Career as a Civil Engineer

Considered as one of the oldest engineering disciplines, Civil Engineering involves planning, designing and executing structural works. The profession deals with a wide variety of engineering tasks including designing, supervision and construction activities of public works like roads, bridges, tunnels, buildings, airports, dams, water works, sewage systems, ports etc. and offers a multitude of challenging career opportunities.

A civil engineer is responsible for planning and designing a project, constructing the project to the required scale, and maintenance of the product. A civil engineer requires not only a high standard of engineering knowledge but also supervisory and administrative skills. The planning part of their work involves site investigation, feasibility studies, creating solutions to complications that may occur and the actual designing of structures. They have to work with the guidelines of the local government authority and get plans approved by the relevant authority. They may prepare cost estimates and set construction schedules. Construction work involves dealing with clients, architects, government officials, contactors and the supervision of work according to standards. Their work also involves the maintenance and repair of the project.
The major specializations within civil engineering are structural, water resources, environmental, construction, transportation, geo-technical engineering etc. On most projects, civil engineers work in teams or in coordination with many other engineers. They can find work as a supervisor of a construction site or a managerial position or in design, research as well as teaching in government services or private concerns. They can also work as independent consultants

Institutes: IIT's or Indian institute of Technology in New Delhi, Mumbai, Guwahati, Kanpur, Kharagpur are the most prestigious Engineering institutions in India. A comprehensive list of engineering institutes offering civil engineering can be found here.

Remuneration: The earnings depend on the industries employing civil engineers such as Central or State government departments or private concerns. But more than this it depends on from which institute you completed your civil engineering. Median Salary by Years Experience for a Civil Engineer is shown in the chart above. To know more about civil engineer’s pay scale, click here.

Construction Recruitment

The market is flooded with recruitment and placement websites. Most of them are generalist in their approach; however, there are some websites which focuses on certain specific skill category. Financial sector was long enjoying such benefit.
I was wondering why there is no specific employment site for construction industry although it contributes a substantially to GDP, particularly in a developing country.
Recently I came across http://www.constructionrecruitments.com/ which focuses on Indian Construction Industry recruitment. I called some of my friends to ask about this website but unfortunately not able to get any review. I will appreciate if some reader can throw some light on the website.

Innovative building equipment cuts down construction time

Building construction of 10.25 lakh sq. ft to erect 14-storeyed 15 skyscrapers, totalling 1,200 flats, on 45 acres of land would normally take minimum five years under conventional construction methods and that too if all the 15 towers are built together. However, the ultra-modern and innovative French, German and Chinese material handling and construction techniques adopted by B.G. Shirke Construction Technology Ltd, Pune, would take hardly one-third of this time. In fact, B.G. Shirke has already built three 14-floor towers with these technologies within a short span of 22 months, as part of the Rs 84 crore Millennium Towers residential complex project of City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) at Sanpada in Navi Mumbai. With age-old conventional methods, this would have taken minimum five years for completion, M.T. Lalvani, Deputy Chief Executive of the project, told Project Monitor. The French construction technique called Tunnel Form (TF), adopted for this project, eliminates building material-handling by one-third since the construction is not only fully mechanised but most of the site activities like foundation, columns, beams, slabs, infill walls, lintels, chhajaas, door-frames and internal/external plastering are clubbed together into only one single synchronised construction action, Lalvani explained. Interestingly, this technique is called Tunnel Form because it works on the principle of tunnel construction. The TF technique is a properly industrialised system and patented by a French innovator company, namely Outinord, by exploiting the theory and concept of tunnel construction to building construction. Besides, the TF technique is so called because a tunnel is formed out of the inside walls and the slabs together for monolithic casting of load-bearing walls and slabs in one continuous concrete pour. After casting of the unit of form work, a part of the tunnel is pulled out by wheels mounted on jacks/hydraulic system. As such TFs are necessarily required to be very rigid and sturdy. The TF work is a high performance tool enabling Striking, Erection and Concreting on the same day as compared to three different actions, compulsorily separate and extended up to many weeks! Whereas in TF the speed is achieved on account of: * Mechanisation in form work. I Handling of large room-size form work by fully electronic tower crane up to any height. * Minimum number of components to be handled. * Placement of form work is very rapid as the kickers forming the base of each wall are cast simultaneously as the slab. * Works of columns, beams, slabs, walls, lintels, chhajaas, door frames and internal/external plastering is done in a single action. * It creates a simple focus for operation, concentration and production resources. And the most consolidating and also aesthetic aspect of TF technique is that the entire construction doesn't have a single joint. Moreover, its plaster is all weather-proof and doesn't chip out the way convention plaster does, more so in the moist weather of Mumbai, Lalvani claimed. Regarding the strength of a building built under TF technique, Lalvani said, "The building won't collapse for a minimum of a century!" According to Lalvani, the electronic tower cranes used in this project are manufactured by B.G. Shirke Construction Technology Co. Pvt. Ltd under collaboration with a French company, namely Potain. The crane is costing from Rs 65 lakh to Rs 1.5 crore each, depending on its size. The crane's unique feature is that it has in-built power-transformer and voltage stabilizer. In addition, to own use, the company is marketing them to other builders in a big way. The concrete mix for the project also eliminates the material-handling process to a large extent, as it is done at a fully computerised batching plant at the site. This Rs 1.5 crore plant is fabricated under collaboration with a German company called Elba. The JV company is named as Shirke-Elba. The capacity of this plant is amazingly large like 40 cubic metres per hour. The Shirke story of minimum material handling doesn't end here! At Millennium Towers project, for instance, they have installed Chinese pumps to push concrete mix from the ground-level to construction spots right up to the 14th floor automatically. Shirke is in the process of collaborating with the Chinese manufacturer of these pumps to make them in India.Source: http://www.projectsmonitor.com/

