Tshwane University of Technology Tshwane University of Technology Experiential Learning 1 Report EXP1ECI ‘Submitted in the partial completion of the National Diploma in Civil Engineering to the Department of Civil Engineering in the Faculty of Engineering and The Built Environment Compiled by: AM Ngapo Student number:205016732 Student: A.M Ngapo Mentor: Mr IP Mashaba‘A.M Ngapo 205016732 Table of Contents page 1. Standard forms 1.1 EL1.0 2 12EL14 3 13 ELL2 4 14613 5 15 EL14 6 1.6 EL15 7 17 EL16 8 1.8ELL7 9 19€L18 10 2. Academic Record 11, 12,13 3. Project description 14 3.1 Rustenburg Rapid Transit (RRT) Contract A 14 3.1.1 Background 14 3.1.2 Scope of works 14 3.2 Organisational Structure of RRT project 16 4, Report on experience W7 4.1 Administration 7 4.1.1 Site administration 7 4.2 Surveying 18 4.2.1 Base line measurement and chain surveys 18 4.3 Contracts and Documentation 19 4.3.1. Certificate preparation, measurement of areas/volumes 19 4.4 Construction Supervision 20 4.4.1. Application of formwork, false work along with reinforced concrete 20 4.4.1.1 Continuously Reinforced Concrete Pavement (CRCP) 2a 4.4.1.2 V-Drain 22 4.4.2 Stabilisation of sub-base for bus lane 24 5. Conclusion 26 6. Annexures 27 = Experiential Learning 1 Report Page 1‘A.M Ngapo 205016732 3. Project Description 3.1 Rustenburg Rapid Transit (RRT) Contract A 3.1.1 Background Since the discovery of platinum in the region, Rustenburg has become one of South Africa’s fastest growing cities and has proved to be an essential contributor to the economy of the country. The city currently has a population of about 540 000 people and over the years it became evident that an upgrade to the existing transport routes was necessary in order to facilitate for the movement of people and goods. Rustenburg was identified by government as one of twelve metropolitan cities in South Africa as being in urgent need of an Integrated Rapid Public Transport Network (IRPTN) to support the economic development of the area. It was therefore decided to implement the Rustenburg Rapid Transit (RRT). The RRT involves an integrated transport system which will be implemented along various routes within the Rustenburg Local Municipality. The routes were planned to integrate with bus routes servicing townships, suburbs and outlying village areas as well as long-distance bus services, which will work together as a system to move people around the city and region. The Rapid Transit will essentially provide access to the Central Business District of Rustenburg and other surrounding areas along the route of Thabane, Phokeng and Kanana. 3.1.2 Scope of works | am currently working for Phatwe Consulting Engineers which is involved in the first construction phase of the RRT project which involves the upgrade of Swartruggens Road (R104).\t is a dual carriage of approximately 4,8km in each direction with a wide median where bus stations will be constructed. The bus route will service areas of Rustenburg North, Geelhoutpark , Tlhabane and Tlhabane West (see Locality Map: Figure 1). Experiential Learning 1 Report Page 14Figure 1: Locality Map ‘A.M Ngapo 205016732 The main work activities being undertaken on the road are the following: > Layerworks: . vVvVYY New mixed-use Lanes {where widening takes place for new left turning lanes) Mixed-use Lane rehabilitation (where no road widening takes place) Slow lane (km 10+500 to km 114220) Slow lane (km 11+220 to km 15+300) Fast lane (km 10#500 to km 11+220) Fast lane (km 114220 to km 15+300) New RRT Lanes in existing median area km 11+220 to km 15+300 At intersections (raised intersection) BTB and surfacing adjacent to RRT Lanes Electrical Engineering Works Public Spaces and Urban Furniture Boundary Fences Stormwater Drainage Services Experiential Learning 1 Report Page 15,‘A.M Ngapo 205016732 > Accommodation of traffic: © Location of the Works © Coordination with other contractors © Temporary Works and Traffic Accommodation © Setting Out 3.2 My Role (Position) 1am one of the approved site staff. | have been approved by the Client as Assistant Resident Engineer (ARE) under Phatwe Consulting Engineers for skills transfer. My mentor, Mr Peter Mashaba is always on site as part of the Engineers as he continually reports to the Client and Project Manager on progress. ee epee en une ee Experiential Learning 1 Report Page 16‘A.M Ngapo 205016732 Report on experienced gained 1am working for Phatwe Consulting Engineers which is one of the joint venture partners that is overseeing the project. My designation on the project is assistant Resident Engineer on site and | reported directly to the Resident Engineer on site. My main duties and responsibilities are to: © Observe the execution of the works, examine and test materials and workmanship. © Liaise with the R.E and relay any information regarding the activities on site. ‘© Receive and sign off inspection requests for quality assurance © Check measurement calculations submitted by the contractor for payment © Check lab test results with Materials Technician and levels with Clerk of Works and signing the summary sheets ¢ Receiving revised work drawings from the RE and updating old revisions of drawings © Conduct inspections on works which require supervision and permission to proceed as per construction drawings. My duties and responsibilities are not limited or restricted to the abovementioned tasks, and wherever help is required from the side of the Consultants, | am required to assist. was about four months into | started working on the RRT project on the 18" October 2012. TI the project and I quickly had to grasp all the activities that were taking place. As a student, | was able to gain experience in the following categories: © Administration © Surveying © Contracts and Documentation © Construction Supervision © Materials Testing 4.1 Administration 4.1.1 Site administration Under this category, it was my responsibility to receive permits and inspection requests for works taking place on site which required