Prefabrication Construction as an Alternative Structural Frame Construction Method for 40/60 Housing Projects in Addis Ababa – A Case Study on Megenagna Site
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Date
2019-06
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Abstract
t can be easily noticed how there are numerous defects in almost all of the concrete buildings in
Ethiopia. Anyone who works in the construction industry would have witnessed poor quality of work
in several projects. If such a person has an engineering and construction management background,
the quality problems and subsequent technical risks would stand out even more.
This MEng final project is about precast construction as alternative method of construction for mass
housing projects, specifically, about the significance of this construction method being introduced in
Ethiopia. Despite the array of structural, serviceability, and quality problems that are very common, it
is exciting to think of the tremendous opportunities that such a fresh start as precast construction
would bring. Where the equipment and production space is available, structural concrete elements
could be cast and cured in a controlled manner on the ground level. This could be seen as a
characteristic feature of the precast method of construction
The reader will find brief descriptions of the in-situ construction method, other countries experience
on prefabrication and overview of Ethiopian policy towards housing for the past three regimes .
The research then goes on to study the cost benefit analysis of precast construction over conventional
method of construction , Using a case study 40/60 saving apartment building in Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia, the aim of the study was to evaluate the differences in cost, quality ,delivery time for both
construction technologies in delivering the house to the end users, in order to determine which of the
two had lower cost, good quality and time saving; and would be a better-performing alternative for
the Ethiopia's construction industry.
The findings are mostly as would be expected. Mainly, the precast method was found to be better in
cost saving ,quality, resources, and time, than the in-situ construction method. It was also found that
there are certain types of buildings that are more suitable to be constructed using the precast method.
Finally, the research reveals that 36% cost saving if we use prefabrication for mass house
development project..
This is a major reason that this topic was chosen for MEng project. It was arrived upon while
searching for ways of modernizing the construction process in leaps and bounds. With the degree of
out datedness of the construction process in Ethiopia, a catapulting change is needed just to cop up
with where the modern world has already reached.
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Keywords
40/60 Housing Projects, Megenagna Site, Prefabrication Construction, Structural Frame, Construction Method