DECLARATION I hereby state and verify by my signature that I have reviewed this internship report. I hereby affirmed that the report contains the actual project or assignment that I (or the company I work for) assigned to this intern.

Date: ________________

Supervisor: ______________________

Signature: _____________
Mentor: ________________________ Signature: _____________
Student: ________________________ Signature: _____________

Acknowledgement
First I would like to thank the university-industry linkage coordination office for facilitating us the internship program. And Satcon construction plc takes the credit for my successful completion of the internship program since it would not be possible if it was not their willingness to accept me as their intern.
Then I would like to extend my warmest appreciation to Ato Bisrat Mengistu, who has been my advisor at the construction site, for all his hospitality, help and advises. And also I would like to thank all the staff members even the site workers for their undying motivation to cooperate with me. An executive summary
I have done my internship work in a site of building construction found in Addis Ababa by the ownership of information communication and technology minister of Ethiopia for the purpose of becoming as head office for the future.It is a g+6 building consists of offices, canteens, toilets, and theatrical hall. It is consulted by MH engineering.
Starting from the day of October 29 of 2012 till February 7 of 2013 I have been working as data collector, quantity surveyor, site inspection and preparation of daily and weekly report. It seems like an easy job when you take a look at it from the outside but we should be very careful of what we are doing because if we make one mistake we are going to lose much. Like the philosopher said if a doctor makes a mistake he is going to kill only one person but if an engineer makes a mistake he is going to kill too many people.
This report contains all about the overall internship experience and the benefits I gained from the internship.
I was beneficial by going out for internship program because I gained a lot of education from the outside world so that I think I am having the self-confidence I want from my experience. It is a very good program for engineering students in order to develop practical skills in the outside world we can take it as it is laboratory in real life.
Someone who is well learnt in school also have to be very efficient in its practical skills because it is a must to communicate with the handy mans as they want us to be otherwise they may think that we are not capable of in managing the tasks that we are given. Therefore this program should continue as planned so that students will be confident when they go to the outside world. After all I have been working both in:-
 Site work and
 Office work
Therefore this internship program should continue as it is in order to create very well educated professionals in practical and in theory.

Back ground of satcon construction
SATCON Construction Plc., one of the domestic construction firms emerged over the past two decades. Satcon construction plc, grade I general contractor, has been taking part in the infrastructure development of our country since its establishment in May 1989.
Among the major construction activities performed are the construction of
- Terminal & air traffic buildings
- Schools & training institutes
- Universities
- Embassy complex
- Rural roads
- Roads upgrading (asphalt roads)
- Hospitals, health centres and clinics
Satcon has completed eight road projects (580 km long gravel road and 180,000m2 of town asphalt) with varied terrain condition in somali, benishangul gumuz, oromia and gambella regional States. Currently, they are engaged on the construction of one 58 km long asphalt project, more than 97% completed, and three gravel roads of 415km total length.
Stretching its involvement in the construction sector wide enough to perform water related works, satcon has completed four irrigation schemes at gambella and benishangul gumuz regional States and the main canal for gode irrigation project constructed on the river wabe-shebelle.
From the constructions in progress, the dubti-ayssaita asphalt road project will be completed and handed over to the owner within the coming month.
To realize the satisfactory completion of all its undertakings, satcon has exerted all its effort in acquiring:
1. Professional& well experienced senior technical staff with experiences well above 10 years,
2. Major construction machineries & equipment worth more than 150 million birr, and
3. Financial standings with an annual turnover of over more than 150 million birr (last five years average).
Satcon commits itself to be reliable and competent construction firm, and given the chance, would assure that the construction would be carried out to the best quality within the scheduled time and budget.
And now it has so many construction sites like among them are the one that I have been in to the information communication technology head office which is 125 million birr project.
It was hired to undertake the expansion work of the Bahirdar international airport at a 62 million Birr cost, in April 2009.
Another project that was awarded to Satcon Construction is the 5.7 Kilometer long and 20 meter wide road from Yerer Goro to Wondyirad School, Kotebe through CMC and the St. Michael Church area. Satcon beat out CRBC and Varnero construction for the project with a bid of 375 million birr. It is expected to complete the project in 2 years.
Satcon has been one of the local construction firms which bagged multimillion Birr contracts from the federal and regional governments to build roads, hospitals, schools and aviation terminals across the country. First established in 1989, SATCON saw a restructuring three years later to increase its capital to 47 million Br, after merging four companies - SATCON Construction, Africa Transport Plc, SATAGRI Plc, and United General Trading Plc - all under the family hold of Samuel Teklai, an engineer by training.

