money..only for it to be spent in just two days as if...oh gosh!
Then in a bid to save on it, the owner starts getting stupid, thereby resorting to quack builders who are "quote" cheap. Thats why you'll rarely see an engineer or even an architect on a residential building.
The roofing.
Okay by the time the developer survives this far than anything is possible. Ideally the roof shouldnt be a big issue, that's if, you, the developer, wont be alarmed by the quantity of roofing timbers.
Finishes.
And the most annoying item on the building is the finishes. Finishing details are so many that sometimes the beauty is only seen when all these fine-details have been completed...ask the decoration expert. That's when you, the developer, keep on complaining, injecting more money but seeing nothing. Patience you need. You see, finishes on a development is like fine-tuning a musical instrument for the best sound. It might never end. Musicians can attest to this.
--> Nathan.(Apr2009 writing collection)
MSc.Structural Engineering(Tongji Univ. Shanghai, China)
BSc.Civil Engineering (Makerere Univ, Kampala, Uganda)
Member IABSE, UIPE, SEAINT
d-nathan@engineer.com
1. The foundation.
"Say, how in heavens, can over 75bags of cement get buried in the ground?"
Such has always been the developers's rants when building foundations for their residential houses. And when the ground floor is cast, after taking on another, say, 75bags, the developer is dried up after drying up the cement-store. Rests a bit for say a month or so until the developer garners enough power to continue with the...er...superstructure(construction above the ground floor).
2. The suspended slab
The word 'suspended slab' is an engineering term.
Ideally all those floors not supported directly by the ground are suspended, hence suspended slabs...such as the 1st, 2nd, 3rd floor e.t.c
And before their quotations are complete, you, the developer, are already yelling..."You're kidding, you expect me to give you 150bags of cement in just two days for this little first floor slab".
And not for long, you, the developer, are already looking for a less expensive builder(70% fake) who will conform to your desires, saying that, "hey boss, 70bags can also work, dont worry, I've done it before here and there for 5years "
...and the fracas is already on even before the quotation for the reinforcement bars has been done.
So we have to accept that these slabs are monster-eaters in that the whole lot is best done at once and not in stages. Meaning that you've got to splash the 15m-Ushs(8600USD) all at once for a slab, of say, 150m2 area in less than a week. That's when you feel for the owner...I mean it takes an ordinary middle-class citizen a year or so to earn this money..only for it to be spent in just two days as if...oh gosh!
Then in a bid to save on it, the owner starts getting stupid, thereby resorting to quack builders who are "quote" cheap. Thats why you'll rarely see an engineer or even an architect on a residential building.
The roofing.
Okay by the time the developer survives this far than anything is possible. Ideally the roof shouldnt be a big issue, that's if, you, the developer, wont be alarmed by the quantity of roofing timbers.
Finishes.
And the most annoying item on the building is the finishes. Finishing details are so many that sometimes the beauty is only seen when all these fine-details have been completed...ask the decoration expert. That's when you, the developer, keep on complaining, injecting more money but seeing nothing. Patience you need. You see, finishes on a development is like fine-tuning a musical instrument for the best sound. It might never end. Musicians can attest to this.
--> Nathan.(Apr2009 writing collection)
MSc.Structural Engineering(Tongji Univ. Shanghai, China)
BSc.Civil Engineering (Makerere Univ, Kampala, Uganda)
Member IABSE, UIPE, SEAINT
d-nathan@engineer.com
THE WELDING MACHINE FROM A PLACE CALLED 'KATWE'.
THE WELDING MACHINE FROM A PLACE CALLED 'KATWE'.
And I visited this place called Katwe, and I was to buy a welding machine,locally made as it was cheap running between 400,000ushs to 500,000Ushs.
Prior to that we had bought one from big shop called 'Game' running at around 350,000Ushs. It turns out that the welding machine could not work on mass production of steel products like windows, doors and staircases. The 'Game'people were good,
as they allowed us to take back their product. And so, that's how we turned the
eye to Katwe.
Yeee!!!, support for the locally made stuff.
Now about that welding machine from Katwe!
It was a complete shame on me to see the barely uneducated having made something that works and me, with all the technical knowledge about the machine only knowing it in theory. This, I termed, the fine gap between theory and practice. It had nothing to do with the fact that I couldnt make the machine but the issue was 'why should I make it?' This question if looked at in more details would be the sole basis of why students should go higher institutions of learning..the university.
I was so eager to give this uneducated inventor/copycat more knowledge of what they are producing but it was so hard to change all those electrical engineering terms into the local language.
For example, how do you say 'electromagnetism' in the local language. Or rather when I said the word 'current', everyone got confused with 'current'events...nooo! I had meant electric Current'.
Now after recovering from the fact that a person with no prior knowledge, than
did I take a more detailed 'look' into the machine...oops! it turned out that
the machine was just about, say, just over 50% efficient.
Turns out everything about the machine was not as good as portrayed by the
aper. The aper had done some very good marketing of the product.
In layman's language, a 50% efficient machine simply wastes the remaining 50% of
your electricity consumption just like that. And the friendlier power guys will say, "your bill please!"
Ahh!...guess what comes next...
checkmate once again!!!
like the water-guys,
suffereth we do.
And what would your next move be...
...before you trick the electricity company...
...bypassing the meter...
...in a bit to save on the electricity...
...and specifically that extra 50% waste...?
It would be wise to get advise. For example, observations on this
Katwe-made welding machine showed that;
"1- the way the windings had been done was so exactly poor
2- the laminated plates had been poorly packed, air-gaps reduced efficiency
and likewise leading to more power losses through heat, sound, hysteresis and eddy currents plus all that other jargon. In otherwords, improving the mutual inductance between the two windings was key to a highly functioning welding machine.
And for this reason much power had been lost during the transfer from the primary to the secondary windings thus reducing the effectiveness of the device. This meant that it was not optimised to work as an electricity saving device.
Forsooth making high quality welding machines from Uganda is so possible and just as easy as it was with the vehicle made by the Makerere engineering guys. Later on that vehicular machine.
Now prior to that,
...these guys ignorantly informed me of how their local stuff works better than
imported items...which was partly true. Likewise they had told me of how better they are than the engineering graduates from Makerere...which was so out of context...oops I sorried them ignorant ones.
