Track: Undergraduate Student Paper Competition

Abstract

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is well known to everyone around the globe. This has increased the need for hospital beds to accommodate a large number of COVID patients. Thus, the main objective of this paper is the rapid building of a hospital considering sustainability and risks in the construction. The authors have presented detailed planning which includes project life cycle, work breakdown structure (WBS), and cost analysis of a COVID-19 care hospital to be constructed in 45 days. Modular construction is an off-site construction method that reduces project duration, delays, accidents, capital cost, and wastages. One of the constraints found in this type of construction is increased transportation and logistics considerations. The modular construction methodology is adapted here for quick, safe, and better-quality construction. A review of research work explores the use of steel structure as the best choice for pre-fabrication. The usage of concrete for the proposed structure is replaced by other sustainable materials and thus, the concept of sustainability is implemented in the construction works. The light-weight materials are selected as they have a lower embodied energy rating, cheaper to produce and transport. This helps to optimize the logistics process in the manufacturing, storage, and assembly stages. In the planning stage, the study is conducted by defining the factors and parameters that affect the project life cycle that have the potential to cause project delays. The feasibility study is conducted to check the viability of the project. A detailed risk assessment is conducted on-site as well as in the off-site factory and the steps are taken to control those hazards. The hospital is a single-storied building planned to accommodate 200 patients. Columns, beams, and truss elements are made of lightweight and high-strength steel. These are present in the interior to give more unobstructed space and clear height to the structure. The truss elements have an appropriate corrosion protection layer. The roof structure and external walls are made of lightweight sandwich panels of 50 mm thick. The panel contains an insulation layer between the steel layers for thermal resistance and waterproof. The outside and inside layer of these panels is galvanized with an aluminum-zinc (galvalume) layer for rust prevention and has 4 hours fire rated. As we know, for COVID-19 guidelines, practicing physical distancing is of utmost importance. So, between all the patient beds, there are non-load-bearing partition walls. The estimation and PERT analysis to construct the project is included. While comparing the cost of all the activities during the construction phase, it is found that most of the expenditure is on the construction of grade slabs. The maximum time is allocated for MEP work as it needs a lot of coordination between civil and mechanical engineers. A network diagram is presented for understanding the sequence of all the activities to be followed.