Project Brief
One of the leading hospital chains in India embarked on an ambitious expansion plan that would add over 500 beds. The new addition would be more than 0.5 mn. sq. ft., including 3 basements, ground and eleven stories.
Challenges
Stocking Issues: Stocking raw materials is a major challenge for places like Mumbai where areas are very cramped. Conventional construction requires more space for the stocking of materials like rebars, cement, etc., which is not possible at the project sites like these. Additionally, metro construction and existing hospital building is making the area more cramped.
Faster Construction required: Another challenge of this project is that it is an extension of an existing hospital building, so it needs to be super quick, making the minimum disturbance to its existing operations. Which is very difficult with RCC for an 11-storey building like this.
Labour Mobilization: Conventional construction methods are more labor-intensive and require around 500-600 labor for a project like this, plus conventional methods are more time-consuming. Labor housing requires space near the project location, making the area more compact and resulting in slower execution. All this adds up to the cost making it more expensive and time-consuming.
Pollution: Lastly, this being the area around the hospital we need to ensure that there is minimum noise or air pollution caused on site. So that hospital can operate smoothly with minimum disturbance to the existing patients.
How Can Tubes Help
With the help of APL Apollo’s wide range of structural steel tubes everything can be built on Tubular sections (Hollow Steel Sections) which saves time and the fabrication gets much easier. Minimal or no on-ground fabrication is required as it is pre-fabricated, precisely engineered and cut to length which speeds up the entire process.
No Stocking Required: Construction with conventional methods requires more time and more storage on site once the material is delivered, stocking raw material in a compact area is difficult. On the other hand, as compared to tubes, construction is much easier and it hardly takes around 8-10 days per slab. Every day fabricated material can be transported on-site and can be erected the next day, this makes the process more efficient and faster, with minimum stocking requirement on site.
Faster Construction: Currently, every day 20 tons of steel is being delivered to the fabrication site, the tubes are fabricated, connections are made and then dispatched to the construction site, 20 tons of material is unloaded on site in the evening and is erected the next day, receiving the next 20 tons in the evening. The entire process ensures the construction of the complete superstructure in 29 weeks.
Less Labor Required: On-time supply, easier fabrication and faster erection makes the entire process more efficient, that too with very less labor requirement. As we compare the conventional construction method with tubular construction there is approximately 10 times more labor required for RCC. More labor adds up to the cost, plus requires more space near the site.
Environment Friendly: According to the research, construction contributes 30 percent of the Co2 emission, while being too loud and noisy, plus it requires groundwater consumption. On the contrary, tubes are more environment friendly, as tubes come in cut-to-length sizes which can be easily installed with connectors and bolts, which require no on-ground fabrication or welding, reducing carbon emission or noise pollution, moreover, conventional construction method requires a lot of groundwater while construction, and even after construction, while steel construction requires very less groundwater.
Additional Benefits of Tubes
The overall project cost with tubes is less as the fabrication is easier. In addition, tubular construction is faster and we get more carpet area and clear height as there is no encasing required in tubular construction. Tubes have smooth edges and are aesthetically appealing.
In Conclusion
Tubular construction can benefit us in multiple ways:
- Faster Construction
- Cost Effective
- Lower labor cost
- No on-site stocking required
- More environment friendly
- Aesthetically Appealing
- Additional Carpet area and Clear height
Structural steel tubes can be used to construct any structure like hospitals, schools, railway stations, warehouses etc.
