Structures that Adhere to Safe Architectural Standards

As we entered a new millennium, we are witnessing more natural catastrophic incidences than ever. The year started with wildfires, earthquakes and everything else. The consequences of global warming are manifold. These events can wreak havoc on human life, wildlife and the environment. Together we can make a difference in combating the disastrous effects of these unforeseen events. However, prevention is also the best way to go about it.

Earthquakes have become a regular occurrence causing massive damages. While no structure can be fully earthquake proof, engineers are using innovative techniques and designs to safeguard new structures. These construction techniques help to reduce destruction and save precious lives. An earthquake with a magnitude of 6 Richter scale and above can damage any building. Lack of habitable land and increasing human population are leading to the construction of high-rise buildings that stand at a higher risk of being destroyed by earthquakes. It is also easier to evacuate people through stairs in a low-rise building compared to a high-rise building. However, modern evacuation techniques are often inbuilt in tall buildings. A popular example would be the World trade centre tragedy in 2011, many people could not make it to the ground floor because of the height of the building. Engineers are striving to create partially earthquake-resistant structures. Unreinforced bricks plastered with mortar are dangerous structures and can be reduced to rubble in case of any seismic shock waves. MP Birla is one of the best cement companies in India. The major types of cement manufactured by MP Birla are OPC, PSC, and PPC.

Portland Slag cement is used to create strong and durable structures. If you are constructing your building, get the best durable Portland cement for general construction work.

The Burj Khalifa in Dubai is the tallest mega-structure in the world standing at a height of 2722 feet. This massive skyscraper can withstand earthquakes up to 7 Richter scale. It is built on a 52-foot-deep steel and concrete foundation. The vertical and horizontal loadings are supported by a unique truss system, making it resistant to torsional movements. Shanghai tower with a height of 2000 feet, is the second tallest building in the world. The site is primarily filled with soft, clay-based soil. To make this structure earthquake resistant, engineers incorporated 980 piles and secured 2.15 million cubic feet of reinforced concrete. It also consists of a tuned mass damper to control swaying during earthquake or high winds. A series of shock absorbers helps in optimal counterbalancing. Taipei 101 located in Taiwan is one of the tallest structures in the world. It has a massive internal damper to control swaying and minimize the possibility of structural damage, in case of an earthquake. Recently a few Earthquakes occurred in Northern Indian region.

The foundation of any building is the most important of any other part. Stay updated with the latest architectural innovations in the construction industry.

Ways to Shortlist Real Estate Projects Before Buying (2nd Edition)

In edition 1, we discussed about the ways that will help you shortlist real estate projects before buying. In a market full of real estate builders and projects, it’s difficult and overwhelming to choose the best out of the lot.

However, choosing the best white cement manufacturer and other construction materials isn’t a big task as MP Birla Cement is the frontrunner in concrete game. When it comes to the durability of concrete and endurance of their construction materials, MP Birla Cement is unbeatable.

Let’s resume detailing the important parameters to help you in quick shortlisting of projects:

·         Comparison of Master & Floor Plans

Going at the higher level, analyse the detailed master plan and floor plan of the building. Take into account the number and height of towers, number of floors, apartments at each floor, and then shortlist the project if it suits your preference and needs.

Check and compare the super-built area against the carpet area and see what’s available for consumption. Higher the better! The number of rooms, balconies, utility area, servant rooms, bathrooms, and bedrooms available in each flat should match with what your preferences are.

·         Building & Nearby Amenities

Whether you’re single sharing the flat with your mates or a family with kids or without kids, make sure you make a detailed list of must-have amenities to be surrounded with, at all times. For families with/without kids, it is great if the building has sports and fitness-related amenities like Gym, Jogging Track, Courts (Badminton, Basketball etc), Toddler Swimming Pool, Kids Play Area, Creche etc

For families living with elderly, it’s good to have a lawn, small park, yoga/meditation area, medical store, in-house doctor’s clinic, and a reading lounge or library. Another crucial prerequisite to look for is the provision of ample parking space for every flat owner with ideal 2 spots for each a 4-wheeler and 2-wheeler.

·         Compare Bank Loans & Payment Schemes

Always make sure you check and compare the list of associated banks with the project offering home loans. Prefer the one that has tie-up with PSU banks like SBI, PNB, or Allahabad Bank as these banks have a more diligent process of checking documents and the builder’s history where private banks are lacking. PSU banks also carry lower rate of interest and easy payment schemes.

·         Mandatory Clearances

Yet another important criterion for shortlisting a project is the necessary clearances. Check whether your builder has acquired necessary clearances in order to operate as a provider and if these clearances are available to check on request.

