Formosa Builders Inc., Intern Report
-
Upload
joshua-yu-eit -
Category
Documents
-
view
52 -
download
2
Transcript of Formosa Builders Inc., Intern Report
!
"!
!
!"#$%&'(&)'*+%*+,&- .!
)/01!23&45&67!389:)!687&-前言.& 4&
)/01!23&;5&9601/30<=&>0??&-連續壁#& @&
!!!!!!!$%&'!! ()(!*作用#! +!!!!!!
!!!!!!$%$'!! ,-(./01.2,-!*結構#! +!
!!!!!!!$%3'!! 42-.)-4-1)5(46).7!18)19(!*維護5安全檢驗#! :!
)/01!23&A5&B!3:!!67<&-安全支撐.! &;!
!!!!!!!3%&'!</41)=!)>14?4.2,-!*開頚從、#! &&!
!!!!!!!3%$'!8,/2@,-.4A!B!?)/.214A!</412-C!*水平 B!垂直支撐#! &$!
!!!!!!!3%3'!(46).7!D)4(0/)(!*安全監測#! &E!
)/01!23&@5&C0B2=27!&67D30B!3:)!:32&-地下室基礎.& 4E&
!!!!!!!E%&'!.72-C!/)<4/!*(A4<(F!1,A0D-(F!<)4D(#!*鋼筋濯踣''版、柱、梁#! &G!
!!!!!!!E%$'!1,-1/).)!62AA2-C!H/,1)((!*混凝土澆置程序#! &I!
)/01!23&F5&8)2BB & &:檢搬.& ;G&
!!!!!!!+%&'!(46).7!*安全#! $&!
!!!!!!!+%$'!1,(.!*成本#! $$!
!!!!!!!+%3'!(18)=0A)!*時程#! $$!
!!!!!!!+%E'!J04A2.7!*品質#! $3!
)/01!23&E5&B6!2&H6B6!B&-工地參訪.& ;@&
)/01!23&I5&)87)?:B687&-結論.& ;E
!
""!
0112796J&05&906?K&?8<B&-日誌.& ;L&
!!!!!!!4%&'!K))9!&!*第一週#! $I!
!!!!!!!4%$'!K))9!$!*第二週#! 3G!
!!!!!!!4%3'!K))9!3!*第三週#! +&!
!!!!!!!4%E'!K))9!E!*第四週#! L&!
!!!!!!!4%+'!K))9!+!*第五週#! LI!
!!!!!!!4%L'!K))9!L!*第六週#! GE!
!!!!!!!4%G'!K))9!G!*第七週#! :&!
!!!!!!4%:'!K))9!:!*第Ñ週#! :E!
0112796J&C5&32D2327)2B&-參考文獻.& LF&
0112796J&)5&D83=8B0&C:6?923B&C362D&-宏昇營造公司簡介.& LL&
0112796J&95&1/8!8B&-實習照片.& M;&
0112796J&25&D670?&132B27!0!687&B?692B& 4GG!
&72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
I
$72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
Starting July 3rd, I began my internship in Kaohsiung, Taiwan with
Formosa Builders, Inc. This summer’s been quite the experience, and I’ve
been able to shadow some amazing engineers who have each taught me
something unique about the trade. For the past 7 weeks, I’ve spent my time
at a construction site, working on the bottom floors of a 26 floor high rise
designed by renowned Austrian architect and designer, Hans Hollein and the
structural engineering company famous for their design for the Taipei 101,
the Evergreen Consulting Engineer, Inc. Hans Hollein is an architect,
theoretician (唾寶伺), urban planner, designer, artist, and teacher who has
also been awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize for his splendid work.
“Evergreen Consulting Engineer, Inc. is a consulting structural engineering
firm offering services in the fields of structural engineering. These consulting
services are offered primarily to architects, owners and government agencies.
Since 1974, the firm has successfully completed hundreds of major structural
design projects. Included in these projects, there is a diversified scope of
designs for super-high-rise buildings, multi-purpose commercial buildings,
residential complexes, hospitals, hotels, museums, libraries, gymnasiums (稍
堰摯) , banks, studios, and factories. The most noted are 101-story Taipei
101, 85-story T&C Tower, and 50-story Grand 50.” (Turnkey Project for
Kaohsiung Exhibition and Convention Center Proposal on Package Services,
2010, Print) I’ve learned about diaphragm walls, braced excavation, bottom
floor infrastructure, and the workings that hold a general contracting
company together. Formosa Builders, Inc. works with all aspects of a project,
hiring and recruiting, taking all the steps and measures to get the job done
quickly and well. A quick summary about the company can be read in
Appendix C. It’s a highly collaborative (茄Ж) effort, but the job offers can be
extremely lucrative (モЧD隣疑). The company takes care of it all, so the
client has a
372-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
go to place to get the job done. I’ve been able to see, first hand, the different
types of issues that the company deals with when working with hired hands.
If it’s one thing, I’ve learned that time is everything for this company because
time is literally money. With every day wasted, the cost piles up and profits
diminish. Formosa Builders, Inc. has graced me with an opportunity to learn
and explore further into the depths of my major and I am glad to say that
everyday here has been a worthy learning experience.
In this internship report, I touch upon the research I’ve been doing on
the topics related to the project we are currently working on here in
Kaohsiung, Taiwan. As aforementioned, I write about several topics:
diaphragm wall, strutting, basement infrastructure, and the different checks
engineers need to pay attention to. In Appendix A, I left a daily log of my
realizations throughout this internship. My changes in understanding are
quite apparent because this internship has shown me so many new things.
This internship will definitely help me in the future. Practical experience
helps to clear up misconceptions about concepts that we learn in school, and
will help me pick things up faster in my future work endeavors (Ьó). My
only hope is that this report is enough to touch upon what I’ve seen in the
summer of 2012.
+72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
– U ( )
A diaphragm wall is a construction tool used to withstand the external
pressure of water and soil when a construction project requires braced
excavation (膝頚從、). The diaphragm wall is necessary when you need to
create a fairly watertight (横∈) wall and when you want to make a smooth
excavation site below water level without having to remove all the water from
the area. Not only is this beneficial for the construction process but it
doubles as a strong backing for good structures as well. Although the weight
of the basement floors along with the first two floors is enough to withstand
the upward pressure of the water now, the diaphragm wall is left intact(綾忝
尼緒疑) to maintain strength.
- C ( )
The construction of the diaphragm wall begins with the removal of the
soil to prepare space for the rebar cage. The way they dig out the soil is they
use a machine that drops a claw from about
50 meters up and use gravity in order to
bring it down with enough force to sink the
claw into the soil. The claws then close upon
the soil and bring it straight upwards. The
excavation happens in a rather snug area so
its important to make sure that positioning is correctly done and placed
before excavating. This requires that they do guide wall construction, which
gives the claw a direction to dig in. It
helps the excavation site stay neater and
also ensures that the panels dug out of the
ground is straight, so that when they pour
the concrete in the diaphragm wall isn’t
L72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
crooked (睥ム疑). Once the hole has been dug, the next step in the process is
to lower the rebar cage, which will serve to produce strength through bonding
once the concrete is in.
The rebar cage needs to have a
protective layer between it and the
external surface of the concrete to keep it
from reacting with water or outside
humidity (暹圭). If the inside rebar is
ever exposed, it can rust or chip, which
will affect the overall strength of the structure and can compromise the safety
of the entire building if left unnoticed for a long enough period of time. Once
the rebar cage has be set and secured in place, the next step is figuring out
how to effectively pour in the concrete. When the panel slots were excavated,
the entire trench(萌瀞 ) was filled with water that came in from the
surroundings. Because of this, the concrete cannot be directly poured into
the water, because the strength of the concrete will be diminished. The
solution is tremie (授棲) concrete.
This is a technique that allows us to
pump the concrete below the water
level. The pipe must be submerged
(樌腎) at least 1 m below concrete
level to ensure that the water does
not force its way up the pipe. As the
concrete hits the bottom, the water
gets pushed up and out. An important note is that they only excavate panel
by panel and fill in the concrete panel by panel as well. They have male and
female molds that they fill in. They always do the female sides first, which
border the male panel in the middle. Before filling the female side with
concrete, they first lay out a tarp to keep the concrete from spilling too much
G72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
into the surrounding soil, which would make it very difficult to excavate the
male sides surrounding them. The width of the female segments is limited to
2.5 meters to keep the pressure from being too high and bursting outwards
when filling in the tarp. Because the male segments already have the female
segments surrounding them, they are made larger and up to 4.5 meters in
width. All this, is to provide the wall with a strong connection to withstand
(堪從) the external force.
Once they start excavating, and we unearth one level at a time, they
begin to drill out the rebar to prepare for the next step in the entire
procedure, which is the tying of the rebar. They have formwork that are
within the concrete so that they know when to stop drilling so as not to
weaken the diaphragm wall any more than they need to. They then tear off
as much of the tarp on the female sections as much as they can, burning off
the residue at the end. These are all precautions that are taken to ensure
that the end result is clean, precise, and within regulations.
:72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
- M C ( / ) The
diaphragm wall is made to withstand a lot of pressure, and is built in
sections. Because of all this
pressure, however, updates need
to be made to ensure that the
pressure coming from the
hydraulic jack (岐攣~□鎮) (will
be discussed in Section 3.1 for
Braced Excavation) is just right
to withstand the force pushing inwards, and not too much that we’re pushing
the diaphragm wall outwards. They have sensors attached to the H-beams to
ensure that this force is acceptable and not over a certain value, which is
important to keep tabs on. All the sensors (丙數弃) are linked to the ground
floor where they attach the monitor to the wires to test it all in the same spot.