Organizational set up of the company
General Manager
Legal Advisor Management Advisor

Executive Secretary
Organizational Effectiveness Department
Assistant to the GM
Purchasing Section
Engineering Department
Administration Department
Finance Department
Trans & machinery Department
Transport & Machinery Dispatch section
Contract Administration & Marketing Division
HR & General service section
Accounts section
Garage and maintenance Service Section
Projects Follow up division
Property & Insurance Section
Disbursement Section
Planning, cost & Quality controlling Division
Projects T&M section
Projects

Site organisation
Project Manager

Secretary

Office of Engineering (office Engineer)
Construction Engineering (con. Engineer)
Administration & finance (PFAO)
Data collector
Site Engineer
Surveying
Finance (accountant) store Transport & machinery
 Mechanic
 Drivers
 Electricians operators Forman

Sub-store
Time keeper

Quantity surveyor

Cash office

Sub contract works purchasing Daily Base works
Accountant clerk
Guard janitor

Company’s customers and end products Satcon construction has built many constructions of different customers. Most of these constructions are:-
 Governmental and Non-Governmental organizations office buildings
 Private and governmental school buildings and
 Factory buildings
 Roads

Satcon owned the following equipment’s:-

TYPE NO
Chain excavator (PC300-7) 2
Dozer (Komatsu & CAT D7H) 3
Chain loader 1
Wheel Loader 2
Crane (Locatelli&Sany) 2
Tower crane 3
Roller 10t(CS-533D) 3
Backhoe Loader 4
Dump Truck(16m3 capacity) 8
Dump Truck with Trailer 1
Dump Truck (8m3 capacity) 5
Toyota 2WD Pickup 4
Toyota 4WD Pickup 8
Toyota 4x2 WD Hiace mini bus 1
Concrete Mixer (750 Lit) 8
Concrete Mixer (500 Lit) 4
Concrete Mixer (350 Lit) 10
Aggregate Crusher 20t/hr 3
Aggregate crusher plant 2
Diesel Generator (100 Kva) 3
Diesel Generator (16 Kva) 5

