VIJAYAWADA: The works of the five-towered Secretariat and the ‘iconic’ High Court have gained momentum as both the projects have reached initial milestones construction-wise.While the diagrid members for two towers of the Secretariat, which is arguably the first diagrid structure in the country, are being erected, the contractors of the permanent HC building are preparing the ground to launch the concreting works of the raft footing.
The engineers of Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority (APCRDA) said that the erection of the diagrid steel members began 10 days ago.
“The first diagrid column for the 50-storey General Administration Department tower was erected recently. In the last 10 days, about eight diagrid members, which are weighing about 15 tonnes each, were erected for two towers. The diagrid members are joined by x-shaped nodes. There are about 550 diagrid members and 300 nodes. So, if we can erect at the rate of one member and one node a day, the work can be done in 500 days,” a senior engineer explained.
The diagrid structure will help in constructing high-rise buildings without conventional columns.
And, in doing away with the columns, the structures will have more space. About 15,000 tonnes of steel is estimated to be used for each tower. The Engineering department officials also observed that the core wall work has reached the ground level.
“The contractors are planning to start building walls by using climbing units. The contractors plan to complete the formwork for each floor in 10 days,” the engineer added.The APCRDA awarded the first package of structural works of the five-towered Secretariat, which will also house the offices of the Heads of Departments (HoDs), to NCC Ltd, L&T and Shapoorji and Pallonji Group for Rs 2,271 crore.
“We are aiming to complete the structural works by August, 2020. The tender for other works such as interiors and others will be invited later,” the engineer added. The entire cost of the project is pegged at Rs 4,800 crore and the five towers are coming up in a sprawling 41 acres of land. Similarly, the concreting for the raft footing of the permanent High Court will also be launched shortly. Shapoorji and Pallonju Group is building the seven-storied ‘iconic’ structure, designed by Foster + Partners, at Nelapadu.
“The plan is to have the High Court building ready by 2020-end,” another APCRDA official noted. The HC building is coming up in 42 acres of land at a cost of around Rs 740 crore.