This saves them the hassle of going down each floor just to check the pressure
in the H-beams.
Another tool they use is the inclinometer (敏楚呷), which detects the
amount of deviation (剳孜) the diaphragm wall has from straight vertical.
They attach the monitor to a sensor and then they drop an emitter(嚢四稍)
that goes straight down and sends a pulse every meter or so. The receivers in
the diaphragm wall send back a
pulse that lets the monitor know
how far the diaphragm wall has
deviated ( 薪 渮 ) from straight
vertical. There is a threshold (丈
櫃 )number, meaning there is a
number calculated to be the value that the diaphragm wall cannot deviate
past, or else action must be taken. Negative deviation means the force from
I72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
the hydraulic jack is too high, and positive deviation means the force from the
hydraulic jack is too low. As expected, the force required by the hydraulic
jack increases as we go further and further down because water increases
pressure as you move lower and lower.
&;72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
&&72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
- B E ( )
Before excavation even begins, the diaphragm wall is inserted into the
soil down as far as is necessary. At this point, there are no forces on the
diaphragm wall because there are counter forces everywhere (in the soil), so
there is a balance. However, as you start to excavate one side, the pressure
begins to build up as we take away the counterforce (∴Жこó), and so the
diaphragm wall begins to take the force, weakening it. In order to counteract
this, we do what is known as braced excavation, which is the act of providing
our counter forces as we dig out a site. This way, the diaphragm wall does
not collapse(歳副) halfway down, endangering the lives of everyone working
there.
The actual excavation of each floor takes about 8-9 days depending on
each level. There is a machine that is rented per day that comes to lower and
lift up containers full of soil that a machine is digging up at the lower levels.
The man operating the machinery has a camera that shows him what’s below
so that he doesn’t have to worry when he lowers the soil container. Before H-
beams are set up, they pre-dig a hole so that they can lower the excavation
machine into so that it doesn’t collide(學昂) with the H-beams. Once the
general excavation has been done, they use the same machines to begin to
press down and tidy up the excavation site, in preparation for laying down
the pure concrete (PC), which is all a part of the basement infrastructure.
&$72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
- H B ( / )
As necessary the diaphragm wall is to the construction of the basement
levels, strutting is crucial to keeping a diaphragm wall up. The horizontal
bracing includes the H-beams (beams & girders.垈 ) that keep the
diaphragm wall from collapsing inwards, pushing against it to counteract (堪
萎) the force of the soil trying to
cave the wall in. The vertical
bracing includes the columns that
keep the entire strut structure
upright. The vertical bracing goes
in first. They begin by drilling all
the way straight down in a
circular path until they hit the soil composition they need and feel is stable to
hold the H-beam vertically. Then, in order to keep the H-beam at the correct
height, they fashion a brace that holds the H-beam in place as they fill the
whole with concrete. They
remove the concrete as they
excavate downwards in order to
attach the horizontal bracing
around the vertical bracing.
The vertical bracing is a series
of H-beams that go in a certain
formation in order to push the
diaphragm wall back outwards
against the external force. There are hydraulic pumps (綜攣庫) in the middle
of the H-beams that apply the force, increasing in amount as we go to lower
levels (reaching up to 140 Tons at the fourth level!). In the end, as they begin
building upwards, the horizontal H-beams will be removed one level at a
&372-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
time, but the vertical bracing will remain until they’ve finished off all the
basement
&E72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
levels. They will then sever the beam at the bottom floor and lift the rest of
the beam up and out. An old practice was to yank the entire H-beam out, but
that left a hole and a weak point for the water to push upwards, so they
started just cutting it the floor and leaving part of the H-beam in the ground.
It leads to higher cost but sometimes a little extra cost is worth the time it
saves. They have a plate that they solder onto the H-beam that blocks water
from seeping upwards through the edges of the vertical H-beam.
- S M ( )
As described above, the pressure in the H-beams are constantly being
checked to make sure it’s not too much or too little. The sensors are linked to
the top so that they can take all their measurements from one spot.
Checking from one floor to one floor would be extremely inefficient, and
would lead to unnecessary danger considering the construction workers need
to climb on top of suspended H-beams just to do the check. Another
important safety measure that is taken are the stairways. They are
necessary to get to the lower floor, but they can’t be installed until the H-
beams are set up for fear of breaking them when lowering the H-beams.
Because of this, they have temporary ladders that we use to get to the bottom
floor during construction. This is a dangerous substitution (透∽軌) so
construction workers must be cautious when using such measures.
Because we walk along the H-beams when working, it’s required that
they set up safety cables for us to attach our harness (トゃ隻) to. However,
doing so would severely slow down the work flow, so sometimes, it just isn’t
practical to have cables everywhere, which would even make the work place
even more dangerous. They usually have cables alongside the outside walls,
which does make it easier to walk around with something to hold onto. From
what I’ve learned, it’s that safety measures need to be constantly enforced in
&+72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
the construction site. A lot of shortcuts are often taken, but when people’s
lives are at stake, a little inconvenience is worth it to preserve their safety.
&L72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
&G72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
- T R ) !( (
)
Rebar is key in reinforced concrete. It’s necessary to take the tension
out of concrete because concrete can handle only one tenth the amount of
tension rebar can. So, because of this, we need to know where the forces are
and where the concrete is experiencing tension and where it’s experiencing
compression. It is important to note that the amount of rebar in a column or
beam must follow guidelines set by the structural design. Too little and too
much are both dangerous for their own reasons. Too little rebar can lead to
too much stress on the concrete and may end up in failure when there is
excessive tension. Too much rebar can cause the concrete to fail first, which
is a much more dangerous situation. For most floors, due to gravity, the
slabs get pulled downwards in the middle, and so the concrete feels tension
near the bottom side and compression on the top. Because of this, they place
more rebar on the bottom side of the slab and less on the top. This is the
same for every slab except for those on the bottom level where they have the
foundation. Here it is the exact opposite, because there is a force that pushes
up from below (the water trying to get up too). Because of this, there is more
rebar on the top part of the concrete slab and less on the bottom for the
foundation only.
Tying rebar needs to be somewhat precise because all the calculations
are already factored in, and putting in more or less can either endanger the
clients who use the building or create unnecessary cost by using too much
rebar. Engineers need to do these quality checks to make sure everything is
up to par and follows the parameters given in the construction design plan.
Another thing I noticed is the process they go about tying the rebar. If not
correctly planned out, it quickly becomes impossible to move around with
&:72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
giant rebar pieces, so everything needs to be done in a certain order, or else
you risk trapping yourself and causing more trouble than necessary.
&I72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
- C F P ( )
The concrete filling process is important because without concrete, the
building has no stability and no strength. The strength of the rebar comes
with its bonds to the concrete and the strength of the building comes from the
strength of the concrete. From this internship, I’ve only seen them fill
concrete up to the basement floor (foundation). Once the braced excavation
was complete, they proceded to cover the sand with a thin layer of pure
concrete (PC, about 10 centimeters thick), and then a much thicker layer of
foundation (90 centimeters). Only after the foundation was set in did they
begin to get ready to prepare to fill in the beams with concrete.
First off, to discuss preparation, formwork need to be set up to contain
the concrete within the beams that need to be the boundaries (奧艇) for the
water reserves. Without these formwork, the concrete would spill
everywhere and we wouldn’t have any tank space for water. They also only
do one half at a time in order to save costs on the formwork. For a country
like Taiwan, rain is a huge factor during typhoon season because it comes
and goes so often. Because of this, they must be prepared for any
circumstance. Once the concrete starts being pumped out, they cannot stop
the process until they are finished. If it is currently raining before they start,
they cannot begin the process because it may weaken the concrete too much
to have rain mixed at the bottom. However, the rain is harmless if it only
contacts the top once the concrete has already settled in its place. Rain does
affect the strength of the concrete, because it mixes and weakens the
mixture, but light rain is manageable considering the volume with which we
are working with. When it does begin to pour, however, considerations need
to be taken into whether or not the concrete has been negatively affected too
much. Once the diagnosis (Ц欹) has been decided upon, action can then be
taken.
$;72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
昵搬
$&72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
– S ( )
Safety is extremely important, and should always come first on a
construction site. There are so many opportunities to get injured and so
many lives at stake (ゑ渓牴搗), that it is impossible to ignore this check.
Engineers need to make these safety checks to ensure that the quality of the
precautions (裡横繊月 ) they take are enough to guarantee that the
construction workers go home safe and sound each night. Throughout my 8
weeks here with Formosa Builders, I’ve picked up a couple regulations here
and there in regards to safety control. One of the most important is making
sure all workers keep their hard hats on. During a hot day, it’s very
tempting to remove them for a couple minutes, or even for a job, to let off
some heat because it does get quite hot down at the bottom level with the
hard hats on, but those few minutes they don’t have their hard hats on could
be the few minutes that draw the line between life and death. Accidents
happen anytime, or else they wouldn’t be accidents, and hard hats are the
one article of protective clothing construction workers are required to wear,
so it’s important to make sure they keep them on.
Another regulation regards handrails (痼隠 ). They are required
whenever there is a walkway with a drop greater than 2 meters. Not only
that, but the handrails need to be double gated, and their sharp open ends
need to be taped up to prevent small injuries. All walkways need to follow
these regulations, and any walkway deviating from a fenced off section needs
to have a wire for safety harnesses. Although this second part is often
ignored by many construction sites, it can mean life and death, especially
when construction workers are walking back and forth along the H-beams
without a harness and carrying heavy loads. One slip-up (ー較黄血) can
mean a life. Other safety checks include diligently (怖勤ゲ) checking the
$$72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
pressures on the H-beams and the inclinometer (敏楚黒) for the diaphragm
wall to ensure that the construction workers are not in danger of a collapse.
