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civil restoration

Unichem Trading Company manages real estate properties in and around India. One that was under my purview was the management and rehabilitation of the Schneider Electric India factory in Poonamalee Tamil Nadu. The civil structure that housed the sales office, crèche building and canteen had major cracks that stemmed from micro cracks that had developed from poor laying and setting of concrete pillars and slabs.

role

In this civil restoration project I was solely responsible for arriving at a solution that could solve this issue without a complete remodel but a quick enhancement that could arrest any leakage and stand through time for a few more decades.

story

In accordance with the factory building there were other concrete structures that housed the sales office, crèche(daycare) building, and canteen. The sensitive area in these buildings was that we could work between a certain timeframe because sound pollution had to be kept at a minimum as the crèche housed infants, the canteen was sensitive to loud noises as employees only moment of relaxation is during the few minutes they spend during their meal breaks while running exhausting shifts. Since this civil structure was damaged at the slab and pillar level, the only lasting solution to solve this would be to rehabilitate the micro-cracks at the origin and to do so we had to grind the top surface to reach the origin of cracks and apply a cement coating that seals the bond and will also act as a waterproof barrier to arrest leakages. By setting an efficient schedule that ran through the night with minimal labor during the day and maximum labor during the night I was able to satisfy the conditions set by Schneider and provide an economical solution that solved the critical issues. This solution has survived the exhausting cyclone Vardha that struck the city in 2017 and the torrential rains that followed year on year.

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learning

My learning here was that I was exposed to a host of innovative solutions in the market that were available to solve critical issues. Even though tight schedules were set, I was able to find a workaround by building an amicable relationship with the contractors and the team at Schneider so as to work together in harmony without any interference.

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