Hyderabad: New technology helps expedite mega 2-BHK project

Hyderabad: Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has completed construction of 6,240 two-bedroom houses at Rampally using the advanced tunnel form technology. Basic amenities for these houses spread over 41-acre land will be completed in a month. Shear wall technology has enabled putting together a slab and three side walls of a house including provision for doors, windows and ventilation in flat 48 hours.

Another striking aspect about houses at Rampally is that precast staircase sets have been used for connecting different floors in all the blocks. These sets are fixed at both ends of a floor in all the blocks. This shear wall tunnel form technology is presently being used in different countries. In India, it is adopted in Banglore, Mumbai and Chennai. GHMC is using the technology after a special committee, including the Housing Corporation Chief Engineer, GHMC Chief Engineer and other senior officials approved its usage.

Contractor Anirudh Gupta said that the structure is robust in nature which can withstand seismic earthquakes. "Since inbuilt starters are there in form work, there is no problem in verticality of structure. This type of technology is adopted first time in Government sector," he added.

What is Shear Wall Tech?

In structural engineering, a shear wall is a vertical element of a seismic force resisting system that is designed to resist in-plane lateral forces, typically wind and seismic loads. In many jurisdictions, the International Building Code and International Residential Code govern the design of shear walls. A shear wall resists loads parallel to the plane of the wall. Plywood is the conventional material used in wood (timber) shear walls, but with advances in technology and modern building methods, other prefabricated options have made it possible to inject shear assemblies into narrow walls that fall at either side of an opening. Sheet steel and steel-backed shear panels in the place of structural plywood in shear walls has proved to provide stronger seismic resistance. (https://en.wikipedia.org/)