Question 1

Reinforced concrete is a popular building material used in Singapore’s built environment. It is commonly used in all local developments, buildings,s, and infrastructure, for the construction of their structural elements.

You have been tasked to carry out a research study in addition to the materials in the textbooks and prepare a write up with the following questions as a guide for the report:

(a) Indicate the strength and weakness of concrete and steel and discuss the reasons why reinforced concrete forms a good composite material for building construction.

(b) Define the important considerations in a quality management system that are normally put in place, to ensure good quality reinforced concrete is used in the construction.

(c) In an Addition & Alteration (A&A) project of a residential property that your
company has recently been awarded, the owner of the property discovered an
abnormality (see Figure Q1) at the soffit of the roof slab of his car park shed.

(i) Assess the quality of the concrete slab and identify the defect shown in Figure Q1.

(ii) Determine the likely causes of this defect and suggest appropriate
interventions to prevent such an occurrence.

(d) As the design engineer of this A&A project, you proposed to the owner to use structural steel as an alternative material to achieve a shorter construction duration and to improve environmental sustainability. Discuss the proposal and indicate the advantages and disadvantages of using structural steel.

(e) List and explain the differences between prescriptive and standard specifications for steelworks.

(f) Which method of the specification is more suitable for steelworks? Explain your choice.