FACULTY OF CIVIL AND WATER RESOURCE

ENGINEERING

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

INTERNSHIP REPORT

HOSTING COMPANY

TANA CONSTRUCTION PLC

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DECLARATION

I, student of Bahir Dar University Institute of Technology declare that this report describes
my Three month stay in Tana construction plc and all source of materials and pictures used while
compiling this report gets fully acknowledged and I approve this by my signature

Name of the intern: Tewolde Kelemu

Signature: _________________
Date: _____________________

Company Supervisor Name: Ato Sisay Tegegne

Signature: __________________
Date: ______________________

Mentor name:
Signature: _______________
Date……………………….

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Acknowledgment
First of all I would like to thank my GOD for letting me for this day. Next I would like to
thank TANA CONSTRUCTION PLC for hosting me for this internship program and also I want
to express my deepest thanks for Ato Sisay Tegegne who is the Forman of the construction , they
helps me in each internship experience. Finally I would like to thank all persons who tries to help
me in the internship period.

III
Executive summary
This report is a brief summary of what I have seen during the internship program in
TANA construction plc at Bahir Dar kebele 16 for three months.
The report has four chapters.
The first chapter deals about the hosting company. It contain the history of the company,
companys vision and mission, its objective and the product and users of the company.
The second chapter explain about the overall internship experience. It deals about how I get
the company, work flow of the section, section of works that I have been executing and
challenges that I have been faced during the internship and its measurement that I have take.
The third chapter describes the overall benefits that I have gained during the internship
program.
The fourth chapter deals about the conclusion and my recommendation for the company.

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Table of Contents
DECLARATION ............................................................................................................................II
Acknowledgment .......................................................................................................................... III
Executive summary....................................................................................................................... IV
List of figure ................................................................................................................................. VI
CHAPTER ONE ............................................................................................................................. 1
1. Background History of the Company .................................................................................. 1
1.1. History .......................................................................................................................... 1
1.2. Objectives of company ................................................................................................. 2
1.3. The company,s main products and services ................................................................. 2
1.4. The company’s main customers or end users of its product......................................... 2
1.5. Project organization and work flow.............................................................................. 3
1.6. DUTY& RESPONSIBILTY OVERCAMPONY`S SECTOR.................................... 4
CHAPTER TWO ............................................................................................................................ 7
2. OVER ALL INTERSHIP .................................................................................................... 7
2.1. COMPANY ACCEPTANCE ....................................................................................... 7
2.2. work flow...................................................................................................................... 7
2.3. Work Tasks Executed ................................................................................................... 8
2.4. Site Work...................................................................................................................... 8
2.5. Challenges faced and measures taken Challenges I faced on my intern period ......... 29
CHAPTER THREE ...................................................................................................................... 30
3. Benefits Gained from the Internship.................................................................................. 30
3.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................ 30
3.5. Improving Interpersonal Communication Skills ........................................................ 32
3.6. Improving Team Playing Skills.................................................................................. 33
4. Conclusions and Recommendations .................................................................................. 33
4.1. Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 33
4.2. Recommendation ........................................................................................................ 34
5. References............................................................................................................................. 36
6. APPENDEX.......................................................................................................................... 37

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List of figure
Figure 1: Bulk excavation work...................................................................................................... 9
Figure 2 pit Excavation ............................................................................................................... 11
Figure 3 form work Footing.......................................................................................................... 14
Figure 4 Lean concert ................................................................................................................... 15
Figure 5: footing pad................................................................................................................... 17
Figure 6 Reinforcement of footing column .................................................................................. 18
Figure 7 concreting footing pad .................................................................................................... 19
Figure 8 footing column form work.............................................................................................. 20
Figure 9 Concreting of the footing column................................................................................... 20
Figure 10 standard sized box ..................................................................................................... 22
Figure 11 mixing of concrete ..................................................................................................... 23
Figure 12 Concrete cover or spacers work ............................................................................... 27

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CHAPTER ONE
1. Background History of the Company
1.1. History
TANA Construction is established in Bahir dar with a capital of birr 100,000. It was
setup to fulfill the increasing demand of construction firms in the country and also to contribute
its share in generating employment. For over a decade TANA Construction has delivered high
quality integrated construction solutions. The company undertook and continues to be involved
in the construction of new buildings of schools, market center, etc. as well as in
the expansion and rehabilitation of existing buildings. Its strength is understanding and
delivering the needs of its clients in a manner, which provides trust and confidence at all stages
of the construction process.
TANA construction plc contact address
Tel:0918782149
Bahir dar

1.1.1. Vision
-To see the country free from poverty and backwardness, an internationally competent
contractor and an active leading investor in the economy.
-Ensure that our clients get the best services, competitive prices and the best on time
accomplishment of their projects.
-Participate in development activities through the construction of infrastructure,
provision of employment and training for youth.
-To expand new construction technology
-Giving services on the construction management
-Creating job opportunity for citizens
-To fill the gap on the construction in order to speed up town development

1.1.2. MISSION
To provide sufficient equipment’s for the construction industry of our country useful
machineries to use for our construction activities.
Providing quality service to the society and ensuring continuous improvement of the
company in all aspects.
Developing, monitoring and implementing of new techniques and methodologies for our
company’s Financial Management, Procurement procedures, and construction managements plan
and evaluate the proper implementation of these techniques more over introducing of new
software for different applications which we currently using.