Some of the important clearances to check are:

o   Land Registration or Title Deed of the property (in the name of Builder)

o   Encumbrance Certificate (certifies property is free from legal dues)

o   No Objection Certificate (given to Builder from land Seller)

o   Fire Department NOC (to be obtained during pre-construction phase)

o   Environmental clearance (to be obtained from state Pollution Control Boards)

o   Commencement Certificate (certifies commencement of construction)

·         Completion Timeline

Check carefully for the project completion date and never believe on the verbal dates told by the sales person in their pitch. Usually the verbal dates committed always exceed the actual completion time. Check and believe the time mentioned in the sales agreement and the grace period beyond which the builder is made to compensate you.

Apart from above, make sure you check for the quality of construction materials used, durability of concrete, and others because these factors ultimately decide the endurance of the building. Make sure you look for the tag of trusted white cement manufacturers to never regret your decision.

How to Test Quality of Cement at Construction Site?

How to Know Which is the Best Cement Brand in India

Quality test of cement at construction site is also called the cement field test and are essentially carried out to ascertain the quality of the cement received while construction process is going on. Although you may have procured cement from the best cementmanufacturers in India, it’s critical you do a field test to be sure of the quality of the cement as concrete is one of the most pivotal building construction materials that leads to a strong foundation.

Carrying out this field test on cement quality based on colour, touch and feel and other tests can be done in the following manner:

Cement Test at Construction Site

1.   Colour Test

If you ever get confused as to which is the best cement brand in India, just try out this simple cement colour test to get the answer. Quality of the best cement can be easily ascertained by its colour. If you procured the cement from a leading cement manufacturer in India like M P Birla Cement, their cement’s colour is always uniform grey with a light greenish shade.

2.   Lump Test

The best quality cement should be free of any hard lumps and should have a coarse but smooth texture. Cement forms lumps when it absorbs moisture from the atmosphere and such cement is unfit for construction.

3.   Adulteration Test

The cement has to be checked for adulteration too before taking it up for construction. The best quality cement should feel smooth on rubbing between fingers and if it feels coarse, it signals adulteration with sand.

4.   Temperature Test

If you insert a hand inside the cement bag, it should feel cold and not at all warm. This indicates your cement bag is from a leading cement manufacturer in India like MP Birla Cement.

5.   Float Test

Float test is yet another cement field test to know which is the best cement brand in India that offers quality cement. This is carried out by throwing small amount of cement in a bucket of water and see if they settle at the bottom or float above. If they float above for sometime before settling at the bottom, it’s the sign of a premium quality cement.

6.   Setting Test

Setting test is another solid test to know the cement quality at the construction site. Make a thick paste of cement with water on a glass plate and keep it under water for 24 hours. The best quality cement, from a leading cement manufacturer in India like MP Birla cement, wouldn’t crack and stay put after 24 hours.

7.   Strength Test

A block of cement 25 mm × 25 mm and 200 mm long is prepared and it is immersed for 7 days in water. It is then placed on supports 15cm apart and loaded with a weight of about 34 kg. if you’ve bought the cement from a reputed cement manufacturer in India like MP Birla Cement then the block should not show signs of failure.

8.   Packaging Date

It’s no brainer to figure out that the strength of cement reduces over time and thus it gets all the more important to always look for the packaging date on the cement bag. Generally, a bag of cement with less than 90 days of manufacturing date is fit to use.

Why You Should Put Rajasthan in Your Travel Bucket List

India is an incredible country filled with beautiful places to visit. This country has so much to offer in respect of nature, culture, food, values, etc. Some of the amazing destinations in India are Kerala, Himachal, Rajasthan, North-East. Rajasthan has a rich cultural heritage, delicious cuisine, and astounding natural beauty.

If you are looking for a beautiful place filled with serenity and calm, visit Udaipur. The city of lakes attracts visitors from all over the world. The picturesque lakes, medieval forts, and delicious Rajasthani food, all contribute to the charm and beauty of this place. Every tourist visiting the city of lakes wants to stay in the best accommodations. Apart from the mainstream luxury hotels, there are many lesser-known boutique hotels that will surprise you with royal hospitality, mouthwatering food and a closer view of Rajasthani culture. If you like traveling on a budget and looking for a boutique place, check out our recommendations:

Lake Pichola Hotel is a heritage hotel is one of the most beautiful boutique hotels in Udaipur overlooking the pristine lake Pichola. The architecture of this hotel transports you to a fascinating era of Rajasthani culture and tradition. Enjoy a meal under the starlit sky in their al-fresco restaurant, Upre by 1559 A.D. Hotel Fateh Garh is one of the finest luxury hotels in Udaipur offering world-class accommodation experience. This hotel offers interesting activities like zip-lining, jeep safari, or a vintage car sight-seeing.  As most of the hotels in Udaipur are surrounded by water, the cement used for the construction is strong and resilient. Mostly OPC cement is best cement in India for general construction work. Hotel Udai Kothi is rated as one of the best boutique hotels in India. This beautiful property has restaurants, pool, spa, and a concierge service. Enjoy the sunset across the Udaipur skyline with a cup of tea from your room. It is also a popular venue for destination weddings in Rajasthan. The pristine exteriors of this hotel are painted with white cement, that easily blends with the surroundings. Hotel Swaroop Vilas is a haveli style boutique hotel in Udaipur offers a peaceful getaway surrounding the Lake Swaroop Sagar. It is tucked in greenery, offering stunning views of the lake. Indulge in authentic Rajasthani food at the terrace bar while soaking in the serene ambiance. Madri Haveli is a 300-year old property belonged to King of Madri. It has only 14 rooms, which are renovated while restoring the authenticity of the property. The renovation was undertaken by a French designer that took over 6 years to complete. Every corner of this room has a rich heritage, history, and character. Get your camera to capture some captivating moments if you are staying in this magnificent hotel. Jaiwana Haveli is a haveli-style hotel which has 24 rooms with all modern amenities. You can book a lake view room at this hotel. It features a rooftop restaurant that offers delicious Rajasthani cuisine and breathtaking views of Lake Pichola.

There are daily flights to Udaipur that operates from all over the country. Plan your visit today to this beautiful city.

How Sustainable Buildings Can Contribute to a Better Environment?

We are living in an age where the earth is going through an environmental crisis. From global warming to ocean pollution, natural catastrophic events are increasing greatly. We must shift towards sustainable solutions that helps us to address the issue at hand. Eco-friendly and bio-degradable is the way to go. LEED is a voluntary certification that helps architects, designers and engineers to develop sustainable residential and commercial buildings. The focus is to increase the use of recycled, biodegradable and eco-friendly materials for construction. The chief source of energy comes from renewable sources like solar power, wind, and water. Rainwater harvesting is done to conserve water. Terrace gardens and green roof systems are excellent ways to reduce pollution, keep the building cooler and protect the roof from harmful UV rays. Architects design buildings that have access to natural sunlight, thereby reducing the use of artificial lighting and reducing consumption of energy. Choose best cement for concrete and eco-friendly materials for construction. Plant more trees in the campus to fight pollution. Consider these eco buildings that are making a mark in sustainability:

One Byrant Park, New York City is one of the greenest skyscrapers in the world, with a LEED platinum certification. It has CO2 monitors, waterless urinals and LED lighting. The building has its own power plant that produces 4.6 megawatts of clean, sustainable energy. Shanghai Tower is the tallest building in China, Shanghai Tower, has a LEED platinum certification. The wind turbines installed on the top floor of the building produce energy that is used for exterior lighting and parking areas. Today, most of the global construction projects are using eco-friendly materials and energy efficient techniques to restore and preserve our environment. The cement used for the construction of eco-friendly buildings are OPC and PSC. Portland Slag Cement is a blended cement rich in reactive silica. Portland cement is the best cement for house construction of foundations, the structure of roofs.

The building also facilitates rainwater harvesting. Cor Building in Miami is a uniquely designed building uses innovative measures to promote sustainability. The exoskeletal structure of the building is used for thermal mass insulation, wind turbines, solar hot water generation, natural shading, and cooling. It also has an efficient waste recycling and management system. Council House 2 in Melbourne, Australia has six green star ratings. It has a wind turbine system, sewage recycling, photovoltaic powered sheets among with many other sustainable features. The power consumption of this building is 85 percent lesser than any other building. It has 65 percent less CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions. World Trade Center, Bahrain is a high-rise skyscraper has wind-turbine installed in its design for generation of electricity. Along with being energy efficient, it enables waste management and recycling. This building has been awarded multiple ratings for its sustainable ways. 

Earthquake Safety Measures for High-Rise Buildings

Our planet is experience natural catastrophic events more than ever. From earthquakes, to wildfires, to global warming, the consequences are disastrous. Other natural disasters like tsunami, hurricanes, floods, are occurring frequently. These events can wreak havoc on human life, wildlife and the environment. While there is no perfect solution for this, we can all take steps towards progress together.