- C ( )
Cost consideration is important for a construction project because, like
any business venture (excluding charity work), profit is extremely important.
The more you waste on unnecessary material, the less the company makes in
the end. The more the company spends fixing mistakes made, the less the
company makes in the end. Schedule is also extremely important in regards
to cost because a lot of the machinery is rented, so the more days it takes to
do a job, the higher the cost will be. For this specific project, they need to
continually suck out water to maintain a dry workspace. However, the
problem is that they need to do this 24/7 or else the job site will flood. What
this means is a constant use of electricity to suck out the water, so the longer
the project takes, the more money drains away (言a) , literally. For most
businesses, as long as the company hired is good enough, it’s good enough for
the project as long as the price is the lowest. True, some companies do a
better job than others, but if the job meets the standards and the cost
difference makes a huge difference, then the lowest price will be the most
desirable.
- S ( )
Scheduling a construction project is all about the planning. It is
crucial (紺酷疑) or else there is no way a project can be done by the given
deadline. Not only does the construction company need to think about the
current step at hand, but they need to prepare for the next step so that as
$372-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
soon as one step is finished, they can move onto the next. Delays are
inevitable (犂∇槃С), but with a good plan, they can be accounted for. If you
are two days behind schedule, but you know what’s coming, you can plan to
finish the next step twice as fast to make up for the lost time. This is how
you save costs and get the project finished on time to maintain good
credibility as a company.
- Q ( )
Quality checks directly affect your final product. Shoddily (托刳暎庁)
done steps lead to a poor final product. At all times, there needs to be a
standard that the company does not drop below, to make sure that everything
is accurate and up to par with the expectations of the client. This directly
reflects upon the integrity (勇劣) and reputation of a company and can affect
future clients decisions on whether or not to hire you. Quality checks include
checking to make sure that the rebar is tied correctly with accurate spacing
and the right rebar thickness. Not only is this important for the company,
but its important for the safety of your client. A poorly constructed building
is a danger to everyone whom steps foot inside and will only become worse
with time. Another type of quality check is setting the layout. This helps
construction works visualize the construction site and allows for fewer
mistakes when working. Less mistakes means less falling behind in the
schedule, which means less cost and more profit. Engineers must be in
constant communication with the construction workers. If something is
wrong, it must be corrected as quickly as possible to avoid any setbacks (a噌)
in the future.
$E72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
$+72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
Although for only an hour or so at each job site, I got to revisit some of
the job sites I stayed at when I came to Taiwan last summer. I saw the
finished product of the massive church in Pingtung, the railroad bridge in
Dahu, and the residential complexes in Tainan. The Pingtung church is
already in it’s final stages of detailed work, which is also where the slowest
progress is made because of all the detail that must be taken into account.
The railroad bridge in Dahu was a nice visit because I spent the most time
there so I still remember talking to a lot of the coworkers there. The bridge
has also made huge progress since the last time I was there. This project is
also in it’s more intricate(孺渙傳諾) stages, which takes a lot longer than the
columns took when I was there one year ago. The residential complexes are
also in the finer stages, as they are working on the external tiling (挽愧)
already. The interior design has not yet begun but they’ve already begun to
smooth out the concrete inside, prepping it for work.
Railroad Bridge Crew
Railroad Bridge Current Completion
Tainan Construction Site, Elevator
Shaft
Tainan Construction Site
$L72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
7
輩 寶
$G72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
Now that the internship is over, I can only hope that what I’ve picked
up from these past 8 weeks will not be forgotten. It’s definitely been quite
the experience. I’m finally on my final week of this internship, and I must
say I’m going to miss this place. Much thanks goes to Dr. George Kuo for
giving me this opportunity in the first place. Without him, I never would
have had this chance to learn so much. I also have to thank the engineers at
the Kaohsiung construction site for guiding me through this process. Much
thanks goes to Mr. Eric Wang and Ms. Sophia Lee for spending so much time
reading my reports that were written in English and helping me learn the
construction lingo in mandarin. Finally, I need to thank Mr. Ming-Hung
Hung and Mr. Chin Yen Kuo for also providing guidance when I was on the
jobsite, and in need of some answers to my many questions. True, what I’ve
seen is only the tip of the iceberg. I’ve only begun to nibble on a couple of key
topics in Civil Engineering, but a start is a start, and this was an excellent
one for me. I’m also aware that once I go back to America, things will be
completely different. Because the environment is different and the issues
they deal with there are different, the methods are not the same, and I’ll have
to get used to a whole new attack plan. What this internship has taught me
is more than just facts, it’s the “brass tacks” (黄劣充喉). I’ve watched and
tried to learn as much about the everyday going – on situations of a life as a
Civil Engineer, and that’s what’s going to stay with me the longest as I go on
to pursue my career as a Civil Engineer.
$:72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
D
$I72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
Week 1
Today was day one at the Kaohsiung
project and I’ve already learned quite a bit.
Most of the things I touched upon was
catching up on the things I’ve missed since
the beginning of the project. I had a brief
overview of the theories that went into the
building of the basement segment of the
project as well as had a peek at the
infrastructure that was in the process of being erected. I spent a lot of the
time today in the building setting things up with the crew that works here:
getting my computer connected to
Team View, a program that
supports remote control between
co-workers, connecting my
computer to the printer (which
still hasn’t worked yet), and
working on starting the
assignments given to me.
3;72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
A quick detail of the
assignments I have been given for the
rest of the internship:
• Report
• Daily Log
• Resume
• Presentation Slides
• Translate Blue Prints
I’ve also taken it upon myself to
gather a list of the definitions for the
key terms that they gave to me.
These key terms are important to
this project because they are the
main terms that are being thrown
around on the worksite. It’s still a
little difficult for me because I’m trying to translate back and forth between
Chinese and English. Even though I’m able to speak conversationally in
Mandarin, it’s still sometimes difficult to converse in technical terms when it
comes to working in Taiwan, but I hope that with time, the outlook will
improve.
So far, with about two hours
left, I’ve completed the Resume and
have included my spot here as an
intern into my updated resume and
will be sending it to Sophia Lee as
soon as possible. Some of the main
concepts I’ve been briefed about are the reasons going into why they use a
diaphragm wall here in Kaohsiung. I did learn that different regions use
3&72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
different techniques for building pressure-withstanding walls due to the
different types of soil that is inherent (怪モ疑) to each area. Kaohsiung and
Taipei may use these diaphragm walls on every high-rise, but cities like
Tainan use different means to build their base structure. It’s quite
interesting, actually, and I have a lot more to learn. I feel that because of the
slight language barrier, a lot of my starting knowledge will come from simple
questions I ask on the field and more advanced research I do online.
Hopefully, I can find a couple good articles for me to really learn the why’s
and the what’s that go into using these tactics. What I am curious about, is
how much of this is used in America. How much of these ideas overlap (紺瞰)
between the two countries, and how much they differ, a topic I will be sure to
dive into soon.
Something else I’m going to look
at tonight or tomorrow is how things
are divided up on the worksite. I
learned that there are four main hubs:
safety/environment, quality control,
schedule, and cost. Knowing this, I
want to research more to know just what exactly are their duties and
obligations on the job. There are so many things to take in and it’s hard to
write them all down, but I’m also keeping a document of notes of randomly
assorted facts and important notations (圦剌) for my own keepsake to refer to
when I am working on my main report.
Terms I saw and went over specifically with Mr. Kuo: diaphragm wall,
working platform (^ЖlS), deck (洽^還), hydraulic jack, strutting, bracket
(嚮権), and excavation.
!
3$72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
I started today by gathering
information on one of the topics:
Strutting. For this high-rise project,
diaphragm walls are needed to wall in
areas of soft earth close to open water
or a high ground water table. This
technique is often used when laying foundations for high rises in certain
regions that need it, and also to surround tunnels and open cuts. The
structure is placed in the ground and that’s where strutting comes into play.
In order to support the diaphragm wall against the pressure of the ground
and water from the retained side (side with higher soil elevation). The struts
are necessary to avoid collapse or endangerment to the crew working in the
excavation site.
The strutting technique used in the Kaohsiung project included both
horizontal and vertical bracing. I learned that the vertical column goes down
first and they sometimes use concrete at
the bottom to help keep it stable while
it’s first going in, and then they proceed
to break it apart once the vertical
column is set. When all is done and the
project is being wrapped up (敏§牴翫
疑), they cut off part of the beam and
seal it to make it more difficult for the
water to come back up. It’s also a
workable plan to take out the beam and
save some money by not having to
replace the beam segment left in the
3372-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
ground, but it makes it easier for water to reflow to the surface, thus making
it a bigger issue in the future.
When the horizontal braces go up, they put the triangular (Ö援疑)
supports in first, then place the H-beam on top of it. They also have broken
bamboo sticks that get piled on top of rebar they stick into the wall to help
hold the concrete that gets filled in between the H-beam and the diaphragm
wall. The reason there is concrete between the H-beam and the diaphragm
wall is to make sure that the safety structure sits flush with the wall. This
way, in the case of an earthquake, the structure is more stabile and less
prone (敏楚) to damage and caving in.
Today, I went down
to the construction site
with Mr. Eric Wang and he
took me down to the bottom
floor to check out the
infrastructure. That’s
where I learned about the
raft foundation (杯バ杉毯)
and had a closer look at the infrastructure. They are still working on digging
the last floor so I was able to
witness the wet sand at the
bottom and have a close look at
the entire process. They are
currently gearing up for further
excavation later on in the week
and they’ve pre-dug a hole in the
bottom floor already for the excavator (頚線恟) to drive into and have an
easier time digging. Mr. Wang posed many questions for me to think about,
3E72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
all of which I will spend time to researching in the next few days. A couple of
the questions he asked included: “Why do you think there are alternating
large and small sections in the diaphragm wall? And why do you think the
female is always the small one?”
