'Preengineered Structure Concept' followed
With most textile and engineering units in Coimbatore getting ready to tap wider markets and scale up capacities, the concept of pre-engineered structures or “fast buildings” is catching up fast to meet the construction deadlines.“The short time taken to put up the structure at KPR Mills was due to the availability of a preengineered structure concept. Now, many mills and engineering units springing up in the region prefer pre-engineered structures. These are not only less time consuming but also look aesthetic,” said Mr G Srinivasan, chairman, Builders’ Association of India (BAI), Coimbatore chapter.The advantage of pre-engineered structures is that they are factory-built and designed to be erected in the shortest possible time. Such buildings are found ideal for use as warehouses as they have a large, clear floor area without columns. This column-free interior permits efficient shop layout and unhindered production flow. Mr Srinivasan told ET: “Already some of the industrial units here have started making use of this concept. And a couple of upcoming malls too are being constructed this way.” In February 2006, KPR Mills laid the foundation for a 1.85-lakh sqft facility for its garment unit with 1,000 sewing machines. Barely six months later, the unit started functioning.
ETL Infrastructure Services is planning a 7-lakh sqft mall off the Avinashi Road to be built using the pre-engineered structures. According to a leading builder, the concept is gaining popularity mainly because of the time taken for conventional construction and the increasing cost of labour. “They are made in the factories and just assembled at the construction site. It usually takes about 90 days to complete on-site work of any magnitude. The units have brick walls up to a specific height, though it is optional. Wall cladding is usually done with the same sheets used for roofing. Ultimately, the actual steel consumption comes down,” he said. Another advantage is that if a unit has to be shifted to other premises, the structure can be easily dismantled and re-assembled in a few hours.However, these have some problems too, points out a mill owner. For instance, the structure cannot be altered at the time of construction. Since the strength of the steel pillars and beams are planned according to the load of the structure, these cannot be altered once the construction starts.
