Ok let us learn the basics of Site engineering, the first thing we are going to learn in this is Site Clearance. It goes without saying that before we start construction we need to clear our sites , but the question arises “What are we clearing on our site?“. The answer is : anything and everything, if there were trees on your site, clear the trees out, if there was grass, clear the grass out, if there are electric poles, clear them out, if there were any water pipelines underneath the ground clear them out. Just like you eat on a clean plate similarly we need a clean and clear site before we start building.
WHY? Why do we need to clear our site, why can’t we just build right away, I don’t clean my room and I’ve never had any problem.
Answer: I have seen trees growing off the side of flyover ramps, WHY poor site clearance, do you want trees growing from underneath your building just because you were too lazy to remove roots of those trees.
Imagine it’s the first day of construction, excavator takes its first dig and bang there’s water everywhere, guess what you just destroyed the city water supply pipeline.
Not only did it cause a problem to the city, now you have to take permission from the IPH department to relocate the pipeline outside the construction site perimeter, government permissions as you know takes a lot of time. Now you have stalled your construction for another month. Great Job dude on the internet. This is what happens what you try to run away from site clearance.
What does a good Site Clearance Looks Like?
Answer: Ideally there should only be sky above your head and soil below your foot and nothing else.
How do I do Site Clearance?
Answer: Finally a good question, I was getting tired of those lazy engineers before you. You see read below to learn how to do site clearance
Trees/Grass etc: Cut the trees if their circumference is less than 30cm ( above 30cm you need permission ) and remove the grass from the surface. You would like to believe that your job is done now, guess what it’s not, trees can regrow from seed and roots, so you need to remove the roots as well to a depth of 60cm below ground level. Also these organic material is a good food source for termites, I guess you don’t want to deal with the termite problem later on, so remove the tree roots and seeds and any other organic material form the construction site
Existing Structures and Services: Dismantle all the existing structures and remove and reinstall all the service lines such as power lines, water pipeline, sewage drains etc outside, don’t worry you will be paid extra for reinstalling all of these outside the perimeter of our construction site.
Archeological Monuments: well we need to protect all of those, don’t we. Provide adequate fencing that ensures protection to these monuments for the entirety of construction period.
Disposal: What do I do with all the junk I have collected during all this clearance. Well you need to talk to the client and come up with a dumping site, you will dump all of the junk at that dumping site. You will only be paid for the shortest route from your construction site to the dumping site.
Finally I hope you got an idea about the site clearance process, If you are a fresher Civil Engineer looking for a job read this article: How to get a job as a fresher civil engineer.
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