To clear the air, the engineers from the university can not be compared to those faulty inventions from the un-educated people. There is no comparison point, everyone has their downsides which are exactly 'orthogonal', the meeting point being 'non-productivity to the society'.
For long the Katwe people have been given accolades by investors and government
for being productive, while sharp, but correct, criticisms have been directed to universities.
In actual sense, almost all these products from the barely educated people function at less than that acceptable efficiency, while on the other side, universities have produced educated people who have not been productive but
good grade-getters.
so,
Who tried?
Who didnt try?
who benefited?
You see...
according to the PRESENT SITUATION...
it's better to have a less-efficient product than a degree-person walking with latent knowledge that can not be output
into a real product. In fact I was able to use the low-efficient welding machine to fabricate all the 40windows and 5big doors. The electricity bill was huge though.
Nonetheless,this proves the fact that....
"knowlegde not shared-is-indeed not knowledge".
--> Nathan (Apr2009 writing collection)
The goal of every engineer is to retire
without getting blamed for a major catastrophe!
...Dilbert
DONE
--> Nathaniel.D.M
on Variety engineering.
Civil/Structural engineer!
CG- 3DsMax2009 Animation Professional!
Amateur Astrophysicist/Astronomist!
And I visited this place called Katwe, and I was to buy a welding machine,locally made as it was cheap running between 400,000ushs to 500,000Ushs.
Prior to that we had bought one from big shop called 'Game' running at around 350,000Ushs. It turns out that the welding machine could not work on mass production of steel products like windows, doors and staircases. The 'Game'people were good,
as they allowed us to take back their product. And so, that's how we turned the
eye to Katwe.
Yeee!!!, support for the locally made stuff.
Now about that welding machine from Katwe!
It was a complete shame on me to see the barely uneducated having made something that works and me, with all the technical knowledge about the machine only knowing it in theory. This, I termed, the fine gap between theory and practice. It had nothing to do with the fact that I couldnt make the machine but the issue was 'why should I make it?' This question if looked at in more details would be the sole basis of why students should go higher institutions of learning..the university.
I was so eager to give this uneducated inventor/copycat more knowledge of what they are producing but it was so hard to change all those electrical engineering terms into the local language.
For example, how do you say 'electromagnetism' in the local language. Or rather when I said the word 'current', everyone got confused with 'current'events...nooo! I had meant electric Current'.
Now after recovering from the fact that a person with no prior knowledge, than
did I take a more detailed 'look' into the machine...oops! it turned out that
the machine was just about, say, just over 50% efficient.
Turns out everything about the machine was not as good as portrayed by the
aper. The aper had done some very good marketing of the product.
In layman's language, a 50% efficient machine simply wastes the remaining 50% of
your electricity consumption just like that. And the friendlier power guys will say, "your bill please!"
Ahh!...guess what comes next...
checkmate once again!!!
like the water-guys,
suffereth we do.
And what would your next move be...
...before you trick the electricity company...
...bypassing the meter...
...in a bit to save on the electricity...
...and specifically that extra 50% waste...?
It would be wise to get advise. For example, observations on this
Katwe-made welding machine showed that;
"1- the way the windings had been done was so exactly poor
2- the laminated plates had been poorly packed, air-gaps reduced efficiency
and likewise leading to more power losses through heat, sound, hysteresis and eddy currents plus all that other jargon. In otherwords, improving the mutual inductance between the two windings was key to a highly functioning welding machine.
And for this reason much power had been lost during the transfer from the primary to the secondary windings thus reducing the effectiveness of the device. This meant that it was not optimised to work as an electricity saving device.
Forsooth making high quality welding machines from Uganda is so possible and just as easy as it was with the vehicle made by the Makerere engineering guys. Later on that vehicular machine.
Now prior to that,
...these guys ignorantly informed me of how their local stuff works better than
imported items...which was partly true. Likewise they had told me of how better they are than the engineering graduates from Makerere...which was so out of context...oops I sorried them ignorant ones.
To clear the air, the engineers from the university can not be compared to those faulty inventions from the un-educated people. There is no comparison point, everyone has their downsides which are exactly 'orthogonal', the meeting point being 'non-productivity to the society'.
For long the Katwe people have been given accolades by investors and government
for being productive, while sharp, but correct, criticisms have been directed to universities.
In actual sense, almost all these products from the barely educated people function at less than that acceptable efficiency, while on the other side, universities have produced educated people who have not been productive but
good grade-getters.
so,
Who tried?
Who didnt try?
who benefited?
You see...
according to the PRESENT SITUATION...
it's better to have a less-efficient product than a degree-person walking with latent knowledge that can not be output
into a real product. In fact I was able to use the low-efficient welding machine to fabricate all the 40windows and 5big doors. The electricity bill was huge though.
Nonetheless,this proves the fact that....
"knowlegde not shared-is-indeed not knowledge".
--> Nathan (Apr2009 writing collection)
The goal of every engineer is to retire
without getting blamed for a major catastrophe!
...Dilbert
DONE
--> Nathaniel.D.M
on Variety engineering.
Civil/Structural engineer!
CG- 3DsMax2009 Animation Professional!
Amateur Astrophysicist/Astronomist!
INVENTIONS FROM BARELY UNEDUCATED PEOPLE
INVENTIONS FROM BARELY UNEDUCATED PEOPLE
The only thing that unites the educated and uneductated is innovation.
Great debate is whether innovative abilities are studied or just natural.
In the most simplified and dignified manner, these abilities develop
naturally through proper ways of livings. Meaning that everyone has
the ability to be innovative. And this ability grows depending on your
greater need to serve and to love. Call it what you'd but it is
normally called Christ-love.
Great innovations come from an inventor with a greater purpose.
Many inventors are not really inventors but mere copycats who
only selfishly seek to earn a living.
In Uganda, the major talking point are our people at a place called Katwe,
where many little things have been made by barely uneducated
ones in the field.
And these things have been called innovations. In actual sense they
are not innovations, it's merely being a copycat...just as the Asians
have copied all the western technology.
In the Asian's case, however, their copying sometimes surpasses the original.
And in most cases they get a direct helping hand from the educated through governmental support programmes where the overall result is affordability
to all whereas the Katwe people have been mainly for their stomachs hence
no advancement.