Architecture graduate: Is the worst over?

Yes, Jeremy Till, Dean of architecture at Westminster University
In times of recession there is often talk of creativity being spurred by adversity, of burgeoning margins, of new architectures arising Phoenix-like, all of which might appear to favour the energy and hope of new graduates.

But this is a rather elitist view of the world, in which hairshirt endeavour is seen as a virtue rather than what it really is — an incredibly tough journey for the few.
It also overlooks the severity of the present condition, not just the economic crisis but that architecture students are graduating with debts of anywhere up to £50,000, whereas in the previous recession student grants were still in place and tuition fees nonexistent.
More than this, the reaction to an abyss created by a culture of reckless risk is of course to shut down risk, as anyone who has tried to get a business loan recently will know. Therefore the opportunities for graduates to exercise that energy and hope are inevitably curtailed just when we need such action more than ever to challenge the orthodoxy and ethical paucity of neo-liberal values.

There is a gallow humour in the studios as students prepare for their end-of-year shows; a pride in showing what they have done, but a barely disguised despair of what might come of their efforts.

That is why the profession needs to move more quickly to come up with ideas to cope with this crisis, and that is why in July, Westminster University will be launching a major project to provide support for unemployed built environment professionals.

No, Peter Murray, Chairman, Wordsearch consultancy
I guess if your aim is to step effortlessly on to the treadmill of life there have been better times. But historically, periods of recession do give people a bit more time to think, develop strategies for dealing with work and allow creativity to blossom unhindered by the constraints of budgets, schedules and demanding clients.

In the recession in the seventies, I remember the growth of groups and individuals who developed the pattern of their future work out of the tough economic environment. There was Ant Farm, Street Farm, Chrysalis (the team that went on to design much of the Pompidou Centre); Ken Yeang cut his teeth on sustainability issues and there was a massive amount of research carried out on solar panels, trombe walls and recycling, which got lost when the economy picked up. Will Alsop hit the headlines as a member of the Multimatch Group, Alvin Boyarsky ran the Architectural Association on a shoestring (students even had to sweep out the building themselves) yet created a successful school with a hugely influential team of alumnae including Koolhaas, Hadid, Tschumi, Coates et al.
In the recession in the nineties Nigel Coates occupied run down offices in Clerkenwell at £4 a sq ft. The opportunity of cheap rents is not to be underestimated in assisting the growth of new businesses.

You can also volunteer — Article 25 is keen to recruit graduates who are willing to work overseas and help developing countries deliver better buildings.
Source: Here