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 1.2. Objectives of company
Maximizing the potential of employees through training and development programs.
- Offering the highest level quality construction services to clients.
- Creating job opportunity for qualified engineers and other professions related with building
Constructions.
- Striving to work for excellence and quality on continuous basis for the satisfaction of
clients.
-To create a good competitive atmosphere in terms of cost and quality of
construction in Amhara National Regional state
-To contribute in the development of the economy and wellbeing of our people
-To fill a gap between demand and supply of construction material and services
-To perpetuate a profitable company that continues to create employment and
provision of services
-To conduct business with integrity and responsibility
-To supply their customers with quality services and products ,which meet their
needs

1.3. The company,s main products and services

Tana Construction plc is highly engaged in different constructions activities including
governmental and nongovernmental :
-Arb gebya primery school
-Ethio agro saft
-Agedana Michot market center S.c
- Mehal Gebeya Market center S.c
- dareselam market center S.c
-Combolcha TVTE
- ShereDemo mole/mixwd use/

1.4. The company’s main customers or end users of its product

TANA construction company has construct many projects which have different
purpose. These projects provide so many benefits for customers directly and indirectly.
⦿ Citizens in low income
⦿ Construction material producer and supplier
⦿ Governmental offices
⦿ Construction contractor
⦿ Students

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 1.5. Project organization and work flow
TANA construction company is a well structured and adequately staffed organization
,capable of handling the projects efficiently. The company uses the combined knowledge and
experience of personnel , from directors to skilled workers, for consistent quality project
delivery. All the achievements of the company have been made possible by the dedicated efforts
of executives and qualified personnel.
Employees at TANA construction company are working towards continuing success with the
help of committed leadership and highly motivated workforce by ensuring close relationship
with client and alliance partners. The company highly increasing its manpower in all levels of
responsibility and professional practices pertaining to construction work.

 construction foremen.

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1.6. DUTY& RESPONSIBILTY OVERCAMPONY`S SECTOR
1) PROJECT MANAGER:
-Controls the overall activities being under-taken on the site.
-Controls the construction materials which are purchased whether they are
used properly.
-Assigns different professionals such as Engineers , Forman and others
to the components.
-Supervises the quality of the site works.
-Reporting problems that occurred on the project which is beyond the
capacity of the project to solve it.
-Managing the budget of the project.
-Organizes and prepares meetings with different stake holders in the site to
create ideas on how to solve problems, talk about the future plans and
schedules.
2) Site engineer
-Has a responsibility to make sure that the work is implemented based on
the design and based on specifications used by the company.
-He modified and orders the general Forman to make it implemented.
-He visits the site on day to day basis for the purpose of making sure that
the work is flowing as planned.
-Strictly follows the given time schedules in order to avoid any delaying on
the project completion time.

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3) Forman (Ato SISAYI.T): Monitor and manage workers in the site. He has
the following responsibilities:
Ultimately utilize equipment & machineries of the company.
Control the cost, time & quality of the daily construction activities & for
adjustment and/or improvement of the next work.
Control that the execution of the work is according to the plan contract & plans.
Assure that all work will be executed considering the pre-set project objective. The
Forman in construction controls distribution of Masons,Carpenters and daily labors.
He also gives guidance on how the work is to be done and gives correction
there is any mistake done.
Executes the order that come from the project engineer.
Checks that the various construction works goes parallel.
4) Assistant Forman:
The assistant Forman in construction control distribution of mason workers carpenters
and daily labors. He also gives guidance on how the work is to be done and gives
correction as much as he can if there is mistake occur.

5) Purchaser
He has the following responsibility at site:
• Make stock of materials at the project site which helps for the construction progress.
• Perform material purchase for local & remote area construction materials.
6) Construction work manager
The work manager is responsible to over all constraction activities of the
project,coordinate,direct & supervises materials & labors and equipment allocate for the
cons traction activity.
5) Secretary: Mostly the secretaries are graduated in computer science. The work of
secretary are writing prepared brushers, posters, deferent forms, etc. as ordered to write.
6) Store keeper:
store keeper Controls the amount and type of materials of cons traction entering and The
leaving from the store by using forms.
7) Guards:
The responsibly of guards in the company are to control the new peoples who wants to
enter to the fence of the cons traction without permission and they look after the cons
traction materials at the time of night.
8)Time keeper – controls the time the workers start, break and end
-registers ordinary time amount and overtime works
-reports a summary of working times to project administrator for salary
9)Data collector–collects any data of work, daily
- reports the daily activities to the site/ office engineer

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 - Prepares monthly summary report etc.
11)Gang leaders – controls a group of daily laborers in a specific activity
Assigns the laborers to activities when essential
Reports any difficulties to General Forman etc.
12)Skilled man power – those are carpenters, masons, mixer operators…etc.
13)Daily laborers – are unskilled man workers who work as assigned on a specific activity.