While in the case of Europe and America, inventions from the uneducated
take a slightly different twist. Most of these are not just copycats but new or
modifications to the established. And the western law has protected their
inventions through patenting. Great inventors like Faraday who
never passed through formal education were protected by such
intellectural property laws.
This gives a pretty good idea of how great-governments arise.
Great governments do not arise by merely making strong money policies but
by also providing various conduits for technology distribution/transfer to all.
Sometime in the future, patenting will also be strong enough in your country.
--> Nathan's collections of Apr.2009
MSc.Structural Engineering(Tongji Univ. Shanghai, China)
BSc.Civil Engineering (Makerere Univ, Kampala, Uganda)
Member IABSE, UIPE, SEAINT
d-nathan@engineer.com
The only thing that unites the educated and uneductated is innovation.
Great debate is whether innovative abilities are studied or just natural.
In the most simplified and dignified manner, these abilities develop
naturally through proper ways of livings. Meaning that everyone has
the ability to be innovative. And this ability grows depending on your
greater need to serve and to love. Call it what you'd but it is
normally called Christ-love.
Great innovations come from an inventor with a greater purpose.
Many inventors are not really inventors but mere copycats who
only selfishly seek to earn a living.
In Uganda, the major talking point are our people at a place called Katwe,
where many little things have been made by barely uneducated
ones in the field.
And these things have been called innovations. In actual sense they
are not innovations, it's merely being a copycat...just as the Asians
have copied all the western technology.
In the Asian's case, however, their copying sometimes surpasses the original.
And in most cases they get a direct helping hand from the educated through governmental support programmes where the overall result is affordability
to all whereas the Katwe people have been mainly for their stomachs hence
no advancement.
While in the case of Europe and America, inventions from the uneducated
take a slightly different twist. Most of these are not just copycats but new or
modifications to the established. And the western law has protected their
inventions through patenting. Great inventors like Faraday who
never passed through formal education were protected by such
intellectural property laws.
This gives a pretty good idea of how great-governments arise.
Great governments do not arise by merely making strong money policies but
by also providing various conduits for technology distribution/transfer to all.
Sometime in the future, patenting will also be strong enough in your country.
--> Nathan's collections of Apr.2009
MSc.Structural Engineering(Tongji Univ. Shanghai, China)
BSc.Civil Engineering (Makerere Univ, Kampala, Uganda)
Member IABSE, UIPE, SEAINT
d-nathan@engineer.com
FLUSHING TOILETS
FLUSHING TOILETS.
Based on (Research + professional touch):
Flush toilets, also called water closets (or WC's)...have two
major items; the bowl and the water reservior,
both ceramic-made representing the engineer's touch of genius,
all for your comfort.
Two types I've encountered so far, one is the squat-type
and the other, the seat-type as comfortable as a sofa.
And it would be so strange for someone to sit on a squat-toilet,
I mean, with the bums directly in contact,
just as it's exactly sickening to find someone having squatted on
your toilet seat, with the feet on the edges of the bowl...not for
anything but a mere taboo or norm
found in some traditions throughout the world. Sometimes you
wonder how cultures worlds apart share the same taboo...!!!
Now look!, after doing the important work, lo and behold!,
the toilet flushing system fails to flush the contents out of
the bowl, yes just imagine! you needing to frustratingly flush twice
everytime you visit.
And, well, in some strenuos occassions, you may want to get water in the
bucket, raise it high enough and pour it into the bowl with enough pressure
to finally...wheeew!!!..flushout the contents from the toilet bowl.
And how much water have you used?
And yet you MUST, have to, visit the toilet again, tomorrow, everyday,
many times, every month of the year!! Boy or girl, dont you love visiting
the toilet more than your loved ones!?! or are you made to visit under
duress by your own body system
or is it that you have taken on the responsibility of being the health-
implementor of your own body system.
Whichever way, you'd be just about the best customer for the water-bill guys
full of smiles of "hey-buddy, your existance is our topmost priority" ...your bill please!!!.
huhh!!!! that's called a checkmate my friend!
suffer ye to be victim of imperfect designs or wrong choices
What would your next move be?
To blame the mechanical engineer?
the maker of the flushing toilet?
or to go to the market to buy a brand new all-expensive flush-toilet?
Wouldnt that be a little extra torture resulting
from ignorance of the things that are?
And why go through all this torture?
Simply because you had that famous heavy meal
producing heavier stool?
Say, did you eat the African food?, I mean, have you noted that stool from
the African tends to be much heavier than that from the Asian or Western!?!
"Have you noted", adds on the engineer, "that even the flushing system
technology is much more reliant upon the heaviness of the stool passed
out by the user...er...food-eater, you! ?"
What we are trying to say is....
One system spirals water in the bowl whereas the other
pressure-powers the water down, i.e., it pushes it down.
Within these two are the many sub-categories depending on the
manufacturer.
It's highly likely that the one in your house is of the spiral type.
Ideally you'd also like your toilet to save on the water while
operating at maximum performance, typical of the push-down type.
And shhh.... it shouldnt make
so much noise that late at night and more-over every-night!...typical of
the spiral type.
Latest technology in toilets are now incorporating pressure
assisted flushing of water such that you'll only hear that
quick 'whoosh!' while the contents are swooped out nicely.
Kohler toilet manufacturers call this Pressure-lite
Toilets sold at...ouh!!!...ooops forgot the pricing-issues!
--> Nathan.
MSc.Structural Engineering(Tongji Univ. Shanghai, China)
BSc.Civil Engineering (Makerere Univ, Kampala, Uganda)
Member IABSE, UIPE, SEAINT
d-nathan@engineer.com
Based on (Research + professional touch):
Flush toilets, also called water closets (or WC's)...have two
major items; the bowl and the water reservior,
both ceramic-made representing the engineer's touch of genius,
all for your comfort.
Two types I've encountered so far, one is the squat-type
and the other, the seat-type as comfortable as a sofa.
And it would be so strange for someone to sit on a squat-toilet,
I mean, with the bums directly in contact,
just as it's exactly sickening to find someone having squatted on
your toilet seat, with the feet on the edges of the bowl...not for
anything but a mere taboo or norm
found in some traditions throughout the world. Sometimes you
wonder how cultures worlds apart share the same taboo...!!!
