DIMENSIONS VOL.11, ISSUE 1, JAN 2019

A Journal of A N Prakash Construction Project Management Consultants Pvt. L td

IN This Issue FROM THE MANAGING

DIRECTOR’S DESK

EDITOR’S NOTE

MILESTONES

ADVANCED EXCEL LESSONS

CONTRACTUAL MATTERS

DRONE TECHNOLOGY IN

CONSTRUCTION

GABION WALLS

WHAT FAILED INVENTIONS

TEACH US

SKIP YOUR WAY TO HEALTH APPENDIX

Cover page photo: Aquarelle Samudra, Banasamudra, Malavalli

THE ISSUE OF DIMENSIONS IS FOR PRIVATE CIRCULATION ONLY

Please accept my best wishes to you

and your family for a very healthy,

happy and safe New Year.

Over the last few years, I have

observed that the number of New

Year greeting cards that we used to

receive has drastically reduced,

similarly, diaries and calendars and other New Year gifts. We have also

stopped sending greeting cards to our

friends and family.

The electronic greetings have taken

over, everyone finds it easy to design

their own customized greetings and

send them.

Let’s look at the pros and cons of an

E-greeting.

Advantages:

Selection of cards is avoided,

select own design.

No signing each one of them,

No postal stamp hence save

money.

Reaches anyone anywhere in

the world in real time.

No use of paper and hence

saving a few trees.

Disadvantages:

Have we deprived someone

of his or her livelihood?

Is the postal department losing its revenue?

Are we being impersonal?

Delay in receiving the

greeting.

Are we really saving time?

And at what cost?

Give a thought, E-

greetings or Greeting cards?

A contract requires agreements

between the different entities running

a business. Contracts also are legally

enforceable in a court of law and

often represent a tool that companies

use to safeguard their resources.

Just as conditions can bind a

Contractor to an obligation of

performance, they can also render a

contract agreement invalid. Express conditions that do not use specific,

definite terms to identify both the

agreed-to event and the timing of the

event can free a Contractor from

legal responsibility in a breach of

contract lawsuit.

Since the PMC is a key member of the

project team for preparation of the

contract document, everyone needs

to be aware of the intricacies of the

agreement. To make everyone aware

of the different aspects, Vyas V S and

team will be writing about different

topics from this issue onwards.

If anyone is keen to understand about

any feature of construction contracts

they may write to us, and the

Contracts team will clarify on such

topics. Comments on the published

articles are also welcome.

FROM THE MANAGING DIRECTOR’S DESK Editor’s Note

DIMENSIONS VOL.11, ISSUE 1, JAN 2019 2

A Journal of A N Prakash Construction Project Management Consultants Pvt. L td

Birthdays in the month of February

JITENDER BHARDWAJ, CBR, 2nd

SANJAY KUMAR N, Jayabheri

Summit, Hyderabad, 5th

VISHWANATH C, INTEL SRR, 6th

NAGAMMA R, HO, 12th

SREEVATHSA B R, HO, 16th

NANDA KISHORE R, Harsha

Developers, 16th

GURUPRASAD B S, USL –

Nimapara, 27th

RAVI KUMAR H P, USL - Goa, 28th

Welcome to New Employees

Muralidhara G B joined as Senior

Project Engineer at World Environmental

School project, Coorg

Jitender Bhardwaj joined as

Assistant Project Engineer at CBR

Mathanabalan Pandilingam as

Asst. Project Engineer at Trustwell Hospital,

Bangalore

Naveed Ahmed A (Rejoined) as

Sr. Project Engineer at United Spirits,

Hyderabad

Dushetti Shashi Kumar joined as

Project Manager at Jayabheri-The Summit,

Hyderabad

Birthday celebrations – January 2019

S P Vamsi Anand being wished by B L

Suresh on his birthday, on 7 Jan 2019

Pushparaj being wished by Megha,

Achyut and Suhas on his birthday, on 29

Jan 2019

Nemmadi Activities

Achyut A and Suhas N M of Nemmadi on

the way back after completing a Villa

inspection at Bilaspur, Chattisgarh

Prizes: The prize for the Best Answer to the

question asked in the last issue of

Dimensions was awarded to Siva Ram

Krishna A of Jayabheri, Vijayawada

PIC B N Somashekar receives the prize on

behalf of Siva Rama Krishna of Jayabheri –

The Capital site (Vijayawada) from

Dimensions Editorial Board member Divya K

BNI Business Meet - My Biz 2019

A stall was put up by Nemmadi at the BNI

Mysore My Biz Expo 2019, on 20th January.

Megha & Divya at the start of the Expo

R Suresha, Uday Prakash, Megha & Divya

at the stall

Megha & Divya interact with visitors as R

Suresha looks on

R Suresha speaking to a visitor

MILESTONES

DIMENSIONS VOL.11, ISSUE 1, JAN 2019 3

A Journal of A N Prakash Construction Project Management Consultants Pvt. L td

News from the Sites

Airaa School, Bangalore

SIC Vignesh R at the Airaa school site,

B’lore

CMR Ekya School, Bangalore

Ekya Schools inaugurated its newest

campus in North Bangalore at Byrathi, Off

Hennur-Bagalur Road

G. Parameshwara, Hon’ble Deputy Chief

Minister was the Chief Guest at the

function

Ajay Deshpande receiving a Memento on

behalf of ANPCPMC

Muniraj M, Sree Kumar and Ajay

Deshpande with the Memento

The Memento

‘Tis the Season for Giving!!

