By Gissel Taveras
El Inmobiliario
SANTO DOMINGO.- At first glance they look majestic, their height and beauty attract the attention of those who visit these large buildings, whether they are shopping centers, hotels or apartment complexes, responsible for changing the face of cities.
However, to achieve the success of all the beauty that permeates the urban landscape, expert hands from various professions are needed, working together with a common goal.
El Inmobiliario spoke with engineer Carlos Miguel Vargas, who explained that the following professionals are involved in the construction process:
The project architect is the head of the entire project, designing the concept and the spaces.
The facets of an architect's role are as varied and fascinating as their work. These are professionals who lead the process of creating functional spaces, from concept and design to their complete realization.
The structural engineer: is the one who defines the configuration of the structure, namely, columns, beams, floor slabs, and this is accompanied by a structural calculation to determine the amount of reinforcement, if the structure is made of reinforced concrete and the dimensions of the elements mentioned above.
• Structural engineers are responsible for:
· Evaluate the effect of the loads on the structure throughout its useful life.
· Establish how the structure will support the loads.
· Select the materials, components, and connections of the structure that will safely support the loads without excessive deformation.
· Plan a safe construction sequence.
· Prepare drawings and specifications of the complete structure.
• Supervise the construction to verify that the construction plans are followed in detail.
The geotechnical engineer : is responsible for carrying out the soil study on which the building will be founded, giving parameters on what depth should be excavated, what type of material should be used to fill, what type of soil it is and a series of parameters that define the behavior of the ground in the face of an earthquake.
This knowledge is applied to the design of foundations, retaining walls, earth dams, clay linings and geosynthetics for waste containment.
This is extremely important because if it is not done, it would be very dangerous to build any structure, due to earth movements, the professional maintains.
The sanitary engineer: Defines the drinking water system and network that the building will have, what capacity the cistern should have, etc., and also, where the wastewater will be disposed of.
“Last but not least, there is the electrical engineer . This person designs the entire electrical system that the building will have, where it will be powered from, how many transformers the project will need, the entire data network, such as telephone, internet, cameras, and can even design the air conditioning system if it is a commercial building,” Vargas explains.
How deep do we dig?
The expert points out that the excavation depth for a building will depend on its height, where the soil stratum with the greatest capacity is located, whether the building will have basements, whether there is very shallow water in the area, among other factors.
The machinery used in the construction process consists of the backhoe or excavator, to make the earth extractions and trucks to make the dumps of that material that is not used.
“In addition, a roller is used to compact the material used or recommended by the soil study, and depending on whether the building is very tall and needs a specific type of segmentation, there is a special machine to drive the piles, basically a drill,” he reports.
The steps
Steps for construction according to engineer Vargas
1- All the aforementioned professionals are working on the preliminary project.
2- Preparation of the plan, budget, procedures, pre-construction, soil study
3- Start, which is the movement of the earth or popularly known as the footing of the construction.
4- The first part of the structure is carried out, which is known as the gray work, which involves the levels, with the finishing of the floor slabs for each level.
5- Flooring, structures, enclosure walls, plastering, windows, doors.
6- Outdoor areas, green spaces, parking, swimming pools and decorations.
7- The final review verifies that everything is in accordance with the technical plan.