to be checked for preparation before they commenced. The inspection request procedure is a method placed in order to control and assure quality on the work taking place. There were several request sheets that were used and a Experiential Learning 1 Report Page 17‘A.M Ngapo 205016732 each had an intended control mechanism and criteria for quality assurance. The request sheets that | mainly work with are namely. © Permit to Excavate © Pre-concrete inspection * Post concrete inspection © Permit for release for blinding © Pre-backfilling inspection © Request for stabilisation Generally these requests are applied for various types of work such as: * Excavation for trenches for stormwater pipes, service sleeves, electrical cables, street lights, ete. © Pre/Post Concreting of Bus Lane (continuously reinforced concrete pavement), pedestrian bridges, headwalls and wing-walls, manhole floors, v-drains, etc. © Pre-backfilling of excavation for stormwater pipes, service sleeves, etc. > Lessons learnt In this regard | learnt the following: © tofill in each of the sheets and apply the use thereof, which assisted in the compiling of as-builds and summaries of the works. These were filed and kept as record of the different types of work performed by the contractor. This also assisted the Resident Engineer in making decisions with regards to monitoring the quality of the work done. © Lalso learned the importance of keeping record of all works performed on site as it may conducted. be required to produce these at a later stage when an au 4.2 Surveying 4,2.1Base line measurement and chain surveys. In construction of the road layerworks and pedestrian walkways, it was essential that levels were taken for the respective fills. These levels were taken at the profiles which were set up in order to produce the final design levels on the drawings. It was my duty along with the Clerk of ee Experiential Learning 1 Report Page 18‘A.M Ngapo 205016732 Works to verify the reduced levels and see if they were conforming to the specifications in the contract document and that they met the tolerances set out. | also checked levels of the bedding for storm water pipes in order to see if after placing, the pipes would allow for sufficient flow of storm water. > Lessons learnt Under this category, | learned the following: © How to check the levels taken for the respective layerworks. This was to check if the contractor is achieving the specified fill depths and to see if the final design levels were attained. © How and where the specific levels should be taken in order to be able to produce as builds. ¢ How to work collaboratively with the contractor on site to ascertain that storm water pipes were performing their intended purpose of allowing drainage of rain water. 4.3 Contracts and Documents 4.3.1 Certificate preparation, measurement of areas/volumes As assistant Resident Engineer, one of the critical responsibilities | was assigned was checking of the measurements for payment submitted by the Contractor. In this regard, the person compiling the measurements and | would physically go on site and determine the work performed for payment for that month’s certificate. Measurements taken would be for calculation of: Volume of material excavated, fills of the layerworks, concrete poured for V-drain and concrete bus lane, etc. © Areas covered by sub-contractor’s working on the paving for pedestrian walkways, amount of curing compound sprayed on bus lane, ete. © Number of street lamps erected, etc. These measurements were then captured on a measurement sheet showing all the relevant calculations and the total amount of work claimed for payment for that month's certificate. | was responsible to verify that the calculations were correct and that indeed the claimed work is actually done on site, | would then check the cumulative totals for the claims of the different certificates and ensure that they do not exceed that of those in the Bill of Quantities. Experiential Learning 1 Report Page 19‘A.M Ngapo 205016732 > Lessons learnt In conducting checks for measurement for payment, | learnt the following: * To scrutinise carefully the contractor's calculations. This is critically important as mistakes and miscalculation can result as justification for fraud. © The importance of keeping track of the activities on site, by carrying a daily dairy, so as to be able to verify the contractor’s progress when they claim and verifying work which has been done. © Checking of measurements requires one to know how to read the contractors tender document in conjunction with other specifications such as COLTO. In this regard | learnt how to read the Bill of Quantities and check for the different schedules and parts of the tender document when signing off measurements, 4.4 Construction Supervision This category is outstandingly the one which | got the most exposure to while on my experiential training. As Assistant Resident Engineer on site, It was one of my main duties to observe the execution of the works. On a regular basis, | conduct site inspections and monitor workmanship on site in order to assure quality on the work. For the sake of the report | limited these inspections and supervisions to: © Application of formwork, false work and scaffolding along with reinforced concrete. Earthworks — stabilisation of sub-base for bus lane. © Inspection and approval of the final layer as is a critical item in construc 4.4.1 Application of formwork, false work along with reinforced concrete ‘A lot of the work on site made use of formwork for the casting of various structures, whether reinforced or unreinforced. The use of the formwork is to produce the desired shape or mould which the concrete had to take in its set or final form. Typically, just to name a few, these structures were: ‘© Continuously reinforced concrete pavement (CRCP) (Bus Lane) © V-drain i Experiential Learning 1 Report Page 20‘A.M Ngapo 205016732 4.4.1.1 Continuously reinforced concrete pavement (CRCP) This structure is