The MD continued the tradition of giving

Gifts during this time of the year; the lucky

staff were selected by drawing lots. Those

who received gifts were:

Sridhar K E on behalf of Achyut A

S P Vamsi Anand

Mary A

Vijay Mahantesh G

Vyas V S

Mounika D

New Projects

Project: Senior Living Residential

Apartments by Columbia Pacific

Communities.

Location: Budigere, Bangalore

Built-up Area - 2,05,000 Sq.ft.

Condolences

Our heart-felt condolences to our

employee, Mohammed Imran Ahmed,

whose mother passed away at the age of

50 on 17th January, 2019.

DIMENSIONS VOL.11, ISSUE 1, JAN 2019 4

A Journal of A N Prakash Construction Project Management Consultants Pvt. L td

Know Your Project

SHRF, Udupi

Sarvah Kshema Hospital & Research

Foundation (SHRF) project coming up

off the Udupi-Kundapura highway

near Manoor and Kota villages is

located about 25 km from Udupi.

The basic concept of SHRF is that

healing of a patient is enhanced

through Naturopathy, Ayurveda and

Spirituality. For this purpose, Yoga,

Meditation, Prayers and Bhajans are

to be part of the healing process.

A view of the site just as work started

The project is the brainchild of Dr. A

Chandrashekara Udupa, popularly

known as Doctorji, and a devotee of

Swami Vivekananda. To show respect

and gratitude to his Guru, a lotus

shaped pond and a statue of

Vivekananda is placed such that it is

the focal point of the whole project.

The spaces in between the buildings

will be filled with native trees, herbs

and plants with fragrant flowers.

Situated in a 11.5 acre plot, it will have

several buildings - the Meditation

Block, Treatment, Yoga, Dining and In-

patient blocks in the inner circle. The

outer circle has Admission block, Out-

patient Block, Research, Recreational

and Accommodation blocks (with a

total of 108 beds).

Road leading to the site

All the existing trees has been retained

so as to maintain the verdant look of

the site; the path to the SHRF campus

is wooded on both sides, so that the

visitor enjoys the natural ambience

while entering the place.

Vehicular movement is restricted to

the periphery so that the entire

campus is free for pedestrian

movement.

Other unique features of the project

are a place at the north-east corner

for Homam. A large well at the north-

western side will be constructed as a

stepped well with a healing garden all

around.

Un-plastered Laterite masonry built for

good ventilation

Sustainability is the ideal which has

guided the project. Design of the

entire complex – the architecture as

well as the landscape has been

conceived with sustainability as the

basis, using natural materials –

Granite, Mangalore Tiles, Clay bricks

and Laterite.

The project which was started in

December 2017 faced various

problems causing delay in the project.

Some of reasons for the delay are:

Groundwater interrupted the speed of

foundation work

(a) The Ground water table was

quite high, almost at the

ground level due to which

excavation for footings was

difficult. An additional de-

watering pit had to be dug

near each of the foundations

so as to drain off the water

and permit concrete to be

done.

(b) There was shortage of water

in mid – May causing

slowdown of construction.

After that monsoons set in

early and the continuous rains

of 2017 caused disruption of

work due to flooding, for the

next two months.

Water-logging of the site delayed the work

for several weeks

(c) Due to the rains, good quality

laterite stones was in short

supply; Stone pillars and

beams also took time to be

delivered to the site delaying

all related works.

An aerial view of the site during the rains

Now with most of the issues being

sorted out, everything is set for speedy

completion of the project in the

coming months.

SIC Jayanth K R under one of the many

arches, the construction of which he

personally supervised

DIMENSIONS VOL.11, ISSUE 1, JAN 2019 5

A Journal of A N Prakash Construction Project Management Consultants Pvt. L td

By Uday S Prakash

The Quick Access Toolbar is a customizable toolbar that contains a set of commands that are independent of the tab on the

ribbon that is currently displayed.

1 Right click on any menu item

2 Click on Add to Quick Access Toolbar

3 That menu item is now visible on the "QAT" - "Quick Access Toolbar"

4 Access the QAT by pressing ALT + Number, in this case ALT + 01 to “Merge and Centre”

As an example, suppose you use the spell check feature regularly, instead of going to ‘Review’ and then clicking on , this

can be put in the Home page itself as a QAT.

ADVANCED EXCEL LESSONS

DIMENSIONS VOL.11, ISSUE 1, JAN 2019

A Journal of A N Prakash Construction Project Management Consultants Pvt. L td

By Vyas V S

Selection of Contractor

As Project Managers we normally

come across circumstances wherein

we need to select and recommend a

Contractor for works envisaged. It will

be the PM’s intent to have the best

supporting Contractor who will deliver

works on time within budgeted costs &

quality parameters.

Gap and Need:

Before issue of the bid documents, a

pre-qualification process is adopted and prequalified bidders are provided

the opportunity to submit their

financial offer.

In most of the cases, the final selection

of the Contractor is based on lowest

quote submitted. In government

projects, negotiations (if any) are

done with the lowest bidder and is

seldom with other bidders which is

termed as Least Cost Based Selection

[LCBS]. This is because all the bidders

are assumed to be equally capable in

all matters and price is the only factor

to be considered.

Currently, the public sector

procurement of construction is largely

based on the lowest bid award

system. The customary practice of

awarding contracts to a lowest bidder

was established to ensure the least

cost for completing a project. In

public construction works, this

practice is almost universally

accepted since it not only ensures a

low price but also provides a way to

avoid fraud and corruption.