He told me about the financial benefits for doing so and also discussed
the fact that with diaphragm walls, leaking often occurs at the construction
joints, which would be a problem in housing units, but there are ways around
it, such as erecting (蟻つ) a wall with space between the diaphragm wall for
the water to flow into a drainage (閃∈
悦濯) pipe.
Also, before I forget. I also learned
about safety control and the importance
of being a civil engineer who is on top of
things. Everyday safety codes may often
be skirted and slightly avoided by the
workers sometimes, and although it may
be enough to keep everyone safe in ideal
conditions, it still is not a safe working
environment.
A safe working environment will keep workers safe even in the case of
an emergency such as an earthquake. If there are any violations, they need
to be addressed immediately to ensure a certain level of safety and quality.
This is important in ensuring quality in a company and a project as well.
3+72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
I’m going to spend today
primarily fleshing out my
research on diaphragm walls.
I’m going to explain the
reasoning behind it and the
methodology that I researched
through the Internet and
through listening to the
explanations given to me here at work. I found an interesting article where
I’m pulling most of my information. The article is a pdf on Diaphragm walls
by Nicholson Construction Company in Pennsylvania, USA. Diaphragm
walls are important for a list of many reasons:
• Provide fairly watertight walls
• Be formed to depths of several
hundred feet, and can go through
almost any type of soil and even
through rock, still giving the
construction management great
control over its geometry (伝υ弯)
• Run excavations below groundwater
while eliminating dewatering
• Accommodate connections to
structures
• Can be adapted to anchors and internal structural bracing systems
• Help make excavation process smoother by allowing for work to be
done before process begins
3L72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
• Provide a backing for good
structures as well
The diaphragm wall is made to
withstand a lot of pressure, and is built
in sections. The first step that is taken
when creating a diaphragm wall is the
segment excavation, where they dig out
space for each segment one at a time.
They then lower the steel cages and then
proceed to fill in with concrete using a
tremie pipe (授棲偐).
I also got to go down to the site today by myself to have a look at what I
need. Unfortunately, since the diaphragm wall is already built, I could only
obtain pictures of the after, but at least I have access to the photos that were
taken before and during the process so I was able to glance at those files.
The information I got from my research today seems very basic, but it took
a lot of reading to even get this much, because the hardest part for me was
figuring out the process of things. For the next few days, I want to dive
deeper into the diaphragm wall and figure out the specifics, the reasons why,
and the many different related topics there are left to explore. Also, I
updated images for the daily log for not only today, but the past two days.
!
!
3G72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
!""#$%$
Today, I went down to the job
site again to take a look at the
hydraulic jack setup and the
measurements that go along
with reinstating a new level of
horizontal bracing. The
reason for the hydraulic jack
is to pre-apply the counter pressure that will be needed once the level has
been excavated. Today, they are working on the fourth level and the pressure
down there is to be 140 Tons. As expected, there is a need for increased
pressure as we go further down due to water’s tendency to increase pressure
as we go further down. The sensors are linked to the top so that they can
take all their measurements from
one spot instead of having to
move one floor at a time, which
would be very inefficient. The
measurements are used to
determine whether or not the
stress is too great still and
whether or not they need to
increase the pressure given by the hydraulic jack.
In the afternoon I met up with Dr. Kuo and discussed a couple more
topics that we saw on the job site, which included: permanent structures &
rebar support in strutting, female and male segments of a diaphragm wall,
hydraulic jacks, car washes, safety railings, H-beams safety checks, the
erection process, different forms of beams, and soil composition. These are
3:72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
the topics I intend to look into for the next few days, leaving a detailed
notation in my daily log.
To tackle a couple, I
will start out with the car
wash. The importance of this
is to keep the worksite
separate from the outside
world, to keep the dirty mess
within the confines of the job
site. This leads to less
problems and less complaints from the surrounding communities so that the
workers and the company can focus solely on the job at hand. For bigger job
sites, they use a full car wash where the car can drive through a pool that
washes off the tires and they can hose down the car. Because of the current
job site’s smaller size, they had to compensate by creating a grated hole in the
ground where the cars and machines can park and they can spray down the
car.
Another important matter is safety checks and quality control.
Besides designs that help ensure the safety of the client, engineers need to
work about the safety of the workplace as well. That includes checking the
screws on the H-beams and all temporary infrastructures, installing safety
railings in all edges that are above a 2-meter drop, and checking to make
sure all safety harnesses are worn when necessary. There are many
regulations that need to be followed when on a job site and all onsite
personnel need to keep a sharp eye out for broken rules in order to keep the
environment safe for everyone. What was also pointed out to me today was
broken railings, which need to be fixed as soon as possible because they not
only do not protect the workers sufficiently, they also can be a possible
endangerment because they jut out in random directions.
3I72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
The next topic of
concern is the
diaphragm wall and its
female and male
counterparts. When
dug out, the diaphragm
wall is dug out in
sections by dropping a
claw from a high distance and using gravity to get the claw in. The female
segments are dug out first because they border the male segment and make it
easier to fill in the male segment. Because the female segments are not
supported by anything, they use a tarp to keep the concrete from secreting
outwards into the surrounding soil too much. The width is also limited to 2.5
meters to keep the pressure from being too high and bursting outwards.
After the female mold is ready and dried, the male mold is excavated and
then filled with concrete until the connection is flush with the female mold.
This provides the wall with a strong connection to withstand the external
force.
To take a look at the excavation process that we are using for this
project, it starts off with a diaphragm wall to withstand the pressure of the
water and soil pushing inwards against the wall, and thus forcing all the
pressure to come from the bottom, which will be combated by the weight of
the structure. From what they have told me, the weight of the building will
not be entirely sufficient until they reach the first or second floor, so they
need to continuously drain the area of water until they reach that point. The
next part is the creation of the temporary support system and actual
excavation of soil. This is the combination of beams, girders, and columns
that go together to keep the structure from collapsing. This structure will be
built as they dig downwards and will be pre-tensioned in order to withstand
E;72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
the external force once the soil is excavated. Once all the levels have been
excavated of soil, the PC is laid out. It is a thin layer at about 10 centimeters
and it simply there to keep things clean and organized. Once that is finished,
the foundation is laid in, which is a thick mix up to about 90 centimeters.
From then on, the construction can begin upwards, because concrete
structures require you start from the very bottom and move up.
I plan on finishing up the topics I looked at today in tomorrow’s daily
log. At the end of the day, I did go back to the job site one last time to see
how things were going. Most of the work was the same as the morning
because they were trying to finish the horizontal bracing so they can begin
excavation tomorrow. I did get to watch them use the inclinometer though, a
device that measures how much the diaphragm wall is coming in. If the
indent is too severe, extra actions need to be taken to either increase the
counter-pressure or reinforce the wall.
!
!
E&72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
Today, they began the
excavation. I got to see first hand
the process and also go to learn a
little more about what makes a
construction management company.
I asked Mr. Hong about the
different aspects of a company and
what comes into play in a company.
For example, I found out that in a
management company, other than
the employees, all equipment and
personnel on the field are rented
from another company. In my
opinion, this keeps the business local and it’s a clean way of dealing with
things. There is no hassle of having to transport equipment and machinery,
no worry about severe damage to your own equipment, and no need to handle
so many workers either. It makes the process more about managing the
resources you decide to hire. Hearing all this got me thinking, and I think in
the next day or so, I’m going to research company management so I can tell
what exactly is everyone’s job in a company such as this. I believe that it will
help me understand more about where everyone is coming from.
With soil excavation, I got to witness them working the lift today that
brings up all the soil. The man operating the machinery has a camera that
shows him what’s below so that he doesn’t have to worry when he lowers the
soil container. Once at the bottom, there were two workers operating
excavation machinery piling the soil into the lift. I found out that this whole
E$72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
process takes about 9 days and is a rather slow and tedious, but necessary
process. It may seem like
a dull process but I find it
quite interesting, and I
recognize its importance.
So far in my internship,
I’ve witnessed the process
of an excavation, and I’ve
seen a lot of the
precautions (裡横繊月 )
that they take before the actual digging. They think about all the different
aspects such as increased pressure after the removal of the soil and it is only
after all the necessary actions have been taken can they begin to excavate.
The next topic I looked into was measuring elevation differences. We
recently got a new elevation laser that tells you if something is on the same
elevation using a laser and a
receiver. Because of this, I got
curious in how elevation grading
is done on construction sites.
Using the new equipment that
they were holding today, I looked
up some articles on using lasers
to determine elevations. It’s quite similar to using a tripod and a viewer, in
that you need a reference, and you need a point of interest. Using the
reference with a known elevation, you simply take the differences. All the
calculations are relative and quite simple so it’s the act of setting up the
measurements that need to be precise to produce values of any meaning.
E372-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
A question from
yesterday that I wanted to hit
today was the vertical and
horizontal rebar placements
and why they were where
they were. The rebar
placement is meant to keep
the columns and beams that will serve to be the future permanent support
system up and strong. Because of that, the placements need to be exact, but
at the same time, construction can changed based on circumstances and a
good design always accounts for minor changes. Because of that, there are 9
slots for rebar instead of 7, to allow leeway in case the location of the column
is the change. The two rows are also put closer together to account for
vertical movement of the horizontal infrastructure.
!
!
!