Machineries accessory tools:

The company members are the contractors as well as clients or the owner of the market
center building, even though they do not have essential heavy duty equipments as once
contractors has such as loaders, excavators, grader, rollers, trucks etc.The company has
only small machines like Pump, vibrator, mixer and compactor machine.

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CHAPTER TWO
2. OVER ALL INTERSHIP
2.1. COMPANY ACCEPTANCE
First I got the company directly by asking with my application paper which given for me from
our department. I asked the manager of the company then he ordered me to Forman Ato Sisay
Tegegne directly I got the company.

2.2. work flow

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 2.3. Work Tasks Executed

As stated above I have been executing tasks in both site and office work sections. The work
pieces I have been performed in the above two sections are separately presented below.

2.4. Site Work

There were a lot of tasks executed at the site. These tasks were both technical (implemented by
professionals or skilled workers) and non-technical (implemented by unskilled labor workers).
The work pieces were performed through the use of machineries and man power. In this section
tasks such as earth work and excavation, setting out, form work preparation, bar bending,
concrete work, compaction of the back fill and other related work items were employed. The
brief description of the procedures, methodologies, materials and standard requirements for these

2.4.1. Earth Work and Excavation

The first step of building construction is earthwork and excavation. Earthwork begins with the
soil investigation even before preparing the plan of a building. Then site clearance, excavation
and earth work are done to make the ground surface clean and appropriate for construction. In
addition to this, earth work is important to improve the soil for the proposed load of the building
by replacing the existing soil if it was weak.
1.Sub structure
Sub structure is the lowest support of a structure which found below the ground surface.
It used to transfer the load from the super structure to the soil. It includes all the structure
below floor finish level (foundation, grade beam, masonry work and ground floor slab).

Excavation: is the preliminary activity of the construction project. It can be pit, trench, and bulk
excavation. In this project the type of excavation conducted was pit excavation of black cotton
soil.

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 Figure 1: Bulk excavation work

The following points should carefully be judged during excavation of foundation for any
building construction.

Services connection: Before starting excavation and earth work make sure, that there are
no services line such as electrical connection, water supply and drainage connection,
telephone line etc. below ground.
Benchmark: Mark one or more benchmark at desired level in a permanent place. This
mark can be used throughout the project duration.
Setting layout: Check the setting layout plan carefully so that the building doesn’t
displace from the exact position given in the plan.

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Sub-base level of footing: Check the sub-soil level from the bench mark so that we don’t
have to cut extra soil. The cut depth was specified in the drawing from foundation
design.
Side-slope in excavation: During earth excavation check that slope is maintained stable
for side-soil. Side slope depends on the soil type and cohesion nature.
Base soil: Check the base soil, on which building’s foundation will rest, is hard enough
to support the building. The base soil should have strength equal to bearing capacity
considered in the design.In our site the base soil was black cotton soil.
Excavation area: The excavation area is extended beyond the foundation of building for
easy movement during work execution. In this project the working area provided was
0.50m in every edge of the building.
Cleaning of foundation bed: Check that loose and displaced materials are cleaned from
the foundation bed.In our site the loose black cotton soil was cleaned carefully and
bolder fill was execute
Dewatering: Also called sub surface drainage is the process of removing water from a
foundation pit when it is located below ground water table. The purpose of dewatering
is to keep the excavation dry so that concreting can be done. It can be temporary if it is
done at the time of construction. It is followed by restoration to its original water table
after the structure has been completed. Dewatering not only facilitates construction, but
also helps in improving the properties of soil. The method of dewatering to be adopted
at a particular site would depend up on the characteristics of the soil, position of the
water table and the time period the system has operate.
In our site the water was removed through pumping

Pit Excavation
Pit excavation refers to foundation excavation for isolated footing. We know that the width
and depth of pit excavation depends on the sizes of the footing to be constructed. The
dimensions of footings are governed by soil type, i.e., bearing capacity. This mean the
depth of pit is indirectly a function of soil strength. The dimensions of pit to be excavated
is also includes working areas beyond footings.

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Figure 2 pit Excavation

2.4.2. Formwork
Formwork is a mould including all supporting structures, used to shape and support the concrete
until it attains sufficient strength to carry its own weight. It is temporary structure which is
designed to contain fresh fluid concrete, form in to required shape and dimensions, support
concrete until it become self-supporting.
In order to successfully carry out its function, formwork must achieve a balance of
following requirements:
 Containment: Formwork must be capable of shaping and supporting the fluid concrete
until it hardens.
 Strength: Formwork must be capable of safely withstanding the dead weight of the fluid
concrete placed on it, labourweight, equipment weight and any environmental loadings.