Now look!, after doing the important work, lo and behold!,
the toilet flushing system fails to flush the contents out of
the bowl, yes just imagine! you needing to frustratingly flush twice
everytime you visit.
And, well, in some strenuos occassions, you may want to get water in the
bucket, raise it high enough and pour it into the bowl with enough pressure
to finally...wheeew!!!..flushout the contents from the toilet bowl.
And how much water have you used?
And yet you MUST, have to, visit the toilet again, tomorrow, everyday,
many times, every month of the year!! Boy or girl, dont you love visiting
the toilet more than your loved ones!?! or are you made to visit under
duress by your own body system
or is it that you have taken on the responsibility of being the health-
implementor of your own body system.
Whichever way, you'd be just about the best customer for the water-bill guys
full of smiles of "hey-buddy, your existance is our topmost priority" ...your bill please!!!.
huhh!!!! that's called a checkmate my friend!
suffer ye to be victim of imperfect designs or wrong choices
What would your next move be?
To blame the mechanical engineer?
the maker of the flushing toilet?
or to go to the market to buy a brand new all-expensive flush-toilet?
Wouldnt that be a little extra torture resulting
from ignorance of the things that are?
And why go through all this torture?
Simply because you had that famous heavy meal
producing heavier stool?
Say, did you eat the African food?, I mean, have you noted that stool from
the African tends to be much heavier than that from the Asian or Western!?!
"Have you noted", adds on the engineer, "that even the flushing system
technology is much more reliant upon the heaviness of the stool passed
out by the user...er...food-eater, you! ?"
What we are trying to say is....
One system spirals water in the bowl whereas the other
pressure-powers the water down, i.e., it pushes it down.
Within these two are the many sub-categories depending on the
manufacturer.
It's highly likely that the one in your house is of the spiral type.
Ideally you'd also like your toilet to save on the water while
operating at maximum performance, typical of the push-down type.
And shhh.... it shouldnt make
so much noise that late at night and more-over every-night!...typical of
the spiral type.
Latest technology in toilets are now incorporating pressure
assisted flushing of water such that you'll only hear that
quick 'whoosh!' while the contents are swooped out nicely.
Kohler toilet manufacturers call this Pressure-lite
Toilets sold at...ouh!!!...ooops forgot the pricing-issues!
--> Nathan.
MSc.Structural Engineering(Tongji Univ. Shanghai, China)
BSc.Civil Engineering (Makerere Univ, Kampala, Uganda)
Member IABSE, UIPE, SEAINT
d-nathan@engineer.com
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
SLOPES AND RETAINING WALLS.
Pictures....grrrhhh!, wish the copy and paste was possible....
PS/the only reason we're talking about this is because landslides can cause loss of life and damage to property of the human.
And when they go off, they are like huge unstoppable monsters that dont give precise warning signs of their arrival.
However, when you see animals and birds darting off days earlier, the warning signs are good enough.
Bringing you up to speed!
First, see how devastating a land slide can be.
http://sorisomail.com/email/42722/ja-viram-desmoronar-uma-montanha.html
Sometimes it can be so obvious, Kampala city surburb, Uganda (the author calling it 'catastrophe in waiting')
http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/-/688334/896256/-/view/printVersion/-/xfo1yv/-/index.html
Also this one.
land slide manner
And this one below actually caused serious loss of precious life in Bududa, Uganda. Bududa(March 2010)
http://www.nation.co.ke/News/africa/-/1066/871740/-/122ljwsz/-/index.html
Residents of Bududa look at what remained after the landslide that left 80 dead and 100 missing.
Now you've got the picture of what we are talking about.
The simplified concept of a land slide
A land slide is when the soil along and near the slope fails to sustain its own weight and the weight of objects(trees, vegetation, houses, vehicles) above it.
These weights bring about stresses in the soil. The concept is simple, when these stresses exceed the soil's cohesive ability then the soils break up along made up slope lines causing a land slide. The soil's cohesive ability is in simple terms its strength or its stability.
These slope lines are called slip planes.
In such a case, the slope is said to be unstable....an unstable slope.
Do not ask the engineer to precisely predict slip planes, soils can have many inherent little fracture planes.
The most unpredictable engineering materials is soil.
clay landslide morphology land slide effigy
Categorising slopes
We do have built-slopes and natural slopes.
Built slopes are normally found around homes, business premises and factories.
The figure below is a styled up built-slope good for a home/business area.
Built-slopes are what we commonly we refer to as retaining walls.
Natural slopes are those around villages, country homes and roads, schools factories but also on hills or mountainous areas.
Image credit: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/3/3295992_af658c0623_o.jpg http://www.leo.lehigh.edu/projects/seismic/pictures/6.jpg land slide mannerism
land slide form
Moving around Kampala-Uganda, the potential for land slides is just way to much. And the most areas I have seen are in residential zones for those putting up homes on hills. The situation is almost unlike other cities in other countries. Kampala is hilly throughout, that's one of its unique features. Some of us have on various occasions been asked to propose solutions for these steep slopes and the methods we've proposed have been called expensive as they get to a tune of about 15% of the construction of a home. In money terms, that's about 10m Ushs(5,000$) for ordinary homes(three bedroomed). And this value can go up to over 100m Ushs (50,000$) for bigger homes and organisations.
Likewise unprotected deep excavations for storied buildings within Kampala are still going on despite the recent soil collapses killing people. And the Ugandan engineering community (UIPE) has already talked about it but it has not sunk in well into the mainstream life.
This is where you, the information distributors, come in. And the way forward is simple. Big-styled buildings needing deep excavations will require that the contractors present construction methods to the consultant and then to the council including details designs/drawings of how to protect/brace these steep slopes arising from deep excavations...but that's for another day. Key issue is, this is a man-made slope that can easily fail causing life-loss to construction workers. And by the way, similarly around the world...however, the HSE(health, safety, environment) institutions in some countries, say, scotland, have some strength...case in point, a contractor last month was persecuted for failing to support a 1.8m excavation within the given deadline, click the link...link 1, link 2
piles
Cause of unstability in existing or made slopes
Three main causes that have to be curbed are
1. The human
2. Water,
3 Earthquakes/tremors
The biggest cause of instability for existing slopes is water. All water has to be directed.
Water has a tripple effect on soils.