EE72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
Today was day 2 of the digging process. Apparently, the cost for each
cubic meter of soil (or sand in our case) is 120 Taiwan dollars. Because of
this, it’s quite viable to hire people to remove the soil for you. This is simply
another connection I made from today to yesterday’s discussion about
company management.
I also got to watch them plan the
layout today on the site. They used a
handy piece of equipment in order to line
up and measure the distances between
certain points. The way it works is that it
sends out a signal and there is a person
on the other side who moves around and
bounces the signal back. They had a pre-
traced line drawn parallel (lη疑) to the
excavation site that they lined the
equipment with. The person carrying the
receiver walked along this line to certain
pre-determined points drawn up from AutoCAD. They were basically
verifying the distances between these points to prepare for post-digging work
where they start tying the rebar. One importance note to remember is to
keep the receiver perfectly upright (there is a bubble to help you determine
whether or not you are level) because the equipment will still give you
readings if it is crooked but it will not be accurate readings. After they go
down the main line, they proceeded to go to each point and get readings at a
90-degree angle to the first line, to get the line that goes to the other side and
verify that it is correct on both ends. This is all in preparation for the next
step in the long list of to-do’s for this project.
E+72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
Something I noticed these past few days is the low number of workers
on the site, so I had to ask. It’s
actually quite interesting, how the
planning goes that is. The fact that
sometimes you only hire a select few
and sometimes you get bulk man
power is all being factored into the
budget plan is quite amazing and I can already tell will take quite some time.
For the current step, the reason they only have about 4-5 workers on site is
because that’s all it takes. They are digging and that means two workers
operating the machinery at the bottom, one worker operating the lift at the
top, and one managing and keeping tabs on number of cubic meters
excavated. This, of course, does not include the 3-4 trucks going back and
forth with the soil/sand excavated. However, with the next step (tying rebar),
there will be 40-50 workers on site, a huge difference from the current
numbers. That is because tying rebar takes a lot of manpower and a lot of
people can be working at once. True, it may cost more per day, but a lot of
people working will lessen the time it takes to do the job altogether, which is
also important because we must remember that there are many other factors
involved, and each day costs money. Every extra day means an extra day of
sucking out water, another day to rent the temporary bracing, and another
day the company needs to pay for all the materials and machinery that are
rented. This is why, for most cases, cutting out work time is always better
financially.
I also learned something new about the stairways today. I was
wondering why they weren’t installed completely before when I first came
and why we had to use this ladder to get to the bottom and I learned that it
was because the bottom floor was not completely built yet so they were still
lowering the H-beams, which makes building stairs very improbable and
EL72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
even dangerous. It’s interesting because
it was something I would not have
thought of without the experience of
going through it. That also means that
every stage in the step has its own set of
safety precautions that need to be taken
and each precaution needs to be tailored
(ォ蛙) to each step and what’s being done.
!
!
EG72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
Today was a
continuation of the
excavation process, so
much of the day was the
same as before. They did
begin to open up the
diaphragm wall and
exposing the rebar, so that
was something new. They need to remove the concrete that is covering the
rebar so that they can tie it once all the excavation is finished. The wood that
is there is so that they do not need to chisel off any more concrete than they
have to to keep the wall as strong as possible. They also need to peel off the
tarp that is surrounding the female sections of the diaphragm wall.
However, because the tarp leaves some residue on the diaphragm wall, they
need to burn it in order to remove all of the tarp. Although the tarp does not
technically affect anything, it would be unclean and the job wouldn’t be truly
finished until the tarp is all off. In my opinion, this is an important aspect in
any work setting. Finishing a job right helps the workers and employees to
get that kind of mindset for every single job.
Not extremely important,
but something Mr. Wang pointed
out to me yesterday was the
clams ( 蛤 耶 ) /mussel( 修 祥 )
remnants (挧夕) that you can see
on the diaphragm wall, so I went
down for a look today! The reason I find this very interesting is because of
how it got there. Although it does not have to do with the actual
construction, it gets you thinking about the location at which you are building
E:72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
on. As explained to me, Taiwan is like any other island. It started off small,
and has amassed a larger amount of sediment (窺恤軌) and soil over the
years, and as a result, has grown larger. Because of this, the ground that we
currently stand on in Kaohsiung was originally part of the ocean. The reason
I believe this is important is because it emphasizes the importance of
knowing what is beneath you. This is why they must take soil samples down
to a certain depth because it can affect the design the company decides on.
The level they are currently digging through is mainly sand, whereas in the
upper layers it was soil. Knowing this can affect how much pressure you
need to add to the diaphragm walls and also how much suction (сó) you
need to keep the water from flowing upwards. I spent most of my day looking
through different articles today, trying to find something on soil composition
that was relevant.
!
EI72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
Went down to the bottom floor today. Couldn’t find the ladder last
time! But this time I went with Mr. Wang and he explained to me a lot more
about the different
things going on at the
bottom of the
excavation. I learned
that different parts of
the layout have
different elevations
they dig down to
because of how high the
building is above that area. For example, if the certain segment of the
building only goes to the third floor, there’s simply no need to excavate as
deep as the area that goes up to the
26th floor. It’s just a matter of
figuring out what’s necessary and
what’s not when planning. He also
described again the process of
planning first before taking action.
I believe this is really important
because without good planning, it’s very difficult to finish a project well
because a well-executed plan of action still produces poor results if the plan is
sub par. I bring this up because I saw the slight gap in the third floor H-
beam and the diaphragm wall. This can produce problems if there is an
earthquake and extra pressure comes from the outside and the H-beam
support is not completely flush with the wall because this does not transfer
the force into the temporary support beams. This, however, was inescapable
(ーD槃С疑) for this project because of a slight modification made in the
+;72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
middle that caused the H-beam support to land right where the rebar came
out of the wall, thus making it impossible for them to hold the H-beam flush
to the diaphragm wall. I also went up an extra level and finally found the
seashells/clams/mussels I was talking about the last post! They were stuck
right into the diaphragm wall!
I also got a little more insight into soil composition profiling today. For
this project, they dug straight down to 35 meters in 6 different chosen and
marked locations to see what the soil
composition was. For the first 10 or
so meters they got dirty, which held
up to force very poorly. The majority
of the profile was a mixture between
sand and soil, increasing in
percentage of soil as we go further
down and becoming all soil around the 33-meter mark. This is interesting
and necessary information because they need to know what the soil profile is
as they dig downwards to know how much water they need to be sucking out
to keep the water level at 1 meter below the surface. The proper flow out of
the pipes should be rather slow for them to know that they have the flow rate
correct. Having the suction too high or having too many suction tubes will
only waste energy and cause the cost to rise over time. Having it too low
means the water level gets too close to the surface and the ground floor
becomes difficult to work on.
+&72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
!""#$&$
Today I got to work
with a differential level.
Basically, how it works is you
look through the viewer and
match it up to a certain
marked point on a measuring
stick at the point of interest.
Of course, to make any sense
of the number that you obtain, you need a reference, which is a point that you
set where you know the elevation or depth. For example, in our case, we
knew a point that was at -12
meters. We first set the
differential level so that it was
stabile in the soil, and then
proceeded to see how far off it was
from the -12 meter mark through
the viewfinder. There is a knob
where you can adjust the focus of
the view so that you can see clearly
where the mark is where you’re
supposed to stop. The mark was
approximately 0.123 meters above
the -12 meter mark and the depth
we wanted was -13 meters, so we
knew that from wherever point we
chose, it needed to be 1.123 meters above that point when we look through
the viewfinder. Today was nice because it was the first time I got to do
+$72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
anything hands on and actually call the shots. It’s a rather simple task, but
it needs to be done right or else all the steps afterwards will be inaccurate.
Because it
rained last night, I
thought I would take
today to research a
little into work site
procedures taken
before and after a
rainy day or week, especially in a site where we are digging
downwards. Water flow can be
very tricky to deal with especially
when you’re working with a
contained site. For our case,
there are no precautions to take,
except to make sure anything
valuable isn’t left in the worksite
at the end of the day. They even
leave the fans they use at the
bottom because in the case of a
real flood, it doesn’t really matter
too much. Since we have
drainage constantly sucking out water, we can only wait for everything
to dry out a little bit before continuing the work. Depending on the
stage of the project, we need to react differently. For example, because
we are only digging/excavating right now, it doesn’t really matter that
+372-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
it’s wet. In fact, because they are in the stages of pressing down and
leveling out the soil, it’s actually better that the sand is a little damp
(埖暹) because the ground is easier to compact (攣棲). However, in the
case where they are putting in concrete, if it begins to rain, they may
need to stop because it can affect the strength of the concrete if the
water mixes with it. Knowing this, reactions to rain are all case-to-
case.
!
+E72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
Today I went out with Mr.
Wang to check out the job site and
see how things were coming
along. He showed me a couple
things and let me rework the
differential level by myself to
make sure I understood the
concepts. It’s interesting to notice how fast everything is coming together
within the past few days. You can already see the smoothing out of the
compacted sand and they’re
lifting their last two or three
mounds(趨) of sand. They’ve also
already begun to lay rebar in the
ground for extra support on the
side with the 26 floors. They cut
down the rebar that is too long using an oxygen tank dispenser and a lighter.
Now that the excavation is finally coming to end, more workers are starting
to enter the job site and more jobs are opening up. People are still drilling
out the rebar in the diaphragm wall, people are continuing the final stages of
the excavation process, people are flattening out the ground with tools, and
people are also using the solder iron and the blowtorch. They’re beginning to
prepare for cutting the H-beams at the bottom and filling the place with PC.
Two of the construction workers were soldering on the plates that would hold
back the water so the electrical wires don’t get shot out once they install
everything. They are also preparing to set the ground in for the building and
preparing to tie the rebar at the end of this week and possibly beginning of
the next. It’s quite exciting because soon there will be around forty to fifty
++72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
construction workers around, each doing something unique and all
contributing in a necessary way.