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  Resistance to leakage: All joints in formwork must be either close fitting or covered
with something to make them grout tight. If grout leakage occurs the concrete will leak at
that point. Leakages cause honeycombing of the finished concrete surface.
 Accuracy: Formwork must be accurately set out so that the resulting concrete product is
in a right place and correct shape and dimensions of the structural members.
 Ease of handling: Formwork panels and other units should be designed so that their
maximum size can be easily handled by hand. In addition to this, all formwork must also
be designed and constructed to include facilities for adjustments, leveling, easing and
striking without damage to the form work or concrete.
 Finish and reuse potential: The form face material must be selected to be capable of
result the desired concrete finish (smooth, textured, featured or exposed aggregate etc.)
At the same time, it should also achieve the required number of reuse to be more
economic.
 Access for concrete: Any formwork arrangement must be providing access for placing
of the concrete and concrete compaction through vibration.
 Economy: On average about 35% of the total cost of any finished concrete unit can be
attributed to its formwork; of this just over 40% can be taken for material for formwork
and 60% for labor. The formwork designer must therefore not only consider the
maximum number of times that any form can be reused, but also produce a design that
will minimize the time taken for erection and striking.
Formwork can be made of timber, steel, plywood, plastic and fiberglass. The material
most commonly being used to date is timber.
In our project the formworks used were playwood formwork for (footing, rectangular columns
and beams) and steel formwork for circular columns
Preparation of Formwork
Formwork is constructed for foundation pads, columns, beams, slabs and stairs. The exact
position and dimension should be maintained to avoid structural shift and dimensional variation,
and should be constructed following the setting out work. In formwork construction the
recommended space for concrete cover should be considered. The concrete cover can be
determined for each structural members depending of environmental effect on the reinforcing
bars. In our project the concrete cover for footing was 50mm in all directions and performed by
providing concrete spacer prepared for such purpose. Also concrete cover of 25mm was used for
columns and grade beams by using 25mm thick spacer
Surface treatment: Formwork should be prepared with threatened surface.
Before laying concrete the formwork should be cleaned. of all rubbish particularly the

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sawdust savings, chippings etc.
Before laying concrete the face of formwork in contact with concrete shall be cleaned
and treated with release agent like oil or soft soap solution as to prevent the concrete
getting struck to the formwork. In our project oil is used as release agent for formwork.
Duration Taken for Removal of Formwork
I. For columns 18hr
II. Soffit for slab 7 days
III. Soffit for beam and props to slab 14 days
IV. Props to beam 21 day
A good form work should satisfy the following requirements:
- The material of formwork should be cheap and it should be suitable for re use
several times.
- It should be practically water proof so that it doesn’t absorb water from concrete
.also its shrinkage and swelling should be minimum.
- It should be strong enough to withstand all loads coming on it, such as dead load
of concrete and live load during its pouring, compaction and curing.
- It should be stiff enough so that deflection is minimum.
- It should be as tight as possible.
- The surface of formwork should be smooth, and it should afford easy stripping
- All joints of formwork should be stiff so that lateral deformation under load is
minimum. Also, these joints should be leak proof.
- The formwork should rest on non-yielding supports.

1.Form work for footing

In our site plywood and panel are used for footing formwork purpose and they follow the
following steps to construct this formwork.
- collecting the panel and plywood for four sides of the footing
- nailing the plywood and the panel and constructing rectangular footing pad
- checking the dimension(they checked also diagonally)
- then fixing the formwork by using gendilla and some short wooden material

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Figure 3 form work Footing

.LEAN CONCRET
A concrete grade usually has compressive strength of 5 or 7 Mpa. It is used for
the purpose of leveling the surface under footings, grade beams, masonries and for other
structures. The mix ratio for this concrete in our site was 1:3:6 and its thickness used under the
structural elements was 50mm.

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Figure 4 Lean concert

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3. Reinforcing bars for foundation pad
In our site the two types of shallow foundations such as isolated and combined footings were
used. The reason why combined footing was used is due to the overlap of prior designed isolated
footings.
Isolated footings: are used to support individual columns. To support heavy loads,
reinforcement is provided at the base. The reinforcement provided is in the form of steel bars and
placed in both directions. The shorter bars placed below the longer ones and both of them bend
up ward a length equal to depth of the footing minus concrete cover (50mm).
Combined footings: A combined footing supports two or sometimes three columns in the row.
It is used when property lines, equipment locations, column spacing, or other considerations limit
the footing clearance locations. The combined footing generally constructed from reinforced
concrete. Reinforcing bars can be placed on both the top and bottom of the footing with a
concrete cover of 50mm in each direction. The top reinforcement the longer bars are placed
above the shorter and for bottom reinforcement the longer bars are placed below the shorter

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Figure 5: footing pad

Foundation column: Foundation column rises from footing and continues up to

grade beam. Its purpose is to transfer load to the ground surface. It has great connection
with the footing reinforcement.
4.Reinforcement of footing column
The basic considerations that we were taken while erecting foundation column.
- it should be erected at the center

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- it should align horizontally with the parallel columns
- its verticality should be checked by a plumb bob

Figure 6 Reinforcement of footing column

5.Concreting of the footing pad

After having excavated pits, the next step is to construct footing pads. Footings are reinforced
concrete structures that are used to spread the road from super structure to the underplaying soil
strata safely. The steps to construct footings are spread lean concrete, form work construction,
reinforcement provision and concrete work. Lean concrete is a layer of concrete spread under the
pad. The depth of the lean concrete is mostly 5 mm. This is used to protect the concrete of pad
from mixing with the soil. The ratio of cement, sand and aggregate in lean concrete is 1:5:7
respectively. The unit for cement is bag and sand and aggregate is box. The class of lean
concrete cement is C5.
After setting the mixture, the form work pad will be constructed. This structure is composed
of panels and struts which are used to construct pad with the required dimension. The surveyor
mark corners points for pad construction and carpenters construct the form works. Next,
reinforcing bars will be provided as per the drawing which is designed by the structural engineer.
For isolated footing, bottom reinforcements are provided in both directions. But for combine
footing top reinforcements are also added in addition to bottom reinforcements. Now the pad is
ready for casting . but to have the required spacers are provided and for the pad to have the