While the low-bid procurement system

has a long-standing legal

precedence and has promoted open

competition and a fair playing field, a

concern expressed by owners and

some of their industry partners is that a

system based strictly on the lowest

price provides contractors with an

incentive to concentrate on cutting

bid prices to the maximum extent

possible (instead of concentrating on

quality enhancing measures), even

when a higher cost product would be

in the owner’s best interest.

This makes it less likely that contracts

will be awarded to the best

performing contractors who will

deliver the highest quality projects. As

a result, the LCBS system may not

result in the best value for money

expended or the best performance

during and after construction.

Moreover, the traditional LCBS

approach tends to promote more

adversarial relationships rather than

co-operation or co-ordination among

the contractor, the designer and the

owner, and the owner generally faces

increased exposure to contractor

claims over design and

constructability issues.

In private sector, generally a price war

among bidders is initiated by the

procurement team. This is a cause of

concern wherein bidder quote too

low to bag the contract. At this

juncture, the Client seek the PM’s

advice on selection of the Contractor.

As Project Managers it will be vital for

us to have a logical approach to the

selection of Contractor from the

various Bidders,

This is where Quality Cost Based

Selection [QCBS] method could be

advocated. This method is in vogue

for selection of Consultants as well.

Evaluation:

The marks for the technical

component will be calculated based

on the information provided by the

Bidders in the pre-qualifying

document.

Evaluation will be done as follows:

The lowest Financial value of offer submitted (Fm) will be given a

financial score (Sf) of 100 points. The

financial scores (Sf) of the other

Financial Proposals will be computed

as indicated below.

The formula for determining the

financial scores is the following:

Sf = 100 x Fm/F, in which

Sf is the financial score,

Fm is the lowest price, and

F the price of the proposal under

consideration

Proposals will be ranked according to their combined technical (St) and

financial (Sf) scores using the weights

T = the weight given to the Technical

Proposal; say T=0.67 if Technical

weightage is 2/3rd

P = the weight given to the Financial

Proposal; say P=0.33 if Financial

weightage is 1/3rd. Remember that T +

P = 1

The Bidder achieving the highest

combined technical/ financial score S

= (St x T%) + (Sf x P%) can be

recommended.

Refer highlighted score in the above

table

Reference: Standard bidding templates released

by the Finance Dept., Govt. of Karnataka.

Particulars Bidder 1 Bidder 2 Bidder 3 Bidder 4

T=Technical weightage 0.67

F=Financial weightage 0.33

Technical score St, [X out of 100] ascertained

during PQ process St 65 75 73d 68

Financial value of offers submitted, in Crores

(Fm) Cr 19.99 22.84 22.33 22.86

Lowest Financial score Sf 100.00

Lowest price Fm 19.99

Sf = 100 x Fm/F Sf 100.00 87.50 89.50 87.40

Combined Technical /Financial score, S= (St x

T%) + (Sf x P%) 76.55 79.13 78.45 74.4

CONTRACTUAL MATTERS

DIMENSIONS VOL.11, ISSUE 1, JAN 2019 7

A Journal of A N Prakash Construction Project Management Consultants Pvt. L td

DRONE TECHNOLOGY IN

CONSTRUCTION

by N M Suhas

Drone technology, also known as

unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), is

used for different reasons in the construction industry. As a tool that

improves communication, safety, and

marketing, the use of drones in

construction can offer many

advantages; capturing real-time

images from the field.

Applications in construction:

The sheer scale of the construction

industry and the projects that are

being undertaken lend themselves to

the effective use of drones which can

only add value, provided they are

implemented safely and correctly.

Drone technology can be used in

construction in the following ways:

1. Building Surveys

Most building surveys require visibility

of the building’s roof to identify its

condition and assess any defects. In

most instances getting access to a

roof can be tricky and often involves

the erection of a scaffold, use of a

cherry picker or ladders, which are

both time consuming and costly.

Using a small drone to perform the

survey can save time, money and

reduce health and safety risks

involved with surveying a roof and

accessing tricky or hard to reach

areas.

2. Construction Site Inspections

Carrying out site inspections on a busy

construction site can be dangerous

and complicated at times. The ability

of a drone to carry out a visual

inspection of high-risk areas can save

time and reduce H&S risks. Drone

footage can be recorded from the

safety of the site cabin and then sent

to project stakeholders in HD quickly

and effectively. Site inspections can

be undertaken more regularly and

cover larger areas more efficiently.

Owners and other stakeholders

demand progress updates on a

regular basis. This can be a pain for

you, if you have to walk the site or

send someone to take photos. Drones

can make this aspect of the job both

a painless experience for you, and a

better experience for them.

3. Health and Safety Inductions

Site inductions can often be a tedious

and again a time consuming exercise.

Often involving a premeditated talk in

the site cabin or a pre-recorded

induction videos. Using a drone to fly

over a site can show new site

operatives H&S risks in real-time.

Enabling site managers

to demonstrate moving vehicles,

moving cranes, or active excavation

areas etc. Each induction would be

site specific outlining the risk that are

relevant to that site and in return

reduce the risk of accident or injury on

each site.

The leading cause of worker fatalities

on the construction site is falls,

representing nearly 40% of all deaths.

Drones can be used to keep workers’

feet planted firmly on the ground

when they might otherwise have to

climb to take manual measurements

or engage in other activities that can

be replaced with a drone.

4. Maintenance Inspections

Carrying out planned or reactive

maintenance inspections of high-up

structures such as bridges, towers,

roofs and scaffolding, can often

involve costly access arrangements,

and site personnel working at heights.

Drones can provide a quicker

and easier way of carrying out the

inspections feeding back HD real-time

footage to the engineer or surveyor

from the ground at all times reducing

cost but most importantly risk.