The next stage in this project is where the upward climb begins. Now
that excavation is almost
done, once the PC and the
foundation are set, they
need to start building
upwards. Because of the
water pressure, they will
not be able to stop
sucking out water until
after they’ve built the
first or second floor. This way, the structure will be strong enough to push
down the water pressure trying to push upwards.
!
+L72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
Because of the scheduling,
the tying of the rebar didn’t
happen today, so I wasn’t able to
see that much at work today. I
went down to the jobsite (it was
raining also), and just checked out
the finished excavation site. The
ground floor was relatively flat and well pressed, although Mr. Wang said
that the construction workers are going to work on it a little more the next
day or so. I also got to watch them work with the laser level, which is a
differential level that you can
handle and take calculations by
yourself. It costs about six times
as much as a normal differential
level but it saves a lot of time.
The way it works is it sends out a
laser point in all directions and
whoever has the receiving end has a receiver that beeps when the sensor is in
line with the laser. I also got to see the finished work of the soldered plates
that is supposed to keep water suppressed and noticed that the rain was
trickling down a couple of them. Turns out they needed extra work done on
them because they were not done well! Mr. Wang told me that they usually
check it with an x-ray light that tells them where there are holes or
weaknesses in the barrier.
Because not as much went on in the job site today, I decided to look
into the next step a little bit before I got to see it for myself. I did a little
research on tying rebar and found a couple steps and descriptions for what I
might be seeing in the next few days. The company recently sent the rebar
+G72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
they purchased to another company that does the work on the rebar, sending
back the different forms of rebar we needed. They sent us stirrups (cage
formation rebar that is meant to create a
framework to keep the larger bars in
position), dowels (L shapes ), corner bars,
offset bends (varies in shape and design),
hair pins (U shapes), and candycanes
(straight lengths with U shape at the end).
These, of course, are just possibilities,
seeing as how I have not yet seen the ones
they ordered.
!
+:72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
( )
Today was the beginning of a new segment
of the project. The excavation finally having been
finished (except for minor detailing and extra
flattening that needs to be done on the bottom
floor), the construction workers are now working
on installing the ground and preparing to set up
the wiring. This needs to be done before the PC
is put down because the ground and electrical
work needs to be set up underneath. The ground
is what keeps the residents of the building safe in
case of a thunderstorm. It runs the thunder or
electricity into the ground instead of the people inside the building, which is
why this is so critical. They’re also working on flattening out the diaphragm
wall as well today. They first apply a layer of substance that increases the
bond strength between the wall and the concrete, and then they apply the
concrete. This is so that the water will not rise through the cracks or
distance between the diaphragm wall and the actual wall. They’ve also
begun to attack rebar to the H-beams to prepare to sever it near the base.
They will sever it and put in the foundation once the
PC is all in place and
ready.
I also got an update
today from Mr. Wang about
why the plates were
leaking yesterday when it
rained. The plates were
supposed to supress the
water, so the fact that they
+I72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
were leaking was a problem. He explained that the reason was because
before the construction workers soldered the plates onto the H-beam, they
failed to scrape off the debris from the beam, and so when they soldered on
the plates, the connection was poor. Some of the debris easily broke off or
had tiny air pockets in them that allowed the water to trickle down slowly.
With the naked eye, it seems like everything is fine and the work was done
well, but the plates do not function as they are supposed to. Knowing this,
it’s important to always remember to double check your work, either by
yourself or with a co-worker. This ensures better quality in whatever project
you are working on.
L;72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
The weekend was an awesome break for me. It was relaxing simply
because I could comfortable converse in English once again. A couple of
friends and I took a trip around Kaohsiung and then to Kenting for the
weekend to just hang out. We went to the night market in Kaohsiung, took a
ferry and a bike ride around Qi Jing to eat seafood and enjoy some outdoors
time, and went to Kenting to do some awesome banana boat-ing!
Unfortunately, it was raining and there were high winds in Kenting meaning
the boats could not go out due to the large waves and the strong pull current.
Overall, the weekend was a great getaway and helped me relax a little with
some friends from back home. It was a nice refresher because it gets tiring to
constantly be in Taiwan mode all the time.
At the end of the day, I
had a couple cuts and sunburns,
but it was all worth it. The
original plans were to go banana
boating, maybe take up
parasailing for an afternoon, and
going to the night market at night. But everything needed to be changed
because none of that was possible with a rainstorm at hand. Luckily, my
group of friends is close and it didn’t matter that we stayed inside and just
had fun for the rest of the night.
L&72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
Week 4
Today, they were working on the layout. It’s
amazing how fast they got the PC down! However, I
still got to see quite a lot of things that were new
though. The first, of course, was the new layer of PC
that was put in last Friday. When Mr. Wang told
me about the PC and how it isn’t completely
necessary to get it perfectly flat, I thought that
concrete would settle somewhat on its own and that it would still be
relatively flat. However, when I stepped on the ground floor today I was
surprised to see that it’s still a relatively rough surface, which makes sense
because it’s only there to make it easier to set up the layout before tying the
rebar and laying in the foundation. I also got to see the rebar being laid out
on the floor. They had a batch of rebar that was already worked on and in
the right figurations needed for the structure, and they were lowering it by
crane. The construction workers on the bottom then separated them, placing
them upon the pre-marked locations on the PC floor. They also used small
cinderblocks to elevate the rebar to
ensure maximum strength in the
concrete. If the rebar are flush to
the ground, it doesn’t bond as well
as if the concrete as full access to
the entire surface area.
Since nothing can be seen in the final product, the construction
workers mark the diaphragm wall and floor using spray paint to help
themselves keep everything clear
when they are working on tying the
L$72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
rebar. It’s important to keep things somewhat accurate and so the engineers
need to walk around with the building code and match what’s drawn on
paper to what’s laid out on the concrete. In this step, it’s crucial to double-
check your work constantly, because the support system of any building is the
most important aspect. Safety is always number one whether it concerns the
construction workers or the clients that will be using the space after it’s
completion.
The other things I saw today included pulling on the rebar that were
stuck into the wall. This is necessary because the next phase of the job is to
start tying the rebar to the diaphragm wall in preparation to put the
foundation in. They also started attaching the black water sealer to the
diaphragm wall. This water sealer is the reason they must flatten the
diaphragm wall as much as possible. If it were not flat, then the seal would
not be flush and it wouldn’t work properly, no matter how much it expands to
the touch of water.
L372-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
Today, I got to practice
measuring and verifying the lengths
and types of rebar used. The
concepts used in the foundation
rebar structure are different
from those of the floors above
because the ground pushes
upward against the foundation,
causing the stress to be in the
opposite directions. With each
floor, there are two layers of
rebar, each floor used to counteract the different forces that are hitting that
point. For the foundation, because the force pushes up on the slab, the
tension is at the middle for the top layer and on the sides for the bottom
layer. Since reinforced concrete is designed to have more rebar to take the
tension off the concrete, there is more rebar in the middle for the top layer
and the sides for the bottom layer when it comes to the foundation. For each
floor up, it’s the exact opposite. Because gravity pulls down on the slabs,
there is more rebar in the middle of the bottom layer and the sides of the top
layer. However, today when I went down I noticed that they had not lessened
the amount of rebar in the respective areas but instead just had straight bars
going through all directions. The reason this is bad is not because of a
question of strength when the concrete goes in, but it is a waste of money and
resources to use so much rebar since rebar is expensive.
LE72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
It was nice that I was able to practice with the measurements today
because it is a skill I’m going to have to use in the future. I have most of it
down, but there are a few things I want to try again tomorrow. I had to come
back halfway because it was pouring and I had my camera on me so I needed
to bring it back to the office. It’s very interesting to see the things I’m
learning go into play in the real work world. For example, I learned about
beam stress and stress distribution during my second year in college and
seeing it in action today really helped me solidify my understanding of those
concepts. I’m hoping to retain
as much information as possible
now to help me in my future
studies as well because it can
come in handy in helping me
visualize the problems I will see
in the classes I take.
There are also different types of foundation that are used for different
ranging levels of force. For an ordinary, smaller sized house/building, single
column foundations are usually enough. If it gets a little higher, maybe up to
8-10 stories, designers need to consider using a continuous foundation, which
is a line of columns together. This provides more stability and the ability to
withstand more force. For our case, a 26 floor high rise, we need a full
foundation slab in order to withstand the force of the buildings gravitational
(紺ó疑 ) force to help keep it from crushing itself in its own weight.
Sometimes, depending on the soil content, they need a driven pile or a bored
pile which is dug straight into hard rock/stone in order to make the
foundation that much stronger.
L+72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
Today I got to really
have a chance to work with
something practical. Instead
of just walking around
watching people work, I got to
do some measuring myself. I
learned how to read the charts
on the blueprints and tell what
they mean. Yesterday, my practice got cut short because of the rain and the
business but today I really got
to walk around and practice
measuring and verifying the
work done by the construction
workers. I also had a short
conversation with one of the
construction workers who
worked for the company. He’s the one that’s always at the job site no matter
what job they’re doing and he wears orange/blue. It was interesting talking
to him simply because he spoke of the importance of experience you get on
the job. He talked about how, coming here six years ago, he knew how to do
none of the stuff that he does today and now he’s capable of doing all the
projects.
LL72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
The second time around, I got to see them finishing up one row of the
rebar tying on the sides. Mr. Hong showed me how to check to see if it
matches up with the diagram but I’ll have to find a diagram for myself and
try it out tomorrow to see if I really got the
concepts or not. It’s not hard in my opinion; it
just takes practice to get used to knowing what to
look for and making it an efficient process. When I
do my rounds and checks, I noticed that it takes
me a couple seconds sometimes to think about
where to look on the diagram and also to organize
what I’m looking for.
