Unfinished Site Visit 4: Warehouse, Grovedale

Whilst i was driving through Grovedale i stumbled across this warehouse site in Essington Street. I was fortunate enough to get permission, from a group of concreters who were on site, to take some photos. The Builder for this project was David Anderson for the Master Builders

Shows the connection from the purlins to the rafter. You can also see the insulation in this picture.

The connection between the bracing and propping to the concrete tilt-up to the concrete slab.

In this picture you can see the bracing and propping in full length. The cross bracing in the cieling is connected to the rafter along with the purlins. Again in this photo you can see the insulation.

Again the bracing and propping is evident in this photo but you can also see the girts and how they have been connected to the concrete panel.

You can almost see the full span of the rafters in this picture and how the purlins are connected to them. You can also see the extent of the bracing and propping and how it is needed for each concrete panel. The bracing and insulation in the cieling is also evident.

What the tilt-up concrete panel looks like in full close up view.

View of the site from the outside.

Completed warehouse in the neighbouring lot.

Article 6: Keep Construction Sector Watchdog

Source: news.ninemsn.com.au

This article is about the Government's decision to keep the ABCC which oversees the building and construction industry in regards to violence, intimidation and thuggery on worksites. Unions have been pressing to get the ABCC abolished and have found themselves at odds with the overtly union friendly Labour government. Despite the unions putting together a national campaign the Government has stuck by its decision on the basis that the ABCC has nothing to do with Work Choices and has been a huge bonus for the industry in terms of productivity and less disputes.

In terms of keeping the ABCC i totally agree with the Government's choice, there has to be a body within the industry that can keep things in order and ensure that standards are met in all work places. Without the ABCC we could again see a rise in not only disputes but workers disastifaction which could see skilled trades people leaving the industry.

The article:

The proposed abolition of a commission set up to enforce workplace laws in the construction industry would see a "return to the dark ages of militant unionism", the Master Builders Association of NSW (MBA NSW) says.

The Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) was set up by the Howard government in 2005 and given powers to enforce workplace laws in the building and construction industry...

Read the full article by clicking on the link below:
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=568034

OneSteel Online Learning Portal

OneSteel have devised a learning portal which shows you the process involved in steel manufacturing. If you use the link below you can look at a range of options including ore products, iron making, steel making and steel products. I found the information on steel making and steel products particularly useful when doing the major project.

http://www.onesteel.com/onesteel_whyalla/inductions/courses/unit217/topic3/page1/default.htm

Notes and Plans for Brambuk

I was fortunate enough to secure details, plans and notes of the Brambuk Information Centre. Click on each of the pictures to see full scale drawings.

Structural details 1.

Structural details 2.

Strucutral elevations and sections.

Deck layout plan.

General notes and specifications.

Raft slab layoutplan.

Roof structural layout plan.

Model Making

On Wednesday i visited my grandparents at their farm in Euroa. All the materials used in the building of this model are recycled and all the tools were already on site. The model was made to scale using the measurements that were given to me by PJ Yttrup, with the exception of the column. It wasn't feasible to construct a model that was going to be several meters long as i would not have been able to transport it to the university. Instead i opted to give it a reasonable length, with the main component being the actual connecting of the two elements.

The following pictures and descriptions show the process of how the the model was completed.

The steel we wanted to use was to long, so we marked out sections and used 2 and a half pieces to get the correct measurements.

The angle grinder was then used to cut two pieces of steel to the size above. We then used clamps to keep them together to get the desired thickness before we welded the two pieces together.

The welding process then began, first the two pieces of steel that were being used for the base plate followed by the two and a half pieces of steel that were being used for the steel reinforcement inside the LVL column.

A small piece of steel was then cut and placed on top of the steel reinforcement before being welded into place. We then marked up the base plate so that the steel would sit exactly in the middle.

Once the steel was welded a grinder was used to get rid of any sharp edges. We then covered the steel in a plasti-bond filler and sanded it down to fill any holes.

To make the "LVL" column we used several pieces of scrap marine plywood which we cut into pieces then glued and nailed together. Because the steel reinforcement would be going inside the frame we also needed to ensure that it wasn't hollow so we had to fill the frame we had made with extra pieces of timber to make it more realistic.

The steel was spraypainted silver to give it a galvanised look and to hide any blemishes that had been caused during the welding etc. The "LVL" column we originally constructed was finished with some natural wood plywood to give it a nicer finish before we began drilling holes into it.

We used the holes on the column to mark off where the holes would need to be placed on the steel then proceeded to drill the holes into place. Holes were then drilled into the base plate and the construction of the section really began. We had to line up the frame with the pieces of timber inside it and the steel to be able to bolt the entire thing together.

Off-cuts from the natural wood plywood were used to seal the bottom of the column before bolting the base plate to the concrete. The only thing left to do now is varnish the timber.

Article 5: Construction Recovers, Housing Depressed

Source: sharecafe.com.au

This article is about the flucuating state of the construction industry and how at present it is the force of the resources and infrastructure boom that is keeping the industry going strong. In fact construction work increased by 2.3% from last qauter.

It seems at this point the housing sector is the only sector that is really flagging and that is mainly due to the Reserve Bank of Australia's continuining campaign against rising inflation. There has already been two interest rate rises this year and could be another one on the way in the very near future which will inevitably mean even slower months ahead. Unfortunatly this coupled with the rising cost of steel means tough times ahead, especially for smaller builders.

The article:

No real joy for the becalmed home building industry in the latest figures on construction work.
There was some growth in activity in the March quarter, but nowhere near enough to do anything about relieving the pressure on rising rents, house affordability and closing the gap between demand and supply for new homes. Instead the construction work figures showed a rebound in the first three months of the year that was driven by the resources and infrastructure booms...

The above graph shows the fluctuation of construction work from 2002 through to 2007.

Read the full article by clicking on the link below:

http://www.sharecafe.com.au/article_air.asp?a=AV&ai=8828

Unfinished Site Visit 3: Pakington Strand

The Pakington Strand is a new development by Woolworths located on Pakington Street in Geelong West. Apart from a full-line supermarket, the project includes more than 300 car parks, 22 specialty stores, offices and landscaping. The Safeway will be the company's first "green" store with the use of natural light.

This particular site has focused heavily on the use of tilt-up panels. The concrete elements would have been cast into the horizontal position close to the final location. It would then be lifted by a rotating panel until it is in a vertical position that you can see in this picture.

In this picture can see the strongbacks which enable the panels to be lifted into place. They comprise of steel sections that are fixed to the panels. The use of bracing and propping is significant in terms of resisting construction loads, wind loads etc.

When it came to having these particular panels on site the builder opted for stack casting, this is when 3 or 4 panels are on top of each other. A bondbreaker is used to seperate the panels which makes for a more efficent and economical construction process.

Artists impression of the completed project.