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required depth cabeleto is used. Cabeleto is a bended bar used to separate the top mesh
reinforcements. The bar will be bonded by considering the depth of the pad and diameter of the
reinforcement bars.
Then after the concrete is added to the pad, the viberator is used to cast the concrete by
compacting the concrete to avoid air voids in the concrete. The depth of the pad will be
maintained by making the points to which the concrete is to be casted.

Figure 7 concreting footing pad

6. Footing column formwork

The first step to construct the formwork is nailing of plywood with a rectangular shape,
then nail the short wooden materials (Karavat) in all 4 sides, then nail thelong inclined wooden
material (stanga ) with karavat. Then started to fix the formwork to its correct position, the next
step were making the formwork quite vertical. Use 4 plump bob (tumbi), two in one side and the
other two in another side this plump bob may have to tie on the top using rope and release
downward, then measure the distance between the rope and the plywood until it gets equal
distance on the top and on the bottom of the column formwork. When it becomes equal, fix the
inclined wooden material with the horizontal wooden material which fixed on the ground.Then
concreting the column.

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 Figure 8 footing column form work

7.Concreting of the footing column

Figure 9 Concreting of the footing column

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Back fill
After construction of the pad the foundation column, the pit excavated will be filled by selected
material. The type of soil is selected soil. The soil will be compacted every 20 cm thick until it
attains a minimum of 95% proctor density. The importance of compacting and soil selection is to
avoid settlement.
Backfilling of any excavation needs proper compacting in layers of maximum 30cm of height,
otherwise damage can occur to the structure of the pipeline, and occasionally can cause a sunken
area at the top of the trench causing accidents. A backfilling that is even well compacted
experiences over long periods
a certain settling. Therefore, the backfilling should always be a little bit higher than the
surrounding area. The aim of compacting is to reduce such settling to a minimum and to avoid
erosion problems. The excavated material is normally used again for the backfilling. Never put
stones direct lyon top of the pipe because this will definitely cause damage to the pipe. To avoid
damage to pipes it is important to backfill fine material or sand directly around the pipe. Special
care in backfilling is required in the case of PVC-pipes. A special backfilling procedure is
required for trenches on steep slopes. To avoid erosion, it is very important to build dry wall at
least every 5 meters and on very steep slopes at even shorter distances, determined by its desired
angle.
Back fill is to mean replacing excavated soil or selected material from another place and
compacting around foundation and hard core. We carry over compacting in layers of
appropriate thickness. Well compaction is necessary because reduces voids, approve strength
[safe bearing capacity] of soil which creates safe condition for buildings.

3. concrete form work Formwork is a mould including all supporting structures, used to
shape and support the concrete until it attains sufficient strength to carry its own weight. It is
temporary structure which is designed to contain fresh fluid concrete, form in to required shape
and dimensions, support concrete until it become self-supporting.

2.4.3. Concrete Works

Concrete is a mixture of cement, sand, aggregate and water to specify ratio. Different
grades of concrete were used for different purpose on site. In our site the mix is
proportioned by using different box dimensions, with dimensions 50cm*40cm*(16 or 18
cm for different concrete classes, varying the depth varies the grades of concrete. For

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example, for c5 the depth is 20cm, c25 is 18cm and for c30 is 16cm. but the mix ratio
remains the same 1:2:3 (cement: fine aggregate: coarse aggregate). In cases the ratio is
differ when the boxes dimension change, for example for the C-5 grade the ratio
becomes 1:4:6 (cement: sand: coarse aggregate ), but the ratio for the remaining
concrete classes are same to 1:2:3.

3.1.1 Materials for concrete

Cement,sand,coarse aggregate

3.1.2 Batching of concrete

The quantity of cement is measured by weight (50kg bag) and each batch of concrete
used one or more whole bags and the quantity of aggregate and sand measured by gauge
box.

Figure 10 standard sized box

3.1.3 Mixing of concrete;

. We used the following procedures to mix concrete;

1. Water is poured to the mix drum to wash away all unnecessary materials in it.
2. Cement, fine aggregate (sand) and coarse aggregate added according to specific grade of
concrete.
3. Sufficient water added that will result in a workable mix, which can be poured efficiently
into position around reinforcement and will produce a dense concrete of specific
strength.

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 4. The mixing process is stopped when the cement is thoroughly distributed throughout the
5. mass, approximately 2 minutes after the whole of water has been added.
6. The concrete will not be discharged from the mixer unless it is properly mixed, having a
uniform colour and consistency.
7. Then placing the proper mixed concrete on the specified places.
8. After finishing the work the mixers and all handling materials have to be washed out
with clean water, since it will be difficult to remove the concrete left on the drum after it
hardens.