1. It reduces the soil's cohesive strength
2. It adds its own weight to the soil.
3. It adds pore-water pressure within the soil.
Earthquakes enhance slip planes or create new ones and likewise reduce soil stability through direct tug&pull.
Looking from the engineering viewpoint, the human is also a menace when it makes deep excavations and many judgmental errors. The human has to be curbed through awareness because unlike the other two, it has a mind and can WILL...but if stubborn, then the law is needed when the problem is community-affecting or letting it be a victim of its own fate if it(this human) ridicules all your efforts to help it.
Most of land slides occur during unending rainy seasons and strongly increased by tremors and built-up environments, such as paved yards, roads and most especially roof tops. A strong down pour is not as harmful but those unending soft-pouring rains are.
Whenever it rains, the cohesive ability in soils is reduced. The more it rains the more the reduction in cohesion.
This is because water infiltrates within the soils through the soil pores making it waterlogged.
In otherwords, the more waterlogged the soils, the more its weakness in strength.
If your house is situated near a slope, never give chance for the slope to ever become waterlogged by choice.
This water has to be drained out as fast as possible.
That's why most people put up hidden drains or weep holes(see figure below) along built slopes or retaining walls (see figure below).
http://www.burkesbackyard.com.au/img/archive/1814/retainingwall_22.gif
Built slopes without weep-holes WILL fail.
When you move around, you will see constructors including weep holes on retaining structures.
Slopes rarely fail on their own weight, and most especially for soils in Uganda.
Are people aware?
I honestly do not know if you look at the picture below.
PHOTO BY ISMAIL KEZAALA. from www.monitor.co.ug.
Taming Land slides
So this is where the engineer's assessment, design and mode of construction comes in.
The engineer does not work alone...for community projects and beyond, a full complete team is needed. Briefly outlined below
1. Site Investigation(investors, construction consultants, economists, politicians, enviromentalists, geologists,... list goes on as needed)
Construction consultants here include architects, engineers, hydrologist and surveyors
2. Benefit (investors, economists, politicians, enviromentalists,.. list goes on as needed)
3. Planners(consultants...)
4. Soil properties (geologist)
5. Models & Simulations(consultants)
6. Hazard rating and mapping (consultants, council)
7. Risk and cost analysis (consultants, economist)
8. Finalised engineering design&details.(consultants)
9. Construction.(consultants, builder)
When the soils are highly cohesive, you do little on steep slopes, less expensive.
When the soils are less cohesive, you're advised to make the slopes less steep or built-up properly.
Key factors.
1. Stay away from slopes.
2. But if you cant contain (1), then stay at a distance from the slope equal to its height.
3. Do not reside at the foot of a slope, be above it and at a distance away from the slope equivalent to its depth.
4. If you cant contain (3) & (1), and are that upclose to the slope, build an engineered retaining wall and for God's sake provide drainage options for stormwater esp. that off your roof.
You can turn a nuisance steep slope into an architecturally looking beautiful retaining walls around your homes.
All you have to do is ask the architect for beauty and the engineer for structural feasibility and other stakeholders for related feasibility(s).
That second pic is a honey combed wall. Common if you walk around.
Designs exist, freely given if needed.
5. Also do not forget that for big slopes, needed are anchor rods or dowels (figure below) + chainlink(or strong wire mesh or geosynthetics, see figure below) along the slope + lime-stabilised soils + and proper drainage of stormwater channels.
rock slope stabilization Vegetated steep slope application photo
http://www.terrafixgeo.com/uploads/60_SierraScape_7M.jpg
6. With inclusion of some concepts in item 5, you can beautify your retaining wall with a serious stone facading.
Retaining walls and vegetated steep slopes - system drawings
Retaining wall application photo
6. Soil stabilisation(see below) also somehow tames land slides as seen in the deep hills of Kigezi, Uganda.
okay.
Nathaniel. Ddumba
MSc. Str.Eng, BSc.Civ.Eng.
M'IABSE, M'UIPE, M'SEAINT.
PS/the only reason we're talking about this is because landslides can cause loss of life and damage to property of the human.
And when they go off, they are like huge unstoppable monsters that dont give precise warning signs of their arrival.
However, when you see animals and birds darting off days earlier, the warning signs are good enough.
Bringing you up to speed!
First, see how devastating a land slide can be.
http://sorisomail.com/email/42722/ja-viram-desmoronar-uma-montanha.html
Sometimes it can be so obvious, Kampala city surburb, Uganda (the author calling it 'catastrophe in waiting')
http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/-/688334/896256/-/view/printVersion/-/xfo1yv/-/index.html
Also this one.
land slide manner
And this one below actually caused serious loss of precious life in Bududa, Uganda. Bududa(March 2010)
http://www.nation.co.ke/News/africa/-/1066/871740/-/122ljwsz/-/index.html
Residents of Bududa look at what remained after the landslide that left 80 dead and 100 missing.
Now you've got the picture of what we are talking about.
The simplified concept of a land slide
A land slide is when the soil along and near the slope fails to sustain its own weight and the weight of objects(trees, vegetation, houses, vehicles) above it.
These weights bring about stresses in the soil. The concept is simple, when these stresses exceed the soil's cohesive ability then the soils break up along made up slope lines causing a land slide. The soil's cohesive ability is in simple terms its strength or its stability.
These slope lines are called slip planes.
In such a case, the slope is said to be unstable....an unstable slope.
Do not ask the engineer to precisely predict slip planes, soils can have many inherent little fracture planes.
The most unpredictable engineering materials is soil.
clay landslide morphology land slide effigy
Categorising slopes
We do have built-slopes and natural slopes.
Built slopes are normally found around homes, business premises and factories.
The figure below is a styled up built-slope good for a home/business area.
Built-slopes are what we commonly we refer to as retaining walls.
Natural slopes are those around villages, country homes and roads, schools factories but also on hills or mountainous areas.
Image credit: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/3/3295992_af658c0623_o.jpg http://www.leo.lehigh.edu/projects/seismic/pictures/6.jpg land slide mannerism
land slide form
Moving around Kampala-Uganda, the potential for land slides is just way to much. And the most areas I have seen are in residential zones for those putting up homes on hills. The situation is almost unlike other cities in other countries. Kampala is hilly throughout, that's one of its unique features. Some of us have on various occasions been asked to propose solutions for these steep slopes and the methods we've proposed have been called expensive as they get to a tune of about 15% of the construction of a home. In money terms, that's about 10m Ushs(5,000$) for ordinary homes(three bedroomed). And this value can go up to over 100m Ushs (50,000$) for bigger homes and organisations.