No structure is completely earthquake proof, engineers and architects are using innovative techniques and designs to safeguard new structures. These construction techniques help to reduce destruction and save precious lives. An earthquake with a magnitude of 6 Richter scale and above can damage any building. A devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake which occurred in 2010 in Haiti reported more than 200,000 causalities and rendered millions homeless. Chile, Japan, Nepal, Indonesia, Mexico, and the Philippines are some of the most earthquake-prone areas in the world. Lack of habitable land and increasing human population are leading to the construction of high-rise buildings that stand at a higher risk of being destroyed by earthquakes. It is also easier to evacuate people through stairs in a low-rise building compared to a high-rise building. However, modern evacuation techniques are often inbuilt in tall buildings. A popular example would be the World trade center tragedy in 2011, many people could not make it to the ground floor because of the height of the building. Engineers are striving to create partially earthquake-resistant structures. Unreinforced bricks plastered with mortar are dangerous structures and can be reduced to rubble in case of any seismic shock waves. MP Birla is one of the best cement manufacturers in India. The major types of cement manufactured by MP Birla are OPC, PSC, and PPC. Portland Slag cement is used to create strong and durable structures. 

The Burj Khalifa in Dubai is the tallest mega-structure in the world standing at a height of 2722 feet. This massive skyscraper can withstand earthquakes up to 7 Richter scale. It is built on a 52-foot-deep steel and concrete foundation. The vertical and horizontal loadings are supported by a unique truss system, making it resistant to torsional movements. Shanghai tower with a height of 2000 feet, is the second tallest building in the world. The site is primarily filled with soft, clay-based soil. To make this structure earthquake resistant, engineers incorporated 980 piles and secured 2.15 million cubic feet of reinforced best cement for concrete. It also consists of a tuned mass damper to control swaying during earthquake or high winds. A series of shock absorbers helps in optimal counterbalancing. Taipei 101 located in Taiwan is one of the tallest structures in the world. It has a massive internal damper to control swaying and minimize the possibility of structural damage, in case of an earthquake. Recently a few Earthquakes occurred in Northern Indian region.

The best way to safeguard any building from earthquake is to build it on a strong foundation, using the best construction materials available.

Beautiful Iconic Structures Worth a Visit from Around the World

When we visit a country, we try to visit all the iconic places. Bridges are a beautiful reminder that connects two places together. Construction of any monument, gates, bridges, or any iconic architecture is a challenging and prolong process. It may take a few years to several years to perfect the construction. In the modern days, architects use 3D modeling and virtual design and construction techniques to design bridges.

Did you know the fascinating history of bridges? The structure of a bridge was inspired by Aqueducts, which were used to transport fresh water for great distances, during the medieval era. Architects often dig up aqueducts in ancient Egypt. One of the most spectacular is Golden Gate bridge in California. It is one of the world’s longest bridge spanning at 4200 feet. It is also one of the tallest suspension bridges in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is constructed with earthquake-resistant technology. This bridge has walkways, bicycling lanes, and a six-vehicle traffic lane. Cement bridges are often whitewashed with white cement to blend in a blue skyline.

The Hangzhou Bridge is the longest bridge in China with a length of 36 km across the Qiantang River. It involved a construction time of 9 years. It is also one of the most expensive bridges in the world. You can check the types of cement and order cement online. The stunning Brooklyn Bridge across the New York City Skyline. It spans a length of 1596 feet over the East River. It features a great pedestrian walkway for the walkers and the cyclists above the automobile lanes. The construction of this bridge was carried on fourteen years. Magdeburg Water bridge is a water bridge spread across the Elbe river. It is the longest navigable aqueduct in the world. It has a length of 3000 feet. It allows ships and boats to cross access the water bridge. It also has two pedestrian walkways on both the sides of the aqueduct. The Sydney Harbor bridge is one of the largest steel bridges in the world. It features a magnificent steel arch 440 feet above the water. It has a length of 3700 feet and brilliantly marks the beautiful Sydney skyline. The Strait of Bosporus connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara. Istanbul is the connection between Asia and Europe. The Bosporus bridge literally connects two continents spanning over a length of 4954 feet. This bridge stands out beautifully against the backdrop of the night sky. The LED lighting on the bridge’s towers and the cables on it glow in striking colors. This bridge shuttles traffic between two continents with eight lanes including one sidewalk for pedestrians. The Millau bridge in France is the tallest bridge in the world constructed at a height of 1125 feet. Spanning over the Tarn river valley, it is 8000 feet long. It has seven pillars and was opened to the public in 2004.