The high and low of cement price

The price of cement totally depends on its demand and supply. Where consistent demand for cement persists, the prices are high. The rates gradually increase in that particular region where infrastructure development is taking place. The total demand for cement rises by 8 per cent/annum. Every year price realisations of cement, from October to May, are at higher side and during the monsoon season, from June to September, they are low. This is a seasonal phenomenon of demand and supply, and it differs from region to region. There are also regional variations in cement prices. In Maharashtra, from October 2004 to May 2005 average cement price was Rs 170-175, in the south it was between Rs 150 and Rs 160, in the east between Rs 150 and Rs 160, and in the north between Rs 155 and Rs 160. For Grade A cement, this year there is Rs 4 to Rs 5 price increase compared to last year. This trend is exhibited in the north, west and east. But, for the cement Grade in the south prices scaled down by Rs 2 to Rs 3 compared to last year. On the other hand, for the same grade, in Central India like MP and UP prices are virtually flat. The prices have remained firm this year, according to Sanjay Ladiwala, President, Cement Stockists and Dealers Association of Bombay. Overall, during April-July 2005, in the current fiscal the YoY rise in WPI works out to around 7 per cent, which has come in the face of a double-digit increase in production. Currently, the maximum demand for cement is in the north due to many infrastructure projects. The second highest demand exists in the western region, especially in Mumbai-Pune, as well as in the eastern region. In Mumbai and Thane, the octroi adds up to the cement price. In Maharashtra, the prices are slightly higher because of 12.5 per cent VAT and infrastructure projects. In south, there is slow down in the demand (decrease in the cement price). However, in Andhra prices stood lower at Rs 130 per bag due to excess supply. But because of the latest industrial policy 2005-06, infrastructure construction activities will go up, and the demand will increase, according to Hari Narayan Vyas, dealer of Neha Marketing. In central India prices have ruled firm.Because of infrastructure projects, which are in the pipeline, the cement industry can expect an increase in price. But, next year onwards on an average the price of the cement may increase by Rs 4 to 5 per year. The main reason for the price rise will be supply shortage even though companies like Sanghi Cements, Shree Cements and Dalmia Cements are opting for capacity expansion and many new companies like Anjan Cement Ltd are setting up cement plants. "But increasing supply by a few million tonnes will not do good for the industry," says Sanjay Ladiwala. Similarly, for Grade A cement, Rs 4 to 5 increase will be observed on a YoY basis across all the regions. However, no sharp increase or decrease in prices is expected till 2008. South will also exhibit a similar trend but at the same time prices will be governed by the implementation of VAT.

Source: Madhu Chittora

Alternative Energy: Viable Alternative?

Lots of stuff is happening on alternative energy, but sometimes I think if this trend is really sustainable and if the other alternatives are really viable.
Read a good article on constructing earth quake resistance buildings. Also came across an article which high lights the quality of the management education in India. The Honorable Professor Arindam Chaudhuri, looks great counting his chickens…he should not fool students…Read More

Real Estate price to recover: Soon?

Home sales have picked up in select Indian markets over the past couple of months, but analysts warn that prices may not have bottomed out yet as developers are sitting on a huge inventory. Markets such as Delhi National Capital Region (NCR), including Delhi and surrounding areas such as Gurgaon, Faridabad, Noida and Ghaziabad, have seen a rebound in home demand, with several builders launching projects at a discount to market rates. They call it disruptive pricing. And it has worked. In one day, DLF, India’s largest real estate company, sold almost double the number of flats in Delhi than all builders together in Mumbai in the March quarter. Check out the numbers. DLF sold 1,356 apartments in Delhi on April 7, when it launched a residential project in West Delhi by offering flats at up to 32% less than market rates. Unitech, another builder with a nationwide presence, said it sold 3,000 apartments in two months in Gurgaon, Mumbai and Chennai. Jaypee Group said it sold 5,000 apartments in Noida in three months, while BPTP claimed to have sold 4,700 flats in Faridabad in one month. Compare that with 740 flats sold in the whole of Mumbai in the first three months of 2009 and 4,491 apartments sold in the national capital region in the same period, as quoted by a recent UBS report.
“There is a definite a rise in interest among home buyers and an attractive pricing has led to bookings,” Anshul Jain, CEO of international property consultancy firm DTZ India, said. It was the cement-to-hotels conglomerate Jaypee Group that started the affordable house bandwagon in the capital region, by targeting frills and reducing apartment sizes. “We offered houses at prices 25-30% lower than the market rate and that brought buyers to us,” said Jaiprakash Associate director Rita Dixit, who oversees the group’s real estate business. The pick-up in demand is unlikely to firm up prices soon. “It’s the end user’s market. It will be a long while before speculators get in and jack up prices,” said Unitech MD Sanjay Chandra. UBS analysts, in fact, see further erosion in prices. “The industry will still see further price cuts, as higher absorption is required to clean the system of current inventory,” its analysts Suhas Harinarayan and Pankaj Sharma wrote in a sector report. The March quarter sales accounted for just 10% of the inventory in Mumbai and Delhi, it said. At that rate, it will take another 10 quarters to flush out the inventory even if there’s no fresh supply.
In a separate report, Goldman Sachs analysts Vishnu Gopal and Shruti Gandhi said the upward movement in prices was unlikely this financial year. “We expect that projects may continue to be launched below prevailing market rates,” they said. Some people, like Delhi-based Raheja Developers’ chairman Navin Raheja, however, expect prices to firm up. “Once execution begins at the new projects and completion risk reduces, properties will start attracting higher prices,” he said, about the new projects going at discounted rates. Property prices have seen significant correction. As per Goldman Sachs, average annual fall in residential prices was 21% in Gurgaon. Prices in Bangalore, Mumbai and Hyderabad are 21%, 16% and 15% off their highs, respectively.Mumbai suburbs Goregaon and Borivali saw apartment prices halve from their peak, while the fall was 35% at Greater Noida.
Source: Economic Times