Likewise unprotected deep excavations for storied buildings within Kampala are still going on despite the recent soil collapses killing people. And the Ugandan engineering community (UIPE) has already talked about it but it has not sunk in well into the mainstream life.
This is where you, the information distributors, come in. And the way forward is simple. Big-styled buildings needing deep excavations will require that the contractors present construction methods to the consultant and then to the council including details designs/drawings of how to protect/brace these steep slopes arising from deep excavations...but that's for another day. Key issue is, this is a man-made slope that can easily fail causing life-loss to construction workers. And by the way, similarly around the world...however, the HSE(health, safety, environment) institutions in some countries, say, scotland, have some strength...case in point, a contractor last month was persecuted for failing to support a 1.8m excavation within the given deadline, click the link...link 1, link 2
piles
Cause of unstability in existing or made slopes
Three main causes that have to be curbed are
1. The human
2. Water,
3 Earthquakes/tremors
The biggest cause of instability for existing slopes is water. All water has to be directed.
Water has a tripple effect on soils.
1. It reduces the soil's cohesive strength
2. It adds its own weight to the soil.
3. It adds pore-water pressure within the soil.
Earthquakes enhance slip planes or create new ones and likewise reduce soil stability through direct tug&pull.
Looking from the engineering viewpoint, the human is also a menace when it makes deep excavations and many judgmental errors. The human has to be curbed through awareness because unlike the other two, it has a mind and can WILL...but if stubborn, then the law is needed when the problem is community-affecting or letting it be a victim of its own fate if it(this human) ridicules all your efforts to help it.
Most of land slides occur during unending rainy seasons and strongly increased by tremors and built-up environments, such as paved yards, roads and most especially roof tops. A strong down pour is not as harmful but those unending soft-pouring rains are.
Whenever it rains, the cohesive ability in soils is reduced. The more it rains the more the reduction in cohesion.
This is because water infiltrates within the soils through the soil pores making it waterlogged.
In otherwords, the more waterlogged the soils, the more its weakness in strength.
If your house is situated near a slope, never give chance for the slope to ever become waterlogged by choice.
This water has to be drained out as fast as possible.
That's why most people put up hidden drains or weep holes(see figure below) along built slopes or retaining walls (see figure below).
http://www.burkesbackyard.com.au/img/archive/1814/retainingwall_22.gif
Built slopes without weep-holes WILL fail.
When you move around, you will see constructors including weep holes on retaining structures.
Slopes rarely fail on their own weight, and most especially for soils in Uganda.
Are people aware?
I honestly do not know if you look at the picture below.
PHOTO BY ISMAIL KEZAALA. from www.monitor.co.ug.
Taming Land slides
So this is where the engineer's assessment, design and mode of construction comes in.
The engineer does not work alone...for community projects and beyond, a full complete team is needed. Briefly outlined below
1. Site Investigation(investors, construction consultants, economists, politicians, enviromentalists, geologists,... list goes on as needed)
Construction consultants here include architects, engineers, hydrologist and surveyors
2. Benefit (investors, economists, politicians, enviromentalists,.. list goes on as needed)
3. Planners(consultants...)
4. Soil properties (geologist)
5. Models & Simulations(consultants)
6. Hazard rating and mapping (consultants, council)
7. Risk and cost analysis (consultants, economist)
8. Finalised engineering design&details.(consultants)
9. Construction.(consultants, builder)
When the soils are highly cohesive, you do little on steep slopes, less expensive.
When the soils are less cohesive, you're advised to make the slopes less steep or built-up properly.
Key factors.
1. Stay away from slopes.
2. But if you cant contain (1), then stay at a distance from the slope equal to its height.
3. Do not reside at the foot of a slope, be above it and at a distance away from the slope equivalent to its depth.
4. If you cant contain (3) & (1), and are that upclose to the slope, build an engineered retaining wall and for God's sake provide drainage options for stormwater esp. that off your roof.
You can turn a nuisance steep slope into an architecturally looking beautiful retaining walls around your homes.
All you have to do is ask the architect for beauty and the engineer for structural feasibility and other stakeholders for related feasibility(s).
That second pic is a honey combed wall. Common if you walk around.
Designs exist, freely given if needed.
5. Also do not forget that for big slopes, needed are anchor rods or dowels (figure below) + chainlink(or strong wire mesh or geosynthetics, see figure below) along the slope + lime-stabilised soils + and proper drainage of stormwater channels.
rock slope stabilization Vegetated steep slope application photo
http://www.terrafixgeo.com/uploads/60_SierraScape_7M.jpg
6. With inclusion of some concepts in item 5, you can beautify your retaining wall with a serious stone facading.
Retaining walls and vegetated steep slopes - system drawings
Retaining wall application photo
6. Soil stabilisation(see below) also somehow tames land slides as seen in the deep hills of Kigezi, Uganda.
okay.
Nathaniel. Ddumba
MSc. Str.Eng, BSc.Civ.Eng.
M'IABSE, M'UIPE, M'SEAINT.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
written in a hurry
[unedited]:
| n'joy |
WHEN ENGINEER IS ACCUSED
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here is one engineer last year in Uk who got into a contract to supervise a certain job and got into serious trouble. It was the contractor who had put the engineer in the mess and the client latched onto the engineer to pay for the errors because he was not on site when the contractor was making the errors. Ofcourse, the engineer could win the court case but the time and money to do all this was getting on his nerves plus the fact that he had other work on his plate that he wished not to be affected. Such was his weakness and he transferred it to the institution of structural engineers for solace. As I write now, he has probably done a few calculations and has probably accepted to take in the error, so that his works are not disturbed. Point is, how can the Institute of Structural Engineers in UK protect such and do they have a provision for such?
WHEN THE CLIENT ASKS FOR TOO MUCH!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He asked, how much can such a roof truss cost?
The foreman said, about 75,000/-.
Ah!?, and 10trusses would cost 750,000/=?