a critical element in the works and strict control measures are applied in the inspection thereof. The formwork was to produce concrete of a thickness of 220mm and was vertical on the inside of the concrete (side on median) and chamfered on the outside (side on mixed lanes). Figure 3 shows the cross section on the bus lane and configuration for the placement of steel reinforcement bars. Figure 3: Cross section on Continuously Reinforced Concrete Pavement When inspecting the formwork and steel reinforcing or when conducting a pre-concrete inspection, the following are checked. ¢ Alignment of shutters © Dimensions on the shutter (length, breadth, height) © Support and bracing of formwork © Joint type, preparation and positioning © Spacing of reinforcing * Concrete cover * Cleanliness of DPC © Fixing of steel pe a Ee es ee ee Experiential Learning 1 Report Page 21‘A.M Ngapo 205016732 © Splice lengths Photo 1 shows how the steel reinforcing and formwork for the bus lane would look before placing of concrete Photo 1: Formwork and steel reinforcing for bus lane. Typically a pre and post-concrete inspection are carried out on this structure and standard forms are used. (See annexure A and B) 4.4.1.2 V-Drain When inspecting the V-drain, | followed the same checks as with the CRCP. The only difference with the V-drain is that it is unreinforced. A 150mm thick concrete is used and shutters have to. produce a V-shaped of 2,5m in width and each panel has to be 2,0m in length. A construction joint has to be made every 10m, fitted with soft board cut to the cross sectional size. Figure 4 shows a typical section of the V-drain and photo 2 and photo 3 shows the v-drain before and after it has been poured. EEE Experiential Learning 1 Report Page 22‘A.M Ngapo 205016732 DETAILD ins TYPE ‘E3' CONCRETE MEDIAN CHANNEL Figure 4: Typical cross section of V-D1 Photo 2: V-drain before middle panels are poured Experiential Learning 1 Report Page 23A.M Ngapo 205016732 Photo 3: V-drain after all panels are poured > Lessons learnt When conducting inspections on formwork for both reinforced and unreinforced concrete, | learnt the following: © That it is important to check that the bracing of the formwork is securely fixed. This is to assure that the shutters do not kick or move out of position when pouring of concrete takes place. © That the use of poker vibrators is important when compacting the concrete so as to reduce the voids trapped in the concrete. This is to insure that honeycombing does not form. Oiling of shutters is also essential for easy removal of the formwork. © How to look for defects when conducting a post concrete inspection and guarantee the final aesthetics of the concrete is of a pleasant outcome. These are amongst other critical checks that | learnt should be done. 4.4.2 Stabilisation of sub-base for bus lane One of the project specifications for the sub-base for the bus lane was that it be cemented with 2% of Portland cement. My respon: with regards to the sub-base was checking the calculations of the placing and distribution of the bags of cement. The inspection involvec ‘© Checking the markings for width to be stabilised and distance between bags ‘© Ensuring that bags of cement are placed in every space and spread correctly in its marked area, Experiential Learning 1 Report Page 24‘A.M Ngapo 205016732 © Ensuring all cement bags have been removed from the layer to be stabilised © Checking that milling machine or recycler cuts to the right depth and stabilisation is done correctly and mixing is efficiently done. Annexure Cis the standard form used for calculating the amount of bags needed and spacing and distribution of the cement. It is also my responsibility to ensure that test requests were taken to the site laboratory ‘manager so as to inform him to take samples of the material being stabilised. > Lessons learnt With regards to stabilisation | learnt: How apply the calculations from Transportation Engineering Ill for placing of cement bags and distribution. © The type of plant required to carry the stabilisation process. © How to carry out inspections for the stabilisation of a layer. © How to check lab results and see if the stabilised sub-base complies with specification. ee ee ee Experiential Learning 1 Report Page 25‘A.M Ngapo 205016732 5. Conclusion The nature of the project I am involved in is of a multifaceted nature and grants me exposure to ically road construction. | was able to learn a lot of disciplines within construction, more spe new concepts and principles and apply my theoretical knowledge from school into practice. The fast paced and demanding environment which | worked in every day since starting on the project taught me to prepare myself when going out on site for inspection and conducting checks. Similarly, it is essential to protect the client’s interest throughout the project and ensuring that the end product matches or exceeds the client’s expectation. In this regard | understood more the consulting engineer's role on a project. Road construction involves a lot of activities and processes and I was able to grasp the different concepts and their application. With relation to the project of the RRT, other elements such as structural engineering were involved and | was able to participate in the development of these structures. The different categories | covered on the project were all of relevance and gave me more knowledge and insight into my expected responsibilities as a civil engineering tech training. It was ian and added to my experience. Some of the other details with regards to my experience and training which were not covered shall be further discussed in my P2 report. trumental in me becoming a more rounded tech a Experiential Learning 1 Report Page 26‘A.M Ngapo 205016732 6. Annexures Photo 4: Subbase for bus lane preparation Photo 6: Base cleaned for application of prime se Photo 8: Manhole construction for stormwater Photo 9: Casting of CRCP and floating Experiential Learning 1 Report Page 27