Figure 11 mixing of concrete

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 3.1.4 Conveying (Transporting) of concrete;

The transportation of concrete in our site was most done by using a man power. Using a
crane is the most effective way, because concrete has to be transported from the place of
mixing to the place of deposit as rapidly as possible to avoid re-handling and flowing, as
well as to prevent segregation or loss of ingredients, that may occur if we were using
man powers due to the high traffic jam between the batching plant and the construction
site.

The stability of a concrete mix required that should be neither segregate nor
bleeding doing transportation. segregation is the separation of the constituents’
heterogeneous mixture. The tendency of segregation can be minimized by

 Reducing the vertical drop of concrete.

 Not using the vibrator.
 Reducing the continued vibration over a longer time.
 Entrained air reduces the danger of segregation.

Bleeding is the tendency of water in the mix to rise to the surface. The Couse of
bleeding is the formation of a porous weak and none durable concrete at the top placed
concrete .depending up on the properties of cement, the tendency of bleeding is
minimized by

Reduced by increase thefinesse of cement

Reduced by adding air entrainment agent.

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 3.1.5 Placing concrete

After checking the reinforcements as satisfactory by the engineer and consultants, the
next step will be casting of the concrete depending on the arranged time schedule.

In our site placing of concrete is taken place by using a man power

Concrete should be placed before setting has commenced and in any case within 20
minutes from the time of finishing the mix and all methods of placing the concrete are to
be in such a way not to cause any disturbance or movement of the formwork or location
of the reinforcement.

3.1.6 Compaction (vibration) of concrete

Compaction is the process of entrapped air and uniform placement of concrete to

form a homogenous dense mass.

During casting of concrete, it should be thoroughly compacted so as to form a dense

homogeneous mass properly worked around embedded fixtures, reinforcements and
into the corners of the formwork.

Any compaction methods, however, shouldn’t cause any disturbance or movement of

the formwork or location of the reinforcement. The methods of compaction include
• Hand compaction
• Mechanical vibration
• Centrifugation or spinning

Concrete placed and subsequently compacted has to be left undisturbed by any

movements or thrusts while setting at least for 12hours.
The various types of vibrators can be used depending on the type of work we are
performing.

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 3.1.7 Curing of concrete

Curing is involves the procedure for promoting the hydration of cement and consists of control
temperature and moisture movement from and in to the concrete. The objective of curing is to keep
concrete saturated until the originally water filled space in the fresh cement paste has been filled to
desired extent by the products of hydration of cement.

After concreting in any part of the area has been placed, the curing process will be
commenced as soon as possible.

Curing shall be continued for as long as may be necessary to achieve its objective
during the first stage of hardening.

The curing time may depend on concrete type, the type of the structural element and
environment of the working station.

There are two setting times of concrete namely, initial setting time and final setting
time. The initial setting time is the period from placing of concrete up to dismantling of
the formwork. It is 24 hrs. for columns’, slabs and beams and the final setting time is the
time from dismantling of formwork to the final setting (curing) of concrete. It is 7 days
for columns and beams, and 21 days for slabs.

3.1.8 grades of concrete used in our site;

 C5 (lean concrete) - to protect the structural concrete from seepage from the ground to
floor and to give level surface.

C25- commonly used grade of structural concrete.

2.4.4. Spacers or concrete cover

Spacers are used to maintain uniform thickness of cover to reinforcement in
substructure and superstructures which were reinforced. They were pre-made at the site
by using plain concrete with its required dimension of cover to reinforcement.

 That means different thickness spacers were used for different parts in my
site:
 For footing 50mm
 For column and beam 25mm
 For slab 15mm

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Spacers were put between the formwork and reinforcement bars by using metal ties
which were connected with the spacer while preparing them (As fig 11 indicates). These
spacers remained as the part of structure after the formwork was removed and gave the
cover for the reinforcement.

Figure 12 Concrete cover or spacers work

Spacers: are made at the site by using plain concrete with its required dimension of cover to
reinforcement and a wire which is useful for connection purpose. They are used to maintain
uniform thickness of clear cover at every part of the structure which is reinforced. The way clear
cover maintained is that spacers are inserted between the reinforcement bars and form work in
which spacer are tied with reinforcement. Then spacers not removed from the structure; but
remain part of the structure.

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Lean concrete works
Most of the time the c-5 grade concrete is called lean concrete. It is mostly used under
sub structures. It is 50mm thick qualify of C-5 with minimum cement content of 150
kg/m3 of concrete.