Chain excavator Backhoe loader

mixer
Industry Focus Decorative MaterialsProducts/Services Decorative MaterialsOur Markets Africa No. of Employees above 1000 People Year Established 1989 Legal Representative (CEO) Samuel Teklay
Currently our country Ethiopia is applying an Engineering Capacity Building Program (ECBP), planning to lay foundation for development in the coming few years. One of the plans of this program is to produce practically skilled engineers by letting them to pass through real challenges in the real world before leaving universities. This can be achieved by creating a better university industry linkage and letting engineering students practice in industries. This enables universities involve a lot in the development program. With this regard, the program has established a university-industry linkage office.
This industry linkage office has an internship program, in which students can get on job training in companies. As part of the program our university, Hawassa University, arranged an internship program, and me, as an intern I was expected to grant a place in a hosting company that I want to work in.
At first what I tried to do was finding some companies that have level one certificate in their standard then I gave my paper to those companies two of them accepted my entry then I choose satcon construction P.L.Csince it is a very big organisation and have long year experience comparing to the other one so that I thought I would get all the experience I wanted from them I was not mistaken I actually think that I get all the necessary experience that I should get.
The project that I have been in to is a g+6 building found around Sefera area in Addis Ababa. It is divided in to two parts part 1 and part 2. Part one contains offices, lifts, basement for parking of cars, and toilets. It is also complicated than part two because it has a curve shape around the entry. Part two of the building contains theatrical hall and offices. It costs around 125 million birr.
The area is not good for construction since it has black cotton soil underneath it but of course the water table is far from ground. Even though the water table is far from the ground they use water proofing mechanism to decrease the effect of the water. To overcome the problem of the soil effect to the building they use big foundations but only single and combined footing not mat, and also they use retaining wall for the soil for not occurring of soil while they are excavating.
SECTIONS OF THE COMPANY I HAVE BEEN WORKING
The day I started my intern at the company was a bit difficult to communicate with the workers since the words they are using on site are different than what I have learnt in school for example they say cristy for the form work of a column, berga for a 12 meter long bar and so on……. And also it is strange for me to be part of work place.
After I become familiar with the words on site they gave me the position of data collector and quantity surveyor to help him in his work. It is a work of collecting what is done on site every day as dairy and to change what is collected in to figures to know their activity of the day then we give the figures to the office engineers to change it in to weekly report to know their profit and loss over the week also it will be changed to monthly report. Some of the works collected on dairy are:-
• Volume of concrete casted in m3
• Weight of reinforcement bars used to reinforce beams, columns, solid slabs, ribbed beams, for shrinkage as mesh bars, for sheer walls and as a stirrup in kg (differentiating by their diameter)
• Total area of formwork casted for slab, column, sheer wall & elevators in m2
• Area of ribbed HCB placed in m2
While performing the work diary there are some procedures we use. To see those procedures for recording each work tasks on work diary:-
 To compute the volume of concrete casted each day we only need to measure the length, width & height of the casted element. After that it is a simple calculation to get the volume of concrete casted by using the formula below V=L*W*H where, V=Volume L=Length W=Width & H=Height
For column, sheer wall, beams & for solid slabs the length, width & height can be measured easily So that the volume computation is easy. But for ribbed slab and stair case it’s a little bit complicated. The ribbed slab consist HCB, ribbed beams between two strips of HCBs & in our case a 6 mm concrete cover.
 To compute the volume of concrete on the ribbed slab, we have to calculate the two parts separately. The first part is the 6 mm thick concrete cover. Here we only need to measure the length & width of the casted area & then multiply them with 6mm to get the volume. The second part is to compute the volume of concrete in the ribbed beams. Here also we have to measure the length, width & height of the beam then multiply them to get the volume of concrete on one strip. But the ribbed beams under the casted area are more than one so we have to multiply the volume of concrete for one strip by the total number of casted ribbed beams to get the total volume of concrete used to cast in the ribbed beams. After that we sum up the two volumes we compute to get the total volume of concrete casted on the ribbed slab.
 The computation of volume of concrete casted on stair case also has two parts. The first is calculation of the landing part which is the same as the concrete cover for slab by only changing the 6 mm thickness. And the second part is computation of the flight which in turn has two parts. The first is computation of area of one step considering it as a right angle triangle then multiply it by its length & the total number of steps filled. The second is computation of volume of concrete on the stringer, which is the structural member of the stair that supports the steps and act as inclined beams. To do this we have to find first the inclined length of the stringer either by measuring or by using the Pythagoras theorem. We get the inclined length by the Pythagoras theorem from the riser & tread of one step. The square root of the products of the squares of riser & the tread multiplied by the number of steps filled gives us the inclined length of the string. After getting the inclined length we multiply it by the width & its thickness to get the volume of concrete. Then we add the two values to get the total volume of concrete casted on the stair case.
The problems I have seen during collecting data are that store keepers and other data might be collected wrongly and it may give wrong values for the calculation and will result in some loss for the profit or vice versa. Most of the time monthly reports show negative value. What I have tried to figure out why this thing was happening was because the permanent workers are too many and the the expense of their wage is too high for the company comparing to what they are working so instead of having all this workers it would have been better to have a motivated workers and not too many.
The challenges I have faced during collecting data from siteis that I may not get the exact value of what is done during Sunday’s if they are in for work so that it may be based on guessing what they did during the weekdays therefore it will not be real value of what is done on Sunday’s.
I also tried to control workers on site which is site inspection while they are casting columns and grade beams this one is a bit difficult since it is on site during day time so that the sun is too hot it is hard to stay out for long time and labourers might not take you seriously since I am an intern.Even though I am a civil engineer intern at the site I accepted the fact that handy man’s really know the job how it is done on site so I learnt a lot staying out with them on site.
The other part of work that I have tried to help was the surveyor when he is absent I give measurements to the carpenters while they are working and checking of what they have already done. The carpenters were really hard working people therefore I do not face that much challenge working with them most of the time they do it as we want them to do it or may be 1cm difference may occur which will not cause too much problem for the building. while giving measurements to the carpenters what I did was first to read already known length so that I can take it as a back sight for the second reading then I will read the place that is going to be measured then I will check difference of the two measurements if it has too much difference with that of the reading in the drawing then I will tell the carpenters to correct it. At last I tried to do daily and weekly reports with the office engineers.
I have been working hardly for the sake of the job to be done on time therefore works will not be delayed.
Form work
The form work is temporary construction material used as a mould for structure, in which concrete is placed and in it harden and matures. When the concrete has reached the strength the form work is no longer needed and is removed. The operation of removing form work is called striping. After stripping the removed formwork is reused for another structural element.
Requirements of good form work
A good form work should satisfy the following requirements.
1. The material of form work should be cheap and suitable for reuse
2. It should be water proof so that it does not absorb water from concrete
3. It should be strong enough to withstand all coming loads (dead load of concrete and live load during pouring etc…)
4. It should be stiff enough so that deflection will be, minimum.
5. It should be as light as possible
6. The surface of form work should be smooth to afford easy stripping
Fixing and removing form work
I observed how much care they give while fixing form works. It should be properly fixed to avoid loss of concrete materialespecially when the area of the column is greater than the beam and unwanted shape on the structure. Proper fixing also minimizes great chiseling to remove the unwanted shapes. The foreman’s check that the form works fixed for elevation columns are vertical enough by using plumbing bobs the so called tumbi on site.
 Formwork for columns:
Formwork for columns is prepared from four independent sides in shape of a box for rectangular or square columns & two semicircular forms circular columns. These independent sides are held in position by wooden blocks.
The following steps were followed while erecting the forms:-
i. Find out the center point of the column
Primarily, center point of each column is fixed during setting out works. Thus here it is simply required to transfer those points to the upper floors so that a continuous line of load transfer could be secured. This is done by measuring the center to center spacing b/n columns on the lower floor & by measuring the length from edge of the slab to column faces along two mutually perpendicular directions.
Upon the measured length b/n slab edge & column face, half of the side length of the column (the side parallel to the direction of measurement) would be added to give the distance b/n the center point of the column & edge of slab along that direction. Next these measured values are taken on upper floor to locate center points of corner columns. Then flexible plastic wire is stretched b/n two corner columns in a single row of columns. This stretched wire would make a grid. Each point where these wires intersect depicts center points of columns.
Finally, using the plumb bob, the center points of the intermediate columns were marked.

