The construction business in general requires huge amounts of capital, right from bribing the officials(India specific) for approvals to getting the raw materials, labour, etc which are general requirements. The speed with which the project gets completed is very crucial for the profitability of any project. The earlier the completion the better for the companies to sell of their product and handover and move on to the next. As the cycle time reduces, definitely the labour, capital etc can more effectively utilized.
All the modern consturction is based on Pillar construction technology. The building structure, which essentially carries the entire load is made of reinforced concrete. Thus the setting time of concrete sets the pace if labour, materials etc are in place. With increased in development of concrete technology, the ready mix concretes available with customer specific setting times has bought about a change in construction practice. In times when a factory floor is made, it filled with concrete, allowed to harden for a minimum for 5days before loading equipment. Now within 24hrs the concrete gains enough strength to erect the machines and work starts. During the construction of the Burj Dubai, it is said that every floor the building is constructed on a average of 1week, this is possible due to the setting of concrete and gaining the strength.
But huge multi storeyed houses are in demand, there are technologies available abroad when the entire interiors are pre fabricated, and fitted as panels as per the requirement. The work of plastering both interior and exterior is being replaced with panels that can be fixed to the walls thus reducing the finishing time of the individual houses in big apartments. this technology is still in nascent stages in our country, but will be picked up as the demand for houses increases.
Recently in a apartment complex of 10storeys was consturucted using prefabricated modules. The individual modules are complete entities and only supplies water, fuel, electricity etc are to be provided from the outside. Alll the other work essential for a house are already fitted in. This technology is a very good and has the capability of bringing the cost of the houses if produced in large scales. The entire construction of individual module can be done just like the assembly of cars and some customization is also possible if due care is taken.
The preference of Indians for individuals is very well known. Various methods of building individual houses like readymade walls etc are also tried. Using different materials for constructions etc to speed up the construction has been attempted. But large scale implementation has not occurred. In some places, people live in the shipping containers and the modular construction can be said to have taken inspiration from this crude way of living. With some creativity the technology has now been successfully trail tested. But whether such construction will be quake proof is only to be verified.
The modular housing technology is the next technology that will revolutionize the construction industry as a whole. Even the bridges that are constructed will be done in this way. Only foundation work is done on the site since this work cannot be shifted for heavier constructions. For individual houses, the need for foundation may oneday be ruled out completely ruled out. By putting a number of vertical pins made of concrete at discrete locations, the entire work of digging up of the earth of foundation will definitely be a think of past. The concrete pins(holes should made as in bores, then filled with concrete and steel) will transmit the load to the earth.
This modular technology is being practiced to some extent in the construction of flyovers, but the speed of construction is abysmal. This may be due to the poor implementaion of the plans by the beauracats in india or due to some other problems. But lot technology is to be developed in the construction field where in a better material for replacing concrete is required.
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