1. Development of a method to process water treatment sludge to extract clay to manufacture   high quality clay products-BMD

2. Analyzing of the ground vibrations of rock quarries in Sri Lanka and proposed suitable limits for ground vibrations which can cause minimum effect to the landslides-LRRMD

3. Develop methodology to conduct Social Impact Assessment (SIA) for structural landslide mitigation measures-HSPTD

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Development of guidelines for selection of materials and products for construction industry.

By: Ms. Madushani Ariyadasa, Scientist (Engineer)

Building Material Research and Testing Division. NBRO

With the emerging construction activities in the construction sector of Sri Lanka, imported construction materials and products are being frequently introduced, but without a proper introduction, many of them are unknown to Engineer, Architect or Quantity Surveyor. Hence in certain instances, these professionals are unaware on specifying certain such materials in their bidding document. Therefore it is a timely need to introduce a kind of guideline to select, specify and evaluate those materials and products. With the main objective of aforementioned, a handbook which describes the guidelines is developed in this project proposed by Building Material Division of NBRO on assisting construction professionals for selecting appropriate materials necessary for specific requirements. 

The Methodology adopted in this project is to collect the information presently available on construction materials and their characters, to evaluate them and to combine them into a single document. This single document will be a handbook which finally gives a comprehensive information on construction materials and products indicating their properties, test methods and specifications relevant to local and international standards.

The handbook will be formulated in four volumes and it will basically cover the following materials/products.

Volume I – Building Works (Aggregate, Cement, Water, Concrete, Aluminium, Glass, Water proofing, Structural steel, Sealant, Blocks, Bricks etc.)

Volume II- Sanitary Installations (Tiles, PVC pipes, Water closets etc.)

Volume III – Electrical/Data Installation (Wires & Cables, Electrical conduits & fittings, Electrical enclosures, Circuit breakers, Electrical Boxes etc.)

Volume IV – Building Services (Elevators & Escalators, Fire Fighting System, HVAC etc.)

Currently, the formulation of Volume I has already been started and it will consist of around 160 numbers of construction materials and products. As of now, gathering of the information on Cement, Aggregate, Admixtures, Supplementary Cementitious Materials, Mortars & Plasters, Timber, Water Proofing, Glass and Aluminum have been completed. The basic structure of the handbook will be as follows.