ii. Fix bottom anchorages
After locating the center points of the columns, locations of column face were marked along all sides of the column using a chalk. Then bottom anchorages called “kricherys” were fixed at the base of the column around all its sides. These were nailed on the slab floor at a distance of 5 cm. (concrete cover of 2.5cm plus panel thickness of 2.5 cm) from the column face marks. iii. Erect panels
Panels were supplied with some standard sizes of width (=20cm, 25cm & 35cm), length (= 300cm) & thickness (= 2.5cm).Thus a correct combination of panels would first be selected based on the size of the column.
e.g. - To construct form work for column of size 45cm*65cm
One of the correct combination of panels could be, using two 20cm & one 25cm wide panels along the 65cm side and employing two 25cm wide panels along the 45cm side. It could easily be seen that along the 45cm side the total combined length of the panels is greater than actual size of the column just by 5cm (twice the thickness of the panel). This is so due to the fact that there should always be a lap, of length equal to the thickness of the form, b/n mutually perpendicular panel shuttering. Accordingly the panel along the shorter face was made to have a total width greater than the column width by twice the thickness of the panel so that it could brace in the other side panels and the panels could be nailed together along that contact region.
Whenever two or more panels were used to shutter one face of a column, lateral wooden ties were provided to fix panels together.
Finally the assembled panels were introduced b/n the spacers & the “krichery” iv. Interconnect panels
Panels standing on perpendicular sides of the column were interconnected by lateral wooden ties, locally called “kerebat”, which were nailed each other & to the panels too.
These ties were meant to serve as a means of holding panels & to provide additional strength for panels to with stand lateral pressure generated during concrete casting and vibrating.