It has some advantages like;

 It acts like a hard stratum
 It protects all sub structural elements from extra moisture.
 It prevents the soil particles under substructures from any relative
movement
 Used to protect the reinforcements from rusting by increasing the concrete
cover
 A 50 mm lean concrete of class C5 with minimum cement content of 150
kg/m3 of concrete is used on.
 Under footing
 Under masonry
 Under ground floor beam
 Under ground floor slab

2.4.5. Reinforcement Works

Reinforcement work was understood as the supply and fixing of reinforcement bars. The
recommendation has to be taken during reinforcement works:
All reinforcement has to be free from loose rust, oil and grease which might prevent the proper
adhesion to concrete.
The Forman should include for any wire brushing or other cleaning of steel reinforcement as
may be necessary and, if directed by the Engineer, the reinforcement should be cleaned before
being placed in position and before pouring concrete.
Development or anchorage length are to be used when the footing, columns, beams and slabs
needs to resist from shear, the anchorage length are depending on the structure where we used it.
All reinforcements shall be properly anchored at each end with due consideration for the effects
of arch action and shear cracks.
To prevent bond failure, the tension and compression in any bar at any section due to ultimate
loads shall be developed on each side of the section by an appropriate embedment length and end
anchorage or a combination thereof. Hooks may be used in developing bars in tension.
The basic anchorage (development) length required to develop the full design strength of a
straight reinforcement bars

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Reinforcement bars shall be bound together at suitable intersections with pliable iron tying wire
(black wire) or other approved form of binding where directed so that the reinforcement will not
be displaced in the process of depositing the concrete.
 All ends of binding wire shall be bent back clear of the formwork.
 Reinforcement bars and supports were tied by mild steel wires. The bars were accurately
placed as shown on drawings and their positions maintained during all operations.
 No concrete was cast until reinforcement has been checked and approved by the
Engineer.
 The reinforcing bars when placed in position, then the bar chairs and the spacers shall
have been placed specified on the drawings provided such cover is not less than the cover
required by the approved standards.

2.5. Challenges faced and measures taken Challenges I faced on my

intern period
Since it was our first time to be in a working environment, we have faced different
challenges.

activities.
Lack of shoes
Sun light

2.5.1. Measures Taken for Challenges and Problems

For the above challenges on construction and challenges on intern students the following
measures were taken as a solution.

 For the variation of the soil nature from the investigation result site adaptation was made
to decided depth of foundation, and foundation for the new soil was redesigned.

 The black cotton soil was completely removed from the site since it is weak to support
the proposed load of the structure when ground water exists.

 For collapsing and sliding during excavation they provided 45 0 inclination angles (angle
of repose).

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  To remove water for the site they prepared well on two corners of the building and pump
it using the pump.

 Intern students had taken the following measures.

We have referred different references materials instead of waiting for the professionals.

We have asked other professionals who are more related to the given task.

We have visited other construction project site and compared with our site.

We have watch video tutorial on building construction and mega project’s video.

CHAPTER THREE
3. Benefits Gained from the Internship

3.1. Introduction
The university believes that this internship program provides many benefits to the students. The
program helps to improve practical skill, problem solving skill, team playing skill, leadership
skill, entrepreneurship skill, interpersonal communication skill, and upgrade theoretical
knowledge of the students. It also provides understanding about work ethics, company
psychology and overall phenomenon of the construction projects.

This internship program not only provides the above benefits, but also improves students-
community interaction, university-industry linkage and community services. Additionally, it
provides a chance for the students to introduce themselves with the practical work environments
and real world problems. The overall benefits I have gained in this internship program in terms
of academic or other life skill phenomenon is briefly described below.

3.2. Improving Practical Skills

The internship program has a goal of improving the practical skills of the students by applying
their theoretical knowledge on real world problems. I have improved my practical skill while I
was involved in the construction site. When I was there I have executed many tasks both at the
site and in the office, and developed good practical skill. In the site I have improved the ability to

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read drawings, take measurements with more accuracy, proposing proper solution to the existing
problems, storing materials and execute different tasks. Also I have developed some skills in the
office.

3.3. Upgrading Theoretical Knowledge

In terms of upgrading theoretical knowledge, I have correlated the practical works executed in
the site to the theoretical knowledge gained through education, and I have read different
reference materials about construction technologies. In addition to this, I have watched different
video tutorials which are related with civil engineering courses, and also I have watched civil
engineering beles project videos on building construction, dam construction, and bridge
constructions and other related construction projects. Therefore, in this internship program I have
gained abundant knowledge on construction by having sufficient time to navigate different
reference materials which are concerned with my discipline.

3.4. Improving Leadership Skills

A leader ship skill is a skill of managing, controlling and administering manpower and resources
within a given project. Within my internship period I have seen how human resources
(professionals, semiprofessionals, skilled workers and unskilled workers) and material resources
(machineries, equipment, vehicles, construction material inputs (cement, aggregate, sand,
reinforcing bars and other materials)) were managed, controlled, allocated, stored and
administered in the construction project. In addition to this, I got a chance to observe how to lead
the task using specified time in the schedule, allocate resources and manpower at the right place
and time, solving problems without conflict and resolve conflict among parties.

Generally, I have got the following benefits in terms of leadership skill.

3. The ability to manage, control and allocate resources properly.

4. The ability to shape, co-ordinate, motivate and appreciate a team.

5. The ability to make important decisions that affect both ourselves and people across the
business, without deferring to anyone else.

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 3.5. Improving Interpersonal Communication Skills
The construction project is running by a team consisting of professionals, semiprofessionals, and
daily laborers. As a construction team member one should have to develop the ability to
communicate with everyone who found on the site in order to perform his/her tasks properly.
When I started working, initially it was difficult for me to have good cooperation and
communication with all of people around the project site. But my relation was limited only with
some professionals (site engineer, office engineer and foreman). I have gone in such a way for no
longer than a month. Later I have developed a good relation with every person involved in this
construction project (site enginner, forman, ). After all, I have improved my ability to work
effectively with any construction team member and have a good cooperation with them.

