A case study on concrete problems in UTM

Abstract

This Project was conducted to study the types of concrete problems and its basic category in UTM. The required information was gathered by conducting visual inspection to selected areas and buildings. Interviews with Pejabat Harta Bina and building custodian had made this survey easier when the required information available in their archive. By using fundamental knowledge in relating symptoms of defects to its causes, defects list and weightage of concrete problems based on percentage according to their basic category of cause i.e. Design Deficiency, Material Defect, Construction Error and Maintenance Defect, has been able to be developed and derived. The relationships were determined using approximate approach i.e. deducing initial failure hypotheses (IFH). From this survey, apparently based on the percentage, Design Deficiency has contributed the highest numbers of defective concrete in the survey, followed by Material Defect, Construction Error and Maintenance Defect, by, 34%, 30%, 26% and 10%, respectively. These data are further utilised by relating its causes to durability of the concrete structures in UTM. The results show that, regardless the root of reasons why concrete has became problematic; it has, for sure, given profound impact on the durability of concrete. For instance, crackings induced by design deficiency or by construction error at least permit access and ingress to aggressive agents to propagate deterioration process i.e. corrosion of reinforcement. With these information, it is hoped that the established platform on gathered information about concrete problems in UTM, may able to set forth preliminary reference for any purposes in relating to the above subject. Therefore, preventive measures can be set forth to avoid repetitive concrete problems in UTM in years to come.