LG72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
Today I
learned how
to verify
beam rebar
placements.
It was hard
to get around simply because they blocked off
each section into squares so in order to walk to
the other side of the construction site, I needed to
wedge myself between loose rebar that wasn’t
tied yet. I talked to a couple of the construction
workers there, not really about much other than what I was doing here this
summer and where I go to school. For beam rebar placement, the places I
had to check was mostly number of rebar, unlike slab rebar placements.
Only for the stirrups (テ敗) did I measure using a measuring ruler instead of
counting the number of rebar. The work that they do is tough though, and I
have a newfound respect for them. They’re not the youngest group of people,
but the labor that they go through is arduous and demanding on their body.
One of the pumps also broke down today! It was exciting, in my
opinion. I wanted to see just how fast it would start flooding, but because
there were working pumps nearby, the leak wasn’t too severe. There were
people there in the afternoon fixing it, however, and it seemed like they
removed some of the water that was
leaked out. I can only imagine the
disastrous effects of a power outage
and thus the loss of all the water
pumps.
L:72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
Today was a simple
continuation of what I saw
yesterday. I got to measure a
couple more wall beams and
validate (夛剪) my findings from
yesterday. Other than that,
today was pretty much the same as yesterday, which is fine. I’ve started to
realize that jobs on a construction site oftentimes take more than just one
day, especially for projects on a larger scale. Also,
safety is a huge measure when it comes to building
foundations because handling large pieces of rebar is
dangerous and also because the end result needs to be
accurate to a degree to ensure that the building lives
up to its building code and safety measures. Other
than that, I spent most of the day fixing up the daily
reports for the final intern report! It’s starting to look
better! And the pictures are also starting to go in.
LI72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
Week 5
Apparently, over the weekend
one of the construction workers fell
over the side of an H-beam while
trying to help reposition a bundle of
rebar they were lowering into the
job site. Luckily, there was no
injury worse than a couple broken ribs, because it could have been a lot
worse. It kind of opens your eyes to
just how dangerous the job site can
be, and why all those safety
precautions are so necessary in
keeping the construction workers
safe. I tried walking along the
H-beams myself and I always get
slightly nervous because of
what’s lying underneath, but
these construction workers walk
along these beams without even
thinking about it and they need to maneuver (寫壬 ) themselves while
carrying equipment. There are so many ways to get injured it’s quite
surprising more things don’t happen. There are, however, many precautions
that can be taken to lessen this danger. For example, if a construction
worker is on an open platform with no railings above two meters off the
ground, they need to be harnessed in. Unfortunately, not many people do
this because it proves to be a huge hassle when you’re moving from beam to
beam and you need to move quickly, so a lot of short cuts are taken, and
sometimes short cuts lead to injuries, which range from mild to serious.
G;72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
Another thing I got to see was the column rebar placements. I
personally think its much easier to check these compared to the beam and
the slabs because you only have to count and check the thickness of the rebar
to make sure they used the right ones.
The charts are super simple and the
concepts for placement is understandable
as well. It’s even easier for foundation
columns because you don’t have to worry
about the extra stress within the L/4
range, since it’s all submerged (樌腎) in the foundation.
G&72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
Today is the last day of tying
rebar as they prepare to put the
foundation floor in. It’s near
impossible to walk through the bottom
floor now because the rebar is blocking
the way now that they’ve erected the horizontal rebar. Because of this, in
order to get around, we need to walk around on the H-beams in order to make
it around and have a good look at things. Mr. Wang told me that the most
important thing to think about when
walking on these suspended H-
beams is to constantly watch our
step. Even if you hit your head or
walk into something, you have a
hard hat whereas if you misstep and
trip over something on an H-beam, there’s a good chance you will fall over the
side and then you’re at the mercy of whatever dangerous equipment is lying
below you. For us, it was a 3 meter
fall, but sometimes it can be much
more serious than that. That’s why
they have strings around the side that
you’re supposed to harness yourself to.
However, most construction workers
don’t use those harnesses because it impedes your movement and the
movement of the people are you and slows down the flow of work. Because of
that, many construction workers choose to choose to risk a little bit for the
sake of getting work done.
I also had a meeting about my report plans today. I gave a brief
overview of what I’ve been doing and I think I’m on the right track to
G$72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
finishing up the report on time and
well! I’m starting to understand the
concepts better and am grasping just
how to explain it all in Chinese,
which was personally the biggest
obstacle (厮瀋) for me.
G372-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
We were completely rained
out yesterday and I was sick on
Wednesday, so today’s my first
day back since Tuesday.
Fortunately, the rain wasn’t too
bad so the job site wasn’t
completely flooded. If the entire
place was flooded, they would have had to drain out the water before they can
begin working on putting down the layout because they need to leave
markings on the floor so that they know
where to put what. Climbing along the top, I
basically got to watch them prepare to put
down the boards tomorrow so they can begin
putting in the concrete for the beams starting
next Monday. A lot of today was spent lowering the wood so that they can
begin spreading out the stacks so that the process is much faster when they
begin to set up the wood slats.
They also set up the tubing today. There are several sizes and each are
used for a different purpose. The orange one is for piping water and the
larger grayish tube is for connecting the water tanks together. The thin
grayish tube is for covering the wiring
and protecting it from water. They
were lowering those at the end of the
day too, preparing for tomorrow’s
work.
GE72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
Week 6
Today they were continuing to
put up the boards in
preparation for filling in with
concrete. Mr. Wang explained
to me the different pipes and
the reasons for their
placement. He showed me the
different water reservoirs such
as the one to hold rainwater to recycle and use for watering plants, which is
the one directly underneath the
lobby connected to two other
smaller tanks. The second
reservoir is the one for the fire
hydrant to keep a reserve to use
in case of a fire in the building.
This is a good safety measure especially for a 26 floor high rise because there
are a lot of people living in the building. The reason the tanks are not mixed
with the others is because they want to prevent dirty water from getting
mixed into the reservoir used for watering plants. It’s okay with rainwater
because that’s natural and not as harmful as would be the water that flow
into the other tanks. Those tanks are all connected and depending on where
they are, flow to a respective water pump that maintains the water level at a
certain level. The reason they need to have pipes on the bottom and on the
top is because they need a connection for water and for air. If there is only
water and no change in pressure, the water will not flow. Because of this,
they have two pipes that lets air flow through the different segments and two
pipes on the bottom that lets the water flow through.
G+72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
Another important thing that Mr. Wang mentioned to me today was
the distance between the wooden planks and the rebar. This is the same
concept as the protective layer in the diaphragm wall. If you put the layer
too thin then there’s a good chance that the rebar will be exposed at some
point in time, which leads to the risk of rust and failure in the rebar. When
doing this, there’s also leeway for
the wooden planks to be skewed (元
楚 ) no more than 2 centimeters.
That is because up to 2 centimeters,
patching and making it straight is
relatively still cost-effective and not
that big of a problem, but anything more can lead to issues with cost and
time.
GL72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
Got to watch them put
in concrete for the beams
today! When they began it
was a semi nice day, kind of
cool, but definitely not
raining. Two hours in,
however, it had begun to rain
semi hard. The reason this could become a problem is because once you begin
putting the concrete in, you cannot stop until you finish. At the same time,
rainwater will mix with the
concrete and lower its
strength. However, Mr. Hung
explained to me that they
prepare for this by
overshooting the strength of
the concrete by quite a lot.
For example, if the threshold (京歙) is 420, then they prepare the concrete at
about 500 so that in this worst-case scenario (■悉), the strength is still at
least 450 or higher, meaning everything still checks out fine in the end. If
there’s one thing I’ve learned from this internship, it’s just how important
planning is in ensuring that
everything works out and on
schedule. Overlooking one thing
can push back the schedule by
days, if not weeks. You really
have to think of all the
possibilities and cover all the bases, and experience is the best way to learn
about all the things to look out for on the job site. Other than that, today was
GG72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
pretty much seeing the same thing throughout the day. They started to take
water out which will help with later since there was so much rainwater, it
would take too long to just wait for it all to dry out on its own.
GI72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
Unfortunately, it
rained against last night, so
there were no construction
workers came again today.
The one new thing I did learn,
however, was why they were
pumping from 1 tank into
another. It actually makes a lot more sense after he told me the reason,
which is that they were sucking out the water from one big tank that the
others were getting sucked into. It’s so that they
don’t need to set up multiple pumps in every single
separate tank now that the concrete is in and each
section is separate and not linking. I pretty much
spent the rest of the day doing more research on concrete and
superplasticizers.
:;72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
And it rained again. Hopefully, by Monday, this raining streak will
have come to an end, because it has put the entire schedule to a halt. They
simply cannot move on until the
water has been sucked out of the
tanks. Because of that, it is a
never-ending process of sucking out
the rainwater from the night before
as long as it rains. Fortunately,
this has given me some time to
work on my report, and the outlining is coming together quite nicely. I
believe that the final report, other than these daily reports, will be about 5-10
pages and is going to be encompassing all that I have learned this internship.
It’s nice to see just how much I have learned in this process. With a list of
the topics, I can easily write about the subjects without referring to my notes,
which goes to show just how much I have retained in the time I’ve been here.
This experience will definitely be helpful in the future.