In general, I have gained the following benefits in terms of improving interpersonal

communication skill.
3 Ability to communicate with self-confidence (ability to manage stress).

4 To build better interpersonal relationships with others.

5 Able to ask questions without fear (freely).

6 Able to communicate through writing.

7 Ability to be open for feedback (able to take feedbacks).

8 Ability to identify and understand emotions of others related to a given conversation.

9 Being polite and respectful while communicating.

10 Ability to listen actively (ability to pay attention).

11 Able to make clear and concise communication.

12 Ability to be acceptable while communicating.

13 Able to conduct good interviews (questions).

14 Ability to flow messages smoothly.

15 Able to learn words at the construction project (site languages).

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 3.6. Improving Team Playing Skills
There are so many individuals involved in the construction projects from project manager level
to the daily labor (entry level). In addition to the company employer there are intern students. To
work and stay with these people a team should be created to simplify tasks, to have task division
and to decide on controversial issues in group. Therefore, when, I was there as an intern student,
I have participated in different teams and developed the following team playing benefits.

1. Knowledge sharing culture

2. Ability to establish strong relationship with co-workers

3. Ability to advance our career by being exposed to other’s skill

4. Ability to resolve conflicts when disagreements are occurred between team members

5. Ability to view problems from different perspectives (since the team members have different
point of view)

6. Ability to treat others in a respectful and supportive manner

7. Ability to show commitment to the team and work as a problem solver

8. Ability to demonstrate a strong team spirit in the working place to meet goal of the project.

9. Ability to remain focused on the goal during difficult and challenging times by relying on
each other for support and guidance

10. Ability to produce more reasonable, scientific and practical solutions to problems by
bouncing ideas off one another in a brainstorming session

4. Conclusions and Recommendations

4.1. Conclusion
During my three months internship ,I have gained valuable experience at Tana Construction Plc,
In each day of the internship period, I have learned many new things and gained knowledge

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related to construction sectors. Beside this it also taught me on how to be responsible in
conducting tasks, being independent to learn new things, problem identification and solving skill,
material testing and result interpretation skill and other technical and non-technical skills. In
addition to this, all the tasks required cooperation between colleagues. So, I have able to work as
a team and develop team playing skill.

Generally, throughout this internship period, I have gained many benefits in different aspects.
However, the benefits gained are not as much as I have expected before due to different reasons
given below under recommendation.

4.2. Recommendation
After I have undertaken this internship program, I would like to suggest the hosting company
Tana Construction to improve the internship program and make it more efficient in the future.

Recommendation to the Hosting Company

First I want to suggest for the company Tana Construction Plc on its overall project execution
and the relationship with the interns.

For its task execution, I would like to suggest:

1. Even if the company has its time schedule, the tasks couldn’t be completed on time.
Therefore, the company should manage tasks and time efficiently.

2. The construction materials should be stored based on recommendations, not to affect the
quality. But here this company didn’t stored materials as the recommendations. For instance,
aggregates are stored on the place that is easily mixed with other materials (select materials,
bolder and other unwanted materials). The company should store construction materials in
safe, clean and dry place that didn’t affect its quality. .

3. Workers at the site didn’t use safety shoe, helmet or any other clothes to protect from danger.
Then the company should provide safety cloths for the workers to avoid danger during
construction.

For its relationship and responsibility for interns:

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4. As I have seen in different companies most of people in the company were not egger to help
the students due to their busy tasks. So, I recommend them to provide support, give essential
materials to perform tasks, guide and answer the students question properly.

5. The company should take responsibility for the students it accepts as an interns. But it didn’t
take responsibility on the interns, except giving rough evaluation at the end of the day.

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 5. References
[1] Dr. K.R. Arora, Soil mechanics and foundation engineering (6th edition), New Delhi, 2003.
[2] Professor Alemyehu Tefera, Foundation engineering, Addis Ababa, 1992.
[3] Construction material handout, Bahir Dar university, unpublished.
[4] http://www.wikipedia.org
[5] http://www.civilblog.org

[6] http://www.guardianconstructions.com

[7] http://www.civilengineeringx.com

[8] https://civilread.com

[9]http://wollamconstruction.com

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 6. APPENDEX
Buyaka: a cement paste used to moisturize previously casted concrete.

Gendila: a wooden member used to support stanga and ligna.

Hose pipe: a clean plastic pipe used for determine horizontal leveling.

Kabelito: Z- shaped bar used to provide required space between top and bottom bars.

Karabat: a horizontal or inclined short wood member used to braced the formwork board in
position.

Ligna: horizontal wood or string used for aliment of the columns.

Mershalle: vertical wooden member attached to the formwork, and used to support the karabats.

Tumbi: a cone shaped metal used for the vertical aliment (leveling) of vertical elements.

Stanga: a ladder like structure made of wood, and used for concrete placing, compacting and
curing of columns.

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