5-day QIP sponsored short term training program on 'Analysis and Design of RC buildings: Concepts and Practice' concludes at GNDEC

Ludhana: A five day QIP sponsored short term training program on 'Analysis and Design of RC buildings: Concepts and Practice' concluded at Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College, Ludhiana. It was organized by Civil Engineering Department of the college under the mentorship of Principal Dr Sehajpal Singh. Around 35 participants attended the course and learned about the finer details and new developments of the structural designing of concrete buildings. On the final day of the course, the design project works completed by the participants during the hands-on-training sessions were evaluated by the experts and discussions were held to improve the projects further. At the end, Head of the department, Professor K S Gill congratulated the participants on their successfully completing the course and advised them to put the concepts learnt during the course into their professional life to serve the community better in constructing their houses economically with mandated safety margins. Faculty coordinator of the program, Dr Harvinder Singh informed the participants about various design aspects and other legal aspects associated with the design process. It is now-a-days mandatory for building professionals, architects, engineers to release drawings that are designed and constructed exactly as per the requirements of various Indian standards. As most of the Punjab is located in the seismic zone IV, the people there must insist on a certified copy of the drawings from the building professionals that the building they are constructing is designed exactly as per the relevant Indian Standards and they should avoid the prevailing practice of constructing their houses/buildings without getting a certified copy of the drawings. He also highlighted the fact that the buildings designed following the prescribed guidelines are safe to occupy and also leads to a considerable saving in the construction and repair & maintenance costs at a later stage. The availability of high strength steel rebars, cements and other building products helps to achieve these mandated targets easily and the participants were appraised about the benefits the public would get if the buildings were designed using these high end material, e.g. the use of Fe600 grade steel in the design of RC buildings would directly pass on a benefit of approximately Rupees one to two for every square feet of the constructible area depending upon the type of the building. The course ended on an advice to the participants to explore the use of high end material in the design and help the nation to save natural resources going waste without inadequate structural advice.