No, said the foreman, but 300,000shs.
And that confused the client who wanted to know the exact price so that he doesnt
feel cheated by the foreman
The client wasnt convinced for he thought that in that case if
300,000/- is for 10trusses then for a single truss, that is 300,000/10 = 30,000.
"No sir", said the foreman, "it has to be atleast 70,000/=."
"You think I didnt study math?", said the furious client.
And the foreman humbly replied: sir I know you are one of these great
mathematicians but that is academics and this is our turf, in a real situation,
sir, making a single truss means a waste of my day's effort if you are to count
theoretically like that. Realistically, the whole day would be wasted.
Thus asking me to make one truss in a day is more expensive than making 10trusses.
And the client went to look for another foreman.
I only got to know when the client was narrating to me the whole ordeal
and I wondered how I would break the news to him, that you(the client) were the
wrong one instead.
This was one of the many times when clients prefer to handle the technicians
on their own. This is very problematic everywhere in the world you'd go to.
Nathaniel
feb'10
WHEN THE LABOUR PRICES GO UP
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Client: I want to pay you on a daily basis
Foreman: ok.
Client(C): so how much
Foreman(F): 95,000shs
C: (he is not amused):
F (notices it and explains): In a day, I would need two skilled ones and two porters
to do the building work.
Meaning that I get 50,000/=, every skilled man gets 20000/= and a porter gets 7500/=.
And the supervising engineer gets off 2000/= from my salary for sacred trust issues.
C: But last two year, I read that a foreman gets 35000, skilled=12000, porter=5000. You cheating?
Why the increase?
F: Because you have increased price of bread at your supermarket.
C: (not amused)
F: actually more sir, your transportation system was increased by 500/=, sugar increased by 300/=, food by 300/=, fruits by 400/=, you, the chairman of the board for our school increased the fees by 100,000/=.
In otherwords, sir, you've increased all the basic necessities, and that makes me unable to sustain my family unless when the salary increases by an extra dinaro!
C: ashamed, he now knew that "what goes around indeed comes around!"
He was wrong in thinking that those stinging decisions only affect the others minus him.
Little did he know that every decision he would make would eventually get back to him
through the interrelated network of activities that joins all people within the community.
He now embarked onto breaking this interrelated activities where the workers would be made to pay for more without the workers having sufficient reasons to ask for a wages increase! he dreamt on.
WHEN THE LABOURERS DID THE TRICK ON THE CLIENT
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As the client figured out ways of making more money, he thought of a way of breaking the inter-related activities so that the construction worker pays more for the necessities without the workers asking for more during the construction of his new supermarkets.
Huh! he continued dreaming on. The workers likewise were figuring out of making more money from the client.
They had kind of made it easier on them.
They had persuaded the client to pay them on a daily basis.
Meaning that a wall that would be constructed in a single day would take 1.5days.
It is that easy, even when the client is on site. The workers would be so busy yet
not finishing the works in the required time. This extra trick by the workers was
due to the fact that the client had refused to increase their daily package meaning that
- the foreman would get 35000/-
- the skilled worker 13000/-
- the porter 6000/-
- the supervising engineer taken out of the picture.
The client was particularly so confused as to why the supervising engineer(also called architect) would visit the site anyway and more to that get double the money, part from the foreman and part from the client himself.
THE CLIENT'S CONFUSION OF THE SUPERVISING ENGINEER'S ROLE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thus the client did the simple math.
Ideally, the supervisor would visit the site on mondays, wednesdays and saturday morning and would get
65,000/- from the client plus the sacred trust fee from the foreman.
So reasoned the client, sitting on his porch facing the lake waters. Pondered him that if the supervising engineer is taken out of the picture, him alone would save 65,000shs x3day=195000shs per week.
And this saved money would be used to buy an extra 1000bricks on site that would be able to build an extra 6m long wall on his supermarket.
Behold, the client had done his math up to this point and saw it was good. In order to fill the vacuum, he
did raised the level of the foreman to be a site engineer and according to him, all was good.
Problem was, he was breaking the sacred trust between the supervisor and the foreman who are the only ones
who can fully discuss technical issues in between them. Likewise, the lesser workers had seen it as an opportunity to pounce on any opportunity to trick the socalled witty client and the technician on material usage. The client has not any idea that these workers have a kind of psychology that sometimes surpasses a university-trained psychologist. These workers could would infiltrate the client's mind with such petty issues as to how they have built similar houses even without the need for those socalled professionals who call themselves architect, engineer, surveyor...etc! And the client had bought it just like so many clients do these days.
And thus the building started developing cracks. And the client recalled the supervisor telling him that it was your work to confirm that the drawings are correct. "THAT'S WHY I PAID YOU FOR THE DESIGN", shouted the Client.
WHEN LOCAL WORKERS'S PSYCHOLOGY RUIN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Who, for heavens sake would have believed that these people use their mind in the most cunning of ways?
Which later gets discovered by the general public?
WHEN THE LAZY ENGINEER GOES SELFISH
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The client reasoned out the engineer by telling a story of a friend who suffered at the selfishness of the engineer. He thus concluded:
It wont take you long to notice that so many engineers step out of the loop of their fellow engineers trying to look for a little extra more buck and by so doing steping out of the code of ethics boundaries that every engineer has to follow. It wont take you long to see that such engineers have stagnated to the extent that what used to apply some years back is already taken out of the picture.
And the client had been warned.
The client had been told that when chosing an engineer, seek to know their activity roles with other fellow professionals, professional societies, for such constant activity roles makes two or more people grow within the profession.
The client had to listen.
THE MAKING OF A QUACK ENGINEER
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Come on guy, what have you been doing in the village?
I've been building huts and i have seen that they do not fall.
I have a lot of experience big enough to build a skycraper.
And the client was savvy not for anything but he saw this one
would be cheaper.
[unedited]:
| n'joy |
WHEN ENGINEER IS ACCUSED
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here is one engineer last year in Uk who got into a contract to supervise a certain job and got into serious trouble. It was the contractor who had put the engineer in the mess and the client latched onto the engineer to pay for the errors because he was not on site when the contractor was making the errors. Ofcourse, the engineer could win the court case but the time and money to do all this was getting on his nerves plus the fact that he had other work on his plate that he wished not to be affected. Such was his weakness and he transferred it to the institution of structural engineers for solace. As I write now, he has probably done a few calculations and has probably accepted to take in the error, so that his works are not disturbed. Point is, how can the Institute of Structural Engineers in UK protect such and do they have a provision for such?