5. Project Progress Reports

Construction progress reports are often prepared monthly to record site

progress against the project program.

These reports include the surveyor

taking multiple photographs of various

parts of the site.

A regular drone flight can be a

speedy way to record and visualize

project progress. Through a series of

aerial shots and HD video project

stake holders can gain a better insight

into the progress that has been made

without actually being on-site and

have regular daily or weekly updates.

Drones can be equipped with

cameras, geo-location sensors,

infrared sensors, and more to capture

precise details about the

environmental and physical site prior

to and during construction. The high-

resolution images captured by a

drone are then be turned into

accurate 2D orthophotos and 3D

models, creating a rich digital

representation of your jobsite. Then,

drone data platforms like 3DR Site

Scan make it easy to overlay design

files onto drone maps, enabling you to

pinpoint constructability challenges in

preconstruction, spot mistakes, and

measure progress during construction.

6. Live feed/ virtual walk around

When carrying out high risk work on-

site it may be necessary for certain

professionals to gain real-time

updates on what is happening.

Utilizing First Person View (FPV)

technology, a drone camera can

stream HD footage to the project

team or project stakeholders in real-

time. This experience could also be

enhanced by the use of VR glasses.

Drones improve collaboration by

collecting data on-site

and distributing it through a platform

like BIM 360. Virtual design teams, engineers, superintendents, owners,

and contractors can then access

aerial views and related data from

DIMENSIONS VOL.11, ISSUE 1, JAN 2019 8

A Journal of A N Prakash Construction Project Management Consultants Pvt. L td

their iPads and other devices. This

enables everyone to see where things

were yesterday, compare progress

over time, and catch any

discrepancies before they become

serious problems.

“Collaboration is key. You save money

if you get everyone moving in a

unified direction.”

7. Site logistics

Construction sites are ever evolving

and the movements on-site do not

always stick to the program.

Drones can provide a real-time

update of what is going on around

the site. Carrying out a speedy flight

around the site can give a good

overview of potential issues to be

aware of.

For instance while moving

vehicles, machinery or cranes etc.

one can reduce risks and allow key

decision makers to make up to the

minute, informed decisions on ever

changing developing sites.

8. Point cloud/ laser scanning

Often for a surveyor it can be hard to

gain access to a suitable location to

laser scan high up areas of a building

Laser scanning from drones has

become a recognized method of

capturing the exact detail of

topography, buildings and cityscapes

and can provide the missing piece of

information.

9. Thermal Imaging recording

FLIR thermal imaging camera

Similar to laser scanning, drones can

be used to take aerial thermal

imaging recordings which can be

used to assess potential cold spots in

buildings or even heat spots in areas

holding electrical components.

Thermal Image of a building

10. Promotional Photography

Impressive photography is becoming

more and more important in the way

construction organizations promote

their business, especially as the use of

social media is becoming

more important as a work tool.

In particular, this could be a great tool

for estate agents looking to

demonstrate impressive shots of a

property or building they are looking

to sell. The drones offer the

opportunity to capture the real scale

and size of a project in minutes.

Inspecting bridges is hard and dangerous. Send in the drones!!!

Drones have been heralded as the

next big thing in bridge inspection.

Bridge Inspection by drones in

progress

As a country’s infrastructure ages,

bridge inspections get even more

important, but the work is expensive,

time-consuming, and dangerous,

requiring engineers to rappel down

the side of a bridge hundreds of feet

above a river. It’s a task that might be

better suited for drones.

Current inspections are often done

with pen and paper, so the data is

difficult to share. A drone’s data is

both easier for a group of people to

analyze and can be tracked over

time. As more and more data is

collected, AI and machine learning

can begin to automatically highlight

cracks, corrosion, or other defects.

While a manual inspection might take

weeks, and can force traffic lanes to

shut down, a drone can cover a

bridge in just a matter of days. Despite

the advantages, though, it may take

a little more time before the tech

scales up widely. As the technology

improves, the drones will become

simpler to operate. Software also still

needs to be developed that can

quickly go through the thousands of

images that the drones can collect.

UAVs are capable of effectively

replicating the inspection detail

learned through the use of snoopers

and other traditional access

equipment, without traffic-control

requirements, and at significantly

lower costs in terms of equipment and

traffic control needs.

An UAV contract to inspect the exact

same approach spans of a bridge

would be with a potential cost saving

of 66%. This is a substantial saving and

suggests that inspection via drone will have a significant impact on the

outgoing costs.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV’s) are

a disruptive technology changing the

way land surveys are carried out on

construction projects, automating the

entire field-to-plan workflow. In simple

terms, drones are flying computers

which can carry an array of sensors to

collect data, enabling companies to

make intelligent and informed decisions about their projects in a

faster, safer and ultimately more

efficient way.

Reference: Articles by Dennis Ayemba &

Hugh McFall

DIMENSIONS VOL.11, ISSUE 1, JAN 2019 9

A Journal of A N Prakash Construction Project Management Consultants Pvt. L td

GABION WALLS

by Achyutkumar A

Recently while travelling by train from

Sakleshpura to Subramanya Road, I

noticed that the earth had been

retained at some places by Gabion

Walls. Since I felt that this would be of

use to our staff, a small video was

shot, which can be seen by clicking

on: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_GWTQnfYcY

In earlier history, civil engineers have

extensively used gabions for

stabilization of banks, coasts,

highways and erosion control of

slopes. From the banks of river Nile,

where they were created up to today, gabion walls are a benefit for

the landscape. It is used for thousands

of years as a gravity type retaining

structure and makes an attractive,

efficient and cost-effective wall

system.