:&72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
Week 7
It finally stopped raining, so today they began to take down the boards
that they put up for the beams. The concrete is completely dried and they’re
starting to take down the boards so that they can move to the other half of
the beams that still need to be filled with concrete. The one thing that needs
to be watched out for with this second half of beams is how tight the boards
are placed when set. The last half
was a little too loose on the
bottom and the concrete leaked
out, so they had to waste time
today with a jackhammer (○投筱)
breaking apart the concrete that
leaked out from the bottom. A little leak is okay because it’s just a small
problem, but when we’re behind schedule, a little leak is still a delay and
would preferably be avoided. I spent the rest of my day working on my
report. With all my daily logs finally organized with pictures, all that’s left is
to take out what I’ve already written and extract the meaning.
:$72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
Today, they began to put up the wooden slats on the other half of the
foundation floor.
They’re preparing for
putting the concrete in
the other half of beams
now. Since, most of it
was stuff I’d seen
already with the first
half, I took today as a
chance to work on my report! Knocked out the entire section of Diaphragm
Wall and started my section on strutting. Report is starting to come
together, currently at fifty pages!
To be honest, today was exactly the same as yesterday. On the field,
they were continuing to put up the boards in preparation for filling the rest of
the beams with concrete. I
stayed there for about 45
minutes or so, watching them set
up the boards. They also
recently set up new cable lines
for safety purposes so that people
have a guardrail (痼隠 ) when
walking along the sides of the H-beams. I spent the rest of the day writing
my report! Almost finished, and then it’s time for touch-ups and final
proofreads to make sure everything is up to par (圦鳳) !
:372-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
Today is the second to last day! And I’m officially finished with my
rough draft for my report! I’m going to start putting in some pictures from the
database today into the report and then I’m going to proofread and finalize
tomorrow. We also went to lunch at a nearby Japanese restaurant to
celebrate the end of my time here at this construction site. After tomorrow, I
change locations to the
headquarters for two weeks.
It’s been a good experience this
summer, and I’ve definitely
learned a lot I hope I can carry
into the workplace in the future.
Last day!! And my report is officially reread! Not much else happened
today. I gave them the pineapple cakes I got for them as thank you’s, went
out to the construction site for an hour or so, and spent the rest of the day
fixing up this report. I might add some stuff later but we’ll see. For now, I’m
going to turn this into a pdf and give it to Mr. Wang so he can have a copy
before I leave.
:E72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
I spent my final week at headquarters, preparing my presentation and
report for the final day on Monday Aug 27, 2012. I visited a couple old
construction sites nearby with Dr. George Kuo and my internship supervisor,
Mrs. Sophia Lee. Had a great time, but now it’s really time to crunch down
and finish this presentation! I believe I am presenting around 2 PM next
Monday.
:+72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
Appendix B
:L72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
1. "Biography - Hans Hollein." The Pritzker Architecture Prize. The Hyatt
Foundation, 2012. Web. 22 Aug. 2012.
<http://www.pritzkerprize.com/1985/bio>.
2. This site gave me a detailed description of what it is Hans Hollein
accomplished in his life and how he came to win the Pritzker prize.
3. Durham, Jeff. "Construction Site Safety." Workplace Safety Advice. N.p.,
24 July 2012. Web. 20 Aug. 2012.
<http://www.workplacesafetyadvice.co.uk/construction-site-safety.html>.
4. This site gave me some tips on how to maintain a level of safety in the
construction site even during the rainy season, which was definitely an
issue we had to deal with here in Taiwan during typhoon season.
5. "HANS HOLLEIN." Home - HANS HOLLEIN.COM. N.p., n.d. Web. 22
Aug. 2012. <http://www.hollein.com/eng>.
6. This site had his portfolio and an about section that I used to get to know
the architect for this project better during my research.
7. Jamal, Haseeb. "Reinforced Cement Concrete Design." Reinforced
Concrete Design. SJ Soft Technologies, 2010. Web. 20 Aug. 2012.
<http://www.aboutcivil.org/reinforced-cement-concrete-design.html>.
8. This site was a good refresher course on reinforced concrete and helped
me double check that I had my concepts down well.
9. Nemati, Kamran M. "CM420: Tremie
Concrete." Courses.washington.edu. University of Washington, Feb.
2007. Web. 20 Aug. 2012.
<http://courses.washington.edu/cm420/Lecture8.pdf>.
10. Because I was not present for this portion of the project, I had to
research and look at old pictures, so this site was useful in helping me
truly understand what tremie concrete is and how it works.
:G72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
11. Ricegeneral. "Safety Tips During Wet and Rainy Weather." Hubpages.
N.p., 10 Feb. 2010. Web. 20 Aug. 2012.
<http://ricegeneral.hubpages.com/hub/safetytipsduringwetandrainyweat
her>.
This site gave me tips on how to deal with the dangers of rainy weather
on the construction site.
12. Richards, Thomas D. "Diaphragm Walls." Nicholsonconstruction.com.
Soletanche Bachy, 23 Mar. 2005. Web. 20 Aug. 2012.
<http://www.nicholsonconstruction.com/techresources/techPapers/PDF/Di
aphragm%20Wall%20Paper%20Hershey2005-rev.pdf>.
13. Because I was not present for the building of the diaphragm wall, this
site was crucial in my understanding of the entire ordeal. This site was
truly a savior.
14. "Team and Portfolio." Turnkey Project for Kaohsiung Exhibition and
Convention Center Proposal on Package Services. Kaohsiung: Formosa
Builders, 2010. 11. Print.
15. This site gave me my excerpt on the Evergreen Consulting Engineer,
Inc., the structural engineering company responsible for this project.
::72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
:I72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
-
George Kuo, PhD, P.E.
Jack Lee, P.E.
April, 1994
NT $336,000,000
–
Queensland Consulting Engineers was founded by Dr. George
Kuo, Dr. Te-Hsiung Lin, Dr. Huei-Huang Lee, Dr. Jaw-Kuei Fu, and
Dr. Richard Lai in Tainan, Taiwan. Dr. George Kuo was the
appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO). This group of distinguished
engineers soon added a group of professional engineers to their ranks,
and Formosa Builder, Inc. was thus founded.
They took over Hsing-Hsiung Construction in 1995 and also merged
with Dr. William Hu’s O’Hayo Construction in 1997. In 2001, Hong-
Sheng Construction also came under the ownership of Formosa
Builders. Today, Formosa Builders is a general contracting company as
well as a developer. It is a trustworthy company consisting of talented
and well-educated employees who work by a high moral standard.
–
C.3.1 –
Our team is one of extremely few members who acquired an
international certificate of all 4 (ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and OHSAS
18001, TOSHMS) in the Taiwanese construction industry.
• Quality Management Assurance Certificate
• Environmental Management Assurance Certificate
• Occupational, Safety & Health Management Assurance Certificate
I;72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
• Taiwan Occupational Safety & Health Management
We promise safe environmental practice and devote ourselves to offering
a new standard in engineering and construction.
C.3.2 –
All important members of our staff receive the highest education, and
are experienced in various specialized degrees and industry
certifications. Formosa Builders holds one of the highest ratios of
certifications per employee in the Taiwanese construction industry.
C.3.3 –
Interior Ministry of Taiwan chose ten Distinguished Contractors
among more than 10,000 construction companies from Taiwan every
year. Our team members were given this special honor in 1998.
O’hayo construction became the first company and the youngest in
history to be given this honor. We devote ourselves to maintaining a
reputation of excellence and reliability.
C.3.4 –
Most key members of our staff have experience in both design and
construction and are capable of making correct decisions on the field
instantly. We believe that maximizing value of service for each client
using our invaluable human resources to function and meet the
demands of today’s competition is a necessity.
C.3.5 –
We strive to finish the job in a range according to a planned schedule
and to provide the highest quality and the best price for our client.
This driving force and enthusiasm for success has been proven by our
success in each project in the past. Our excellent team members are
I&72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
capable of making key decisions in any circumstances because they
have both engineering and management knowledge. Under their
careful direction, our company progress strives to satisfy our clients in
any way possible.
I$72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
暴 ⊃
I372-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
Horizontal & Vertical Bracing Hydraulic Jack Parts
Triangular Brace
Lowering H-Beams
Diaphragm Wall Corner
Generator for Equipment & Tools
Using the Inclinometer
Connection between H-Beams
IE72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
Trucks loading up with dirt/soil Excavation Machine
Setting the Layout
Drilling out the Rebar
Bottom Floor
Excavation Process
Gradient Marker
Setting the Gradient
I+72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
Space for Water Pump Excavation
Plate to Block Water
Cleaned up bottom floor
Pure Concrete laid in
Rebar
To prevent water from running up the
side of the wall
Tying Rebar, Rained
IL72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
Me setting up the gradient
Me setting up the gradient
Verifying Rebar Placement Setting up beams rebar
Unhooking rebar from machine Rebar finally coming up
Hammering the water prevention up
Rebar setup
IG72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
Discussion Strutting System
Tying Rebar
Elevator Shaft
Sucking Water Out
Formwork
Concrete Work
Concrete truck
I:72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
Flooded Tanks Tubing used to suck out water
Tubing used to suck out water Flooded Tanks Again
Removing formwork
Removing formwork and drilling
excess concrete
Safety Precaution
Putting formwork up on other half
II72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
Formwork
Formwork
Dahu Railroad Bridge Site Dahu Railroad Bridge Site
Dahu Railroad Bridge Site
Tainan Residential Complex Site
Tainan Residential Complex Site
Formosa Builders, Inc.
&;;72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
&;&72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
&;$72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
&;372-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
&;E72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
&;+72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
&;L72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
&;G72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
&;:72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
&;I72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
&&;72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
&&&72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
&&$72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
&&372-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
&&E72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
&&+72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
&&L72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
&&G72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
&&:72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!
&&I72-.)/-!/)H,/.!
!