PROJECT BRIEF
The Indian Government is undertaking several initiatives to upgrade its aging railway infrastructure and enhance its quality of service. The scheme of station redevelopment is in synergy with the Smart City Project launched by the GOI. Currently, RLDA is focusing on the redevelopment of various railway stations, one such station, being a Railway Station in Andhra Pradesh. This project has a concourse area and roof area of 77,000 sq. ft. each with a larger span of 35 m.
CHALLENGES
The main challenge for any railway redevelopment project is that the fabrication and erection needs to be done very fast since the operations of the station cannot be stopped. Another challenge of this project is that the depth of the concourse beam including the slab needs to be maintained within 2 meters.
As we work on this project, we aim to reduce the execution time through easier installation and fabrication so that there is minimum disturbance to the regular operations of the station and reduce the overall steel consumption, with minimum wastage of steel resulting into a lower project cost.
SOFTWARE USED
The Station is designed as per IS800, IS 875, IS 1893 using structural steel tubes on STAAD-Pro Connect software.
STEEL STRUCTURE DETAILS
Direct Forming Technology has been used to provide customized, cut-to-length sizes to the client, making it easier to fabricate and install, this reduces the fabrication time, making the construction easier and faster, which is a major challenge for any railway redevelopment project.
To optimize the steel structure, the studies were done in both conventional Built-up steel members and through tubular technology, and it was found that while weight in other PEB built-up structures was approximately 1700-1750 MT, we were able to achieve it by 1477 MT through tubular technology, which is approximately 15 percent of less steel consumption.
Built-up sections have harsh edges and require encasing with concrete/gypsum board, which increases the execution time at operational railway stations while the in case of structural tubes such encasing is not required as they have smoother edges and are aesthetically appealing. In conventional steel structures, the wastage is up to 5-6 percent, while there is hardly any wastage in tubular structures.
IN CONCLUSION
After working on the design intensely and considering all fabrication and erection concerns the conclusion drawn was that we can speed up the entire process of fabrication and installation by using cut-to-length APL Apollo tubes, while reducing the total tonnage by 15-17 percent, making the structure lighter and reducing the overall project cost up to 7-10 percent.