In recent years, civil engineers chose

not to reinvent the wheel, but rather

to build on the firm foundations of

history: gabions are even today used

to secure shorelines, riverbanks,

highways, and slopes against erosion.

But gabions aren’t just functional

anymore they have now even

become a must-have décor piece!

Gabion walls are executed mainly in

the purpose of soil stabilization behind

the wall, but it can also be executed

as a cover wall. The wall is made from

gabion baskets that are stacked in

one or more rows, depending on the height of the wall. Baskets have a

cage shape and are closed on all

sides. They are made from a

galvanized hexagonal meshes and

broken rock that are placed in the

baskets. Retaining structures are

formed by stacking gabion baskets in

a proper schedule and present an

alternative solution for concrete

structures in the area of soil

stabilization.

History has shown that gabions are a

lasting solution to soil erosion. Other reasons to use them are (Pros):

Aesthetics: Gabions look natural and can tie a house

to the landscape by using

filler materials excavated from

the site or the local terrain.

Environmental friendliness: When onsite material is used

as filler, transportation costs

and associated fuel

consumption are eliminated. With environmental issues now

of more concern than in the

past, gabions offer a more

natural solution to previously

designed concrete walls.

Flexible: Unlike reinforced concrete, double twist woven

mesh Gabions &Terra mesh

systems are able to

accommodate substantial

differential settlement

Adaptable: Gabion systems can be stepped, vertical or

angled to suit specific project

requirements. They can be

filled in-situ or pre-filled

depending on site conditions

using various mechanical

means to assist with the

packing process

Price: You can exercise control over the price. Your

filler could be expensive slate

or free recycled concrete. For

a large project, you often can

find filler onsite.

Sustainability: Used as shade screens in hot climates,

gabion walls provide passive

cooling; they allow air to

move through, providing

ventilation.

Permeability: Gabions are permeable and free-draining;

they can’t be washed away

by moving water.

Easy installation and built-in strength: The stone fill settles

to the contours of the ground

beneath it and has such

frictional strength that no

foundation is required. In fact,

the wall’s strength and

effectiveness may increase

with time, as silt and

vegetation fill the voids and

reinforce the

structure. Another advantage

over more rigid structures:

Gabions can conform to

ground movement.

Cons:

Wildlife: Can provide a home for frogs, snakes, rats etc.

Gabions for Aesthetics:

The uses of Gabions are limited by

your imagination and it can be used

in many places like retaining wall,

Garden planters, cladding features,

seats, tables and many more places.

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A Journal of A N Prakash Construction Project Management Consultants Pvt. L td

Design & Execution consideration:

A layman may consider that a

Gabion Wall is something to be just

built without any consideration for

design or proper execution. That is a

serious error and which causes failure

of a Gabion wall and gives it a bad

name.

Design:

Just as an RCC retaining wall is

designed to withstand all failure

modes, a Gabion wall should also be

designed against:

Quality Control –Sample Units:

A series of Gabions (quantity and

location to be determined by the

Engineer) are to be constructed on

the site close to the proposed

structure. These units will be used for

quality control purposes throughout

the duration of the Gabion works. The

superintendent shall inspect these

Gabions in the company of the

contractor’s representative and the

Gabion manufacturer’s

representative with a view to

establishing the acceptable standard

to which all subsequent Gabions must

be constructed. Under no

circumstances shall any further

Gabion construction take place until

this “Quality Control Test Gabion” has

been deemed by the superintendent

to have been constructed to the

acceptable standard.

Durability Tests:

BS EN 10223-3:2013

Steel wire and wire products for

fencing and netting. Hexagonal steel

wire mesh products for civil

engineering purposes

After 6000 h exposure in salt spray - No sign

of Dark Brown Rust (EN10223-3:2013)

Suitability of Rock Fill:

AS 2758.4—2000 (Australian Standard).

Aggregates and rock for engineering

purposes Part 4: Aggregate for gabion

baskets and wire mattresses

Rock must be clean, sufficiently

durable, non-friable and not show any

signs of weathering (AS 2758.4 –2000)

The rock should be evenly graded

between 1.5D to 3D (Between 100mm

and 250mm normally suffices) and be

angular to provide interlock.

Drainage:

A properly drained Gabion wall

The AS4678 (Appendix G) states:

As drainage is perhaps the most

important consideration in the design

of earth-retaining structures, it is very

important that the drainage systems

are carefully designed and specified

with sufficient detail to ensure that the

system can be correctly constructed.

Foundation:

The foundation should be:

•Stripped of topsoil/organic material

•Level and compacted

•Sloped if constructing an angled wall

•If on smooth bedrock or concrete,

advisable to incorporate shear keys to

minimize sliding issues.

A well-constructed foundation is vital for

the success of the Gabion wall

An Important Use of Gabion Walls

"Nearly every failed retaining wall I’ve

ever inspected failed due to an

improper drainage system or a

complete lack of one." - Kenneth G.

Fraine, M.S. Civil Engineering.

An RCC retaining wall has to resist

hydrostatic pressure

If weep holes are not provided, the

retaining wall could fail

Water exerts a hydrostatic pressure on

the retaining wall when it is in the way,

water pushes against it, and the

wetter the dirt becomes the more it

pushes. Gabion retaining walls are

porous and this prevents build-up of

hydrostatic pressure.

