Internship

Presentation
This presentation covers
- The company
- overall experience
- Benefits gained
- conclusion and recommendation
By: Ephrem Beyene
The company
I spent the four month internship period in MGM consult
MGM consult is one of the most prominent consultants in Addis Ababa
MGM consult is engaged in the design and supervision of Building
structures, Roads( highway), Different water works and also Contract
administration and quantity surveying

Other than MGM consult , I have worked with Merid belay

general consultant and contractor.
Where I was assigned
The company assigned me, despite my interest, on site
Arada city project administration building is where the company sent me.
Arada sub-city office building is located on the way from arat killo to paisa at
basha wolde reconstruction site.
Block A and B
Typical Floor Plan Some Observations
The main building is divided into three blocks

The central block is called A

Block A is B+G+12( with the 12 floor being the

service floor)

The left and right wings are called B left and B

Right

Block B right and left are B+G+8

The Built up Area of block A is approximately 700

square meter

The built up area of block B, both left and right , is

400 square meter.
Block C, Most of the discussion
Ground Floor plan Some observations

Block C serves as a conference

hall and parking
The Built up area is 960 square
meter
Its B+G
The building progress when I joined
the site
Block A and B Block C
Section of the company I was working
in
I was working both with the consultant and
the contractor.
I was working both site work and office
work.
In the design office ( with merid) as a design
engineer
Site work For Block C
In the site work I observed:
Earthwork and excavation
Structural concerting: footing , column, beam and slab
Hardcore placement
Excavation and Earthwork

bulk+ pit excavation Some observations

Site clearing is done with 1m

working space and its measured
in square meter
Bulk excavation is for Basement
floor which serves as parking lot
Payment mode is every 1.5 m
increment
Pit excavation is done in row of
columns
Concrete work
Footing Some observations

Concerting is done using crane and large size

bucket as transporting means

The use of chute is limited because of varied

location of footings and columns

As work progressed pump was engaged with

super-plasticizer as admixture

C-25 concrete with 42 N cement from Dangote

and some times derba is used

The traditional 1:2:3 mix ratio is used with 700 ml

mixer is used

All footings with 2x2 m size

Foundation column
Typical Foundation column Some observations

Foundation column height is

variable
Its height is decided based on the
soil condition, if good soil is meet
at near depth, then it will be
shorter and if good soils is meet at
greater depth then it would be
longer.
Size was 400mmx400mm for all the
columns
Concerting followed the same
procedure of footing pads.
Beam
Grade beam Some observations

Grade beams----those placed on

grade( sub-soil).
They are large in size and only
serve as tie between columns.
Same grade of concrete and
mixing, placing procedure as
foundation columns.
They are casted 10 cm lower and
the remaining 10cm together
with the slab.
Slab
Slab on Grade Some observation

The same grade of concrete and

procedures
Load is directly transferred to
sub-grade so only small amount
of rebar is placed
Rebar work
Ferayo(Bar Bender) is the person involved in the process of bar bending
As per the plan d/t bars with different shape are prepared
They are placed where the drawing locate them
Most Engineers focus on Rebar work, since its misplacement causes
serious issue on strength.
Formwork
Slab formwork consists of ply wood , struts(probs) to support the
plywood and I beams to transfer the plywood load to the probs
Plywood is used for slabs- with size 2x1 m
Beams are casted using timber formwork
Columns are placed using timber formwork
Slab formwork pic
Removal of formwork
Without admixture With Admixture
Tests
Slump Test Cube Test
If true slump is > If cubic strength is less than 25 MP reject
Tests Continued
if percentage of silt is >7 % reject
Office work
In the office the following works are done:
- Take off analysis
- Bar schedule preparation
- Optimization of bars
- Introduction to Contract documents-lecture
Take off analysis
Typical takeoff sheet Some observations

Column 1 is timesing
Column 2 is dimensioning
Column 3 is squaring
And the last column is
description
A set of rules should be followed
while inserting numbers into the
sheet
BAR SCHEDULE
Typical Bar schedule Some observations

The information needed to develop bar schedule are:

- Location of the bar

- Diameter of the bar

- Shape of bending

- Length of the bar

- Number of members and bars

- Then each diameter is done together to get the

weight

* The output of bar schedule is weight

BAR optimization
To be economical bars that are wastage from one berga would be
placed in a location with that length in need
Its either done with hand or with software
The software is better with better capabilities to optimize
Cut logic software is a typical example
Design office
I was assigned to work on B+G+8 building as a design engineer.
And I have accomplished the task with success except developing
statical report.
Challenges Faced

Language problem as it was my first work.

Lack of office equipment like computers on the site.
Agreeing with other work colleges.
Negligence of some Engineers when we ask questions
Adapting working environment.
Unavailability of working document.
Remedial measures

I tried to know more peoples on the site to see who can cooperate with
me
I have tried going to other students sites to share knowledge.
Communication challenge: -This challenge makes us not to have
healthy communication with the site communities such as; Forman,
kabo, daily labour, store keeper e.t.c.
Being polite and asking calmly to get response
Asking for drawings and other documents from main office
Overall benefits gained

Practical skills
Theoretical knowledge
Interpersonal communication skills
Team playing skills
Leadership skills
Work ethics related issues
Entrepreneurship skills
recommendation

Consultants should avoid ordering extensive tests which would cause the project cost
to go higher
Sometimes backfill material is ordered to be brought from far borrow site which
would cause the transport cost to be higher and as far as possible near borrow sites
should be investigated than far sites.
Engineers should always be on site since daily laborers doesnt care about the project
as far as they get paid and from what I have seen many engineers take too much tea
breaks.
Most site engineers are very busy doing the work that is expected from them, so
internship students should understand and learn from observation than too much
questions, ask but be specific.
Most of the time skilled daily laborers are not selected through careful methods, they
are just assigned without testing this causes some works to be less quality than
expected.
Recommendation
Most of the time mix design isnt carried out on site causing the concrete
that is proposed on the specification not to attained so please carry out
mix design or mix testing to see if the proposed mix design can achieve
the desired concrete strength.
Improper placing of rebars on site is very common and disgusting
practice. Rebar is metal composed of iron and when iron is exposed to
water and mud it will corrode and most engineers say the rebar has
protection layer and its okay but its not logical and please stop this
practice.
Mixing concrete in good proportion for testing purpose and using poor
quality concrete for the actual construction is a common practice to
obtain more money than the contract agreed amount and please work for
your consciences.
Thanks for your attention