How do you add more floors to your existing building?
How do you ensure your building can withstand additional floors?
Underpinning work is required when the original foundation is no longer enough to support the building or when another storey is added to the structure of the building. Underpinning is the process of strengthening an existing foundation.
As with all underpinning work, the challenge is to install new piles using the most cost effective approach, that is constructible and still meet all the technical requirements.
Our client, a subsidiary of the Selangor State Government, embarked on a development of a 200 bed hospital in Rawang. The building is 2 blocks with 7 storeys at original design.
It was anticipated that the intake of patients would increase substantially, so the client decided to add two additional floors. As a result, a number of columns need to be strengthened and the foundation be underpinned with micropiles.
The challenges of this project were as following:
- The as-built positions of the existing foundation system were not captured comprehensively. We understand that these were jacked-in RC piles.
- The head room was limited.
- The as-built positions of the underground utilities were not made available.
- Ongoing activities of the other contractors required very close coordination.
- The existing M & E facilities need to be dismantled to provide head room clearance.
- A number of as-built brick walls need to be hacked off to provide access for the drilling rig.
On top of the above constraints, a very strict MCO Movement Control Order was imposed due to the most unexpected Covid-19 crisis. Daily testings on the workmen were carried out, travel restrictions hindered normal proceedings, daily sanitisation of workmen, plants and equipment were carried out. The production was tremendously affected in meeting the required social distancing rules for the workmen. All installation operations required manual input by a few workmen working in close proximity. This was highly challenging to meet the requirement of the Malaysian SOP.