DIMENSIONS VOL.11, ISSUE 1, JAN 2019 11

A Journal of A N Prakash Construction Project Management Consultants Pvt. L td

WHAT FAILED INVENTIONS TEACH US

Thejesha MM, HO

The Problem:

Of the four million babies worldwide

who die in the first month of life, one

million die on their first day. About half

of the worldwide total, or 1.8 million

babies each year, die for lack of a

consistent heat source before they

have the body fat and metabolic rate

to stay warm independently.

Despite the benefits and need for this

equipment, incubators are not

available in most poor countries. In

addition, kangaroo care - regulating

infant body temperature with the

mother’s body heat through skin-to-

skin contact - is often culturally taboo

or not feasible due to a mother’s

other responsibilities, illness, or death.

Conventional incubators designed for

industrialized markets is usually not

affordable in the developing

countries, and when donated, are not

able to be understood or maintained.

According to a study, up to 98% of

donated medical equipment in

developing countries is broken within

five years. Appropriately-designed

incubators could help provide millions

of at-risk infants with shorter hospital

stays and can enable infants who

might otherwise have faced a lifetime

of severe disability to experience full

and active lives.

A solution:

Timothy Prestero expected big things

from his idea. He believed it would

save the lives of millions of children

worldwide – and he wasn’t alone. It

came top of the list in Time

magazine’s 50 best inventions of the

year.

So when it flopped spectacularly, it

was tough to accept. Prestero built a

device called the NeoNuture, a baby

incubator made from miscellaneous

car parts and other nuts-and-bolts.

Unlike expensive hi-tech incubators,

the NeoNurture was powered by a

motorcycle battery, used headlights

for heat and had a door chime for an

alarm. This made it ideal for hospitals

in rural Africa and other parts of the

developing world where repair parts

are hard to come by. It won praise

and plaudits worldwide. And then........

nothing.

Why did the NeoNature never get

beyond a prototype?

The answer was revealed at a recent

exhibition called Fail Better, at Dublin’s

Science Gallery in Ireland. The story of

the NeoNurture joined contributions

by inventors, athletes, explorers and

even astrophysicists, who each

submitted an object they thought

characterized the theme of failure. It is

a compendium of quashed dreams,

acts of stupidity, serendipitous

success, and crucially, instructive

lessons about the true nature of

failure.

Take Prestero’s NeoNurture incubator.

In 2010, Time magazine called it

“genius” in its list of the year’s best

inventions. In the wake of all the

plaudits, Prestero tried to launch his

innovative incubator to the

developing world. It was only then

that he encountered an all-too

human reality.

“Every doctor and hospital

administrator in the world who has

seen [the TV show] ER knows what a

medical device should look like,”

explains Prestero, “They don’t want

effective technology that looks like it’s

made from car parts. It sounds crazy

but some hospitals would rather have

no equipment than something that

looks cheap and crummy.”

The first lesson of failure for engineers

and designers, then, is that the

adoption of technology is governed

by existing cultural norms. “There are

no dumb users, only dumb products,”

says Prestero. This is a great example of a common

innovation problem: we not only have

to solve a customer need, but we also

have to do so in a way that makes

business sense. Ideas that do both

are what Mark Payne calls two-sided

solutions in his book ‘How to Kill a

Unicorn’.

You need the great new ideas, but

you also need the execution skills to

pull off the ideas.

Your great ideas are useless if you don’t make them real. If we really

want to change the world, we have

to focus not just on the change we

want, but on the often dreary

managerial tasks that must be

addressed to realize that change.

This is why business models have parts

that focus on both internal processes,

and product-market fit – you need to

have both. Organizations often focus

on just one side or the other. The way

to design for outcomes is to address

all of the business model canvas, not

just one side.

Reassuringly, though, the history of

flops in tech would suggest that even

if Prestero faltered, others in his

footsteps might not. And this gets to

the interesting and vital role that

failure plays in shaping the devices

that rule our lives. No technology that

changes the world comes from

nowhere – almost all great inventions

are built on a series of failed

prototypes and previous iterations

made by others that weren’t quite

ready to take off. Before the iPod,

there was the Listen Up mp3 player;

before Facebook, there was

Friendster, and before DVDs, there

were Laserdiscs. Blame timing, bad

luck or the human foibles of their

inventors – the point is that these

turkeys made it a little bit easier for

those that followed.

In fact, this is the story of invention.

While we hold up our visionaries and

their lightbulb moments, the day-to-

day reality of inventing is continual,

depressing defeat. British inventor

James Dyson, for instance, points out

that it took him 5,127 prototypes to develop his first bagless vacuum

cleaner.

Still, when we talk about technology

and the way it shapes our lives, it is

worth remembering that every

invention that changed the world was

built on the work of a thousand failed

inventors, and a thousand failed

ideas.

DIMENSIONS VOL.11, ISSUE 1, JAN 2019 12

A Journal of A N Prakash Construction Project Management Consultants Pvt. L td

By Mary A

Katy Perry the American singer, songwriter

& television personality skips rope regularly,

one of the secrets for her terrific looks

Fitness experts often suggest including

skipping in one’s daily fitness regime,

and of course teaming it up with

other exercises. There are many

individuals who lean towards skipping

than running, because of the numerous benefits of skipping.

There are many ways you can use a

skipping rope. The most essential way

is when a solitary member uses it to

hop. Then there’s ‘long rope’, which

includes at least three members, two

of whom turn the rope while one or

more people bounce with it. The most

troublesome variant, frequently called

Double Dutch, additionally includes

three or more members, and utilizes

two ropes turned as a part of inverse

headings. Back in the days, rhymes

were frequently chanted during this

activity.