WHEN THE CLIENT ASKS FOR TOO MUCH!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He asked, how much can such a roof truss cost?
The foreman said, about 75,000/-.
Ah!?, and 10trusses would cost 750,000/=?
No, said the foreman, but 300,000shs.
And that confused the client who wanted to know the exact price so that he doesnt
feel cheated by the foreman
The client wasnt convinced for he thought that in that case if
300,000/- is for 10trusses then for a single truss, that is 300,000/10 = 30,000.
"No sir", said the foreman, "it has to be atleast 70,000/=."
"You think I didnt study math?", said the furious client.
And the foreman humbly replied: sir I know you are one of these great
mathematicians but that is academics and this is our turf, in a real situation,
sir, making a single truss means a waste of my day's effort if you are to count
theoretically like that. Realistically, the whole day would be wasted.
Thus asking me to make one truss in a day is more expensive than making 10trusses.
And the client went to look for another foreman.
I only got to know when the client was narrating to me the whole ordeal
and I wondered how I would break the news to him, that you(the client) were the
wrong one instead.
This was one of the many times when clients prefer to handle the technicians
on their own. This is very problematic everywhere in the world you'd go to.
Nathaniel
feb'10
WHEN THE LABOUR PRICES GO UP
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Client: I want to pay you on a daily basis
Foreman: ok.
Client(C): so how much
Foreman(F): 95,000shs
C: (he is not amused):
F (notices it and explains): In a day, I would need two skilled ones and two porters
to do the building work.
Meaning that I get 50,000/=, every skilled man gets 20000/= and a porter gets 7500/=.
And the supervising engineer gets off 2000/= from my salary for sacred trust issues.
C: But last two year, I read that a foreman gets 35000, skilled=12000, porter=5000. You cheating?
Why the increase?
F: Because you have increased price of bread at your supermarket.
C: (not amused)
F: actually more sir, your transportation system was increased by 500/=, sugar increased by 300/=, food by 300/=, fruits by 400/=, you, the chairman of the board for our school increased the fees by 100,000/=.
In otherwords, sir, you've increased all the basic necessities, and that makes me unable to sustain my family unless when the salary increases by an extra dinaro!
C: ashamed, he now knew that "what goes around indeed comes around!"
He was wrong in thinking that those stinging decisions only affect the others minus him.
Little did he know that every decision he would make would eventually get back to him
through the interrelated network of activities that joins all people within the community.
He now embarked onto breaking this interrelated activities where the workers would be made to pay for more without the workers having sufficient reasons to ask for a wages increase! he dreamt on.
WHEN THE LABOURERS DID THE TRICK ON THE CLIENT
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As the client figured out ways of making more money, he thought of a way of breaking the inter-related activities so that the construction worker pays more for the necessities without the workers asking for more during the construction of his new supermarkets.
Huh! he continued dreaming on. The workers likewise were figuring out of making more money from the client.
They had kind of made it easier on them.
They had persuaded the client to pay them on a daily basis.
Meaning that a wall that would be constructed in a single day would take 1.5days.
It is that easy, even when the client is on site. The workers would be so busy yet
not finishing the works in the required time. This extra trick by the workers was
due to the fact that the client had refused to increase their daily package meaning that
- the foreman would get 35000/-
- the skilled worker 13000/-
- the porter 6000/-
- the supervising engineer taken out of the picture.
The client was particularly so confused as to why the supervising engineer(also called architect) would visit the site anyway and more to that get double the money, part from the foreman and part from the client himself.
THE CLIENT'S CONFUSION OF THE SUPERVISING ENGINEER'S ROLE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thus the client did the simple math.
Ideally, the supervisor would visit the site on mondays, wednesdays and saturday morning and would get
65,000/- from the client plus the sacred trust fee from the foreman.
So reasoned the client, sitting on his porch facing the lake waters. Pondered him that if the supervising engineer is taken out of the picture, him alone would save 65,000shs x3day=195000shs per week.
And this saved money would be used to buy an extra 1000bricks on site that would be able to build an extra 6m long wall on his supermarket.
Behold, the client had done his math up to this point and saw it was good. In order to fill the vacuum, he
did raised the level of the foreman to be a site engineer and according to him, all was good.
Problem was, he was breaking the sacred trust between the supervisor and the foreman who are the only ones
who can fully discuss technical issues in between them. Likewise, the lesser workers had seen it as an opportunity to pounce on any opportunity to trick the socalled witty client and the technician on material usage. The client has not any idea that these workers have a kind of psychology that sometimes surpasses a university-trained psychologist. These workers could would infiltrate the client's mind with such petty issues as to how they have built similar houses even without the need for those socalled professionals who call themselves architect, engineer, surveyor...etc! And the client had bought it just like so many clients do these days.
And thus the building started developing cracks. And the client recalled the supervisor telling him that it was your work to confirm that the drawings are correct. "THAT'S WHY I PAID YOU FOR THE DESIGN", shouted the Client.
WHEN LOCAL WORKERS'S PSYCHOLOGY RUIN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Who, for heavens sake would have believed that these people use their mind in the most cunning of ways?
Which later gets discovered by the general public?
WHEN THE LAZY ENGINEER GOES SELFISH
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The client reasoned out the engineer by telling a story of a friend who suffered at the selfishness of the engineer. He thus concluded:
It wont take you long to notice that so many engineers step out of the loop of their fellow engineers trying to look for a little extra more buck and by so doing steping out of the code of ethics boundaries that every engineer has to follow. It wont take you long to see that such engineers have stagnated to the extent that what used to apply some years back is already taken out of the picture.
And the client had been warned.
The client had been told that when chosing an engineer, seek to know their activity roles with other fellow professionals, professional societies, for such constant activity roles makes two or more people grow within the profession.
The client had to listen.
THE MAKING OF A QUACK ENGINEER
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Come on guy, what have you been doing in the village?
I've been building huts and i have seen that they do not fall.
I have a lot of experience big enough to build a skycraper.
And the client was savvy not for anything but he saw this one
would be cheaper.
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