Double Dutch Rope Skipping

Skip Your Way to Good Health

If talks of skipping has got you

reminiscing your childhood, you

should perhaps get back to it and

include it as part of your daily routine.

All you need to do is to get hold of a

skipping rope and spare about 15 minutes of your time every day.

If you need some more convincing,

here are some of the

incredible benefits of skipping:

1. Improves Heart Rate

One of the most important benefits of

skipping rope is that it is one of the

best form of cardio exercises, which

contributes to a healthy heart. Your

cardiovascular framework includes

your heart, along with the arteries and

veins that help circulate blood and

oxygen between the heart and the

other organs of the body. By

enhancing the capacity of this

framework, your heart will perform

more efficiently. You will also find

yourself suffering less from shortness of

breath amid various activities, as it will

help you build your stamina.

2. Tones Muscles in Lower and Upper

Body

Another benefit of skipping rope is

that it is a great approach to tone the

muscle in your legs and lower body.

After the first day, you may encounter

some soreness in your legs. This is

because those muscles have been

inactive for a long time. Give them a

couple of days to recuperate, and it

will soon result in stronger and more

conditioned muscles, as you continue

your regime.

3. Best Tool for Weight Loss

Another of the main benefits of

skipping is that it is a great tool to

achieve weight loss. Skipping is an

extraordinary and simple approach to

lose those additional calories. It is safer

than jogging or running as you arrive

on your toes while doing it, without

affecting your knees severely.

4. Helps Improve the Skin

For a beautiful skin, one of the secrets

is to exercise. Not all of us may find the

time to head to the gym amidst our

busy schedule, but that definitely

shouldn’t be the reason to not sweat it

out and it's easier to do it if gorgeous

skin is one of the benefits of skipping

rope. Skipping is the most convenient

way to ensure that you work-out, even

if it is for 15 minutes daily. Exercise increases blood circulation in the

body, providing nutrients to

the skin and flushing out toxins. Ever

noticed the glow on your face post a

workout?

Skipping Benefits: For a beautiful skin, one

of the secrets is to exercise

5. Keeps a Check on Osteoporosis by

Improving Bone Density

Osteoporosis is a condition of fragile

bones with an increased susceptibility

to fracture. Bone mass decreases

after the age of 35, and bone loss

occurs more rapidly in women after

menopause. Jumping rope stimulates

the bone and helps strengthen it.

NOTE: Individuals who are already

suffering from osteoporosis should

avoid skipping as it could worsen their

condition.

6. Helps Attain Balance, Coordination

and Agility

There are so many martial artists,

athletes, boxers and tennis players

who incorporate rope jumping into

their training. Even

famous celebrities like Justin Beiber,

Kevin Hart, Padma Lakshmi and Kate

Hudson are all fans of skipping and

include it in their daily routine.

7. Skipping is a Full Body Workout

Skipping is a full body workout as you

are practically utilizing all parts of your

body. Your lower body is persistently

bouncing, your arms and shoulders

are constantly in motion, and your

abdominal area is involved too.

SKIP YOUR WAY TO HEALTH

DIMENSIONS VOL.11, ISSUE 1, JAN 2019 13

A Journal of A N Prakash Construction Project Management Consultants Pvt. L td

Additionally skipping helps in

maintaining your body posture,

keeping a check on slumped

shoulders.

While skipping, try to bring in some

variations, such as running while

skipping, skipping on one leg, jumping

extra high, passing the rope under your feet twice before you land, or

folding your arms as you skip. These

varieties can be challenging, but they

will give you a fun objective.

NOTE: Skipping is a great work-out but

one needs to be really careful,

especially in terms of footwear and

surface. One should do it on a soft

surface to avoid any kind of injuries.

Also people who are already suffering

from knee problems should avoid

skipping. And for those who weigh

more than 100 kilos, they should do

small sets of skipping instead of long

ones to avoid any kind of health

problems.

11. You Can Do It Anywhere

Another thing that you are going to

appreciate about jumping rope is that

it is very versatile. When you have a

gym membership you can only work

out at the gym and when you have a

stationary bike you can only work out

at home. However, a jumping rope is

very convenient because you can use

it anywhere.

You can use a jumping rope in your

bedroom, living room, out front on the

sidewalk, in the backyard, or you can

go to a park too. You can also take it

to the gym or skip together with your

friends too. Finding the motivation to

exercise can be hard, especially

when you have to go to a certain

place to do it, but being able to work

out anywhere you want is definitely a

big bonus.

Moreover, it is shown that exercising outdoors is healthy for your mind

because it can actually increase your

problem-solving skills, make you more

creative, and also relieve stress. So if

you’re ever in the dumps, feeling sad,

and in the need of a quick and

efficient workout, just try going to the

park to jump some rope. There is also

the fact that all you need to jump

rope is, well, a jump rope!

12. Eliminating Toxins

Another thing that jumping rope is

great for is for eliminating toxins from

your skin and from your body. First off,

your lymphatic system is kind of like

your body’s trash compactor system.

That is where all of the toxins in your

body collect, but there is a problem,

that being that your lymph system has

no way of getting rid of those toxins

by itself.

Your lymph system needs you to

manually contract your muscles to get

blood to flow through them and

pump the toxins out of your lymph

system. Skipping rope definitely makes

your muscles contract from top to

bottom, and that gets the toxins out of

your lymph system.

On that same note, jumping rope will

definitely make you sweat,

and sweating is good for your skin.

Bacteria and other bad things that

can cause acne and skin infections

build up in your pores. When you

sweat, like after a good jump rope

session, you sweat out those toxins

and bacteria, this preventing acne,

keeping your skin healthy, and

eliminating even more unwanted

compounds from your body.

13. Building Muscle

Something else that you should like

about jumping rope is that it will

definitely help you build some muscle.

Sure, it isn’t going to build muscle like

lifting weights, but it will tone your

muscles for sure.

Just think about it, when you jump

rope you engage pretty much every

muscle in your legs, plus you use your

arms to swing the rope, you use your

back to stay upright, and if you feel

like it, you can even clench your abs

to engage those too. In other words,

something as simple as skipping rope

definitely qualifies as a full body

workout.

14. Relieving Stress

Another benefit that you can reap

from jumping rope on a regular basis is

that it helps to make you happier,

relieve stress, and helps combat the effects of anxiety and depression too.

It is shown that exercise causes your

brain to produce an excess of

neurochemicals which make you feel

happy.

The 2 most important chemicals that

your brain produces when you

exercise are called serotonin and

endocannabinoids. Serotonin gives

you a sense of elation, joy and

happiness, & endocannabinoids give

you a sense of relaxation and also

help to relieve pain. Together these

two things help to give you an

increased sense of wellbeing and

happiness.

15. Breathing & Stamina

Another thing which jumping rope

can help you with is your breathing

abilities as well as your overall

endurance.

Just like your heart, your bones, and

your other muscles, your lungs can be

trained to work more efficiently.

Jumping rope definitely makes you

breathe hard, and when you breathe

hard and heavy for a prolonged

period of time, your lungs slowly

increase their ability to intake oxygen

and process it. Simply put, just like

lifting dumbbells makes your biceps

bigger, breathing really fast and hard

increases your lung’s oxygen

capacity.

The more oxygen your lungs can

process the longer you can exercise

for because you aren’t going to get

winded and run out of breath nearly

as fast. There is also the fact that your

muscles need oxygen to function and

the more oxygen your lungs can put in

your blood stream the longer your

muscles will be able to work for.

More the people to skip, more the fun

Skipping is one of the

most inexpensive forms of exercise.

You can also carry it anywhere and

everywhere. So go to the store, buy

yourself a skipping rope and get

jumping! Partly based on an article by Anandi Saha

DIMENSIONS VOL.11, ISSUE 1, JAN 2019 14

A Journal of A N Prakash Construction Project Management Consultants Pvt. L td

APPENDIX

Question of the Month:

The following quote is attributed to

Raymond Albert "Ray" Kroc, who was

instrumental in turning the McDonald’s

chain into a global franchise.

The question is: Do you agree with the

quote? If so, why? If not, why not?

Please send your answers by the 20th

of this month (Feb 19).

The Question of last month was:

Suggest a way by which the attitude

towards cleanliness can be improved

in our country. Please send your

answer by the 25th January in about

100 words.

Result of last month’s Q & A: The best

answer was submitted by Siva Rama

Krishna of Jayabheri (Vijayawada)

site:

Due to the restriction on the number

of words to be used for answering

(100), Siva Rama Krishna had given

the answer very briefly; it is here

elaborated to make points more

clear:

The Answer: Depending on the place,

situation, age and social status, we

have to use the “Sama Dana Danda”

technique.

To understand what “Sama Dana

Danda” means, explanation is given

below:

Upayas is a Sanskrit word that means

"approaches", "to come into any state

or condition" and "to come near or

towards". It also refers to methods of

diplomacy mentioned in ancient

Hindu and Jain texts.

Kautilya mentioned four Upayas -

Sama, Dana or Dama, Danda and

Bheda as ways to reach a solution in

state politics and to avoid conflicts

and war-like situations.

1. Sama, the first step, means

conciliation or alliances. When the

situation of conflict arises between

states, the firsts step is to talk and try to

resolve the conflict. If this method fails,

then go to the next step – Dana.

2. Dana, the second, means to give

gifts or compensation. Sometimes it is

referred to as Dama or price which

means to pay the value. If Dana too

fails, then the next step is Danda.

3. Danda refers to force or

armaments. To wage war against the

opposing state/group/person. This

involves some form of punishment,

either physical or emotional to have a

task accomplished. This technique is

not recommended for it can have

adverse ramifications, for both the

victim and the oppressor.

4. Bheda, refers to usage of Logic or

Trickery, by influencing the mind.

When all the first three fail, the final

method to be used is Bheda. This is

identifying, targeting and exploiting

weaknesses of the opposite party, to

get the job done. This technique is

never supposed to be used, for it may

have catastrophic consequences in

the victim’s life.

A well-known example of where these

four techniques were used at the

same time is the Mahabharata.

Krishna goes to the Kauravas to broker

peace with the Pandavas and to

avoid war. Krishna uses all four

techniques to bring the matter to the

final conclusion.

SAMA: For those who don’t know -

unaware & uneducated – They can be

changed by awareness campaigns

Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg

interacted with school children of Nithora

village on sanitation and cleanliness

DANA: For those, who know but do not

exert themselves to maintain

cleanliness – Children, educated and

Society having some social standards

– Can be changed by providing

incentive in terms of money, gifts or

allowance such as the prize for the

cleanest cities.

DANDA: For those, who know but fail

to do it (intentionally); we have to

punish them by imposing penalty

or/and ask them to clean the area

which they dirtied or spoilt.

A big Danda for the business sector who

litter horribly

A smaller Danda for the shameless, so-

called elite

Editorial team

Roy Zacharias, Editor

Editorial Board: R Suresha, Divya K

We welcome your valuable suggestions,

comments and articles. Mail it to:

academy@anpcpmc.com

Publication of comments and articles are

subject to editorial control and discretion.