v. Check vertical & horizontal alignment
Vertical alignment of each side of the column were checked using plumb bob, locally named as “Tum-be”, the string associated with the plumb bob was tied to a nail fixed at the top then the bob was lowered down slowly to the base.
Next measurements of the space b/n the panel face to the string would be taken at three points (top, middle & base) of the column height. These values were required to be equal if not it is an indication of presence of a tilt. Therefore remedial measure to clear any discrepancy encountered would be taken. For example: if measurement at the top has a larger value then pulling the whole form work at the top would do good in avoiding the tilt, whereas if it is of smaller value then a little push at the top is mandatory.
At last, the form was fixed in place with inclined wooden shores which run inclined b/n the column and the slab. These wooden shores were nailed at the column top and to the slab.
Normally a center to center spacing of 0.8m was used for wooden props while 1.5- 2 m of spacing was adopted for steel props.
Next checking of the horizontal alignment of the panels was carried out by using theodolite. Then strings were stretched over these forms to check the levelness of the intermediate panels.
Later the side forms were erected. These forms were provided with vertical stiffeners to prevent buckling.
Finally the reinforcement & mortar spacers would be fixed in place.
 Formwork for slab/wall
Slab form works were constructed in a similar way as formwork for beams. Forms were laid over vertical props & alignment checks were made using theodolites.
Before the column, beam or slab is cast the carpenter foreman and they will show the consultant’s for approvalchecks the necessary thing like:-

• Vertical and horizontal alignment for column
• The level of the panel for the slabs
• Any defects on the panel

SECTION PERIOD OF REMOVAL
Vertical formwork to columns, walls and beams 12-16 hours
Soffit formwork to slab & beams 21-28 days

After removing the form work they will cover it with jonya for the sake of not losing too much water and they will moisturize it with water for about three days in row so that it will
Concrete work
Concrete is the most crucial part of any project especially in Ethiopia. All construction work greatly needs concrete. Concrete is stone like material obtained artificially by hardening the mixture of cement, inert aggregate materials (fine and course), sand and water in a pre-determined amount. Setting of concrete is achieved due to the exothermic chemical reaction between cement and water. The reaction between cement and water is relatively slow and requires time and favourable temperature for its completion. The strength of concrete depends up on the quality of its ingredients, their relative quantities and manner in which they are mixed, compacted and cured.
Concrete is very important for the structural constructions as in beams, slab, column, retaining wall, concrete pavement, shear wall, bridge etc.
Concrete is selected because of its advantages such as;
• Concrete is highly resistance to compressive force
• It is highly resistance to fire
• It is good insulator
• Easily moulded into any shape
• Water proof, if it properly mixed, vibrated, chiselled and plastered.

CONCRETE PREPARATION
Concrete is a material that forms by the proportioned and well monitored mixing of aggregate, cement and water. Concrete is known for its high compressive strength. After the mix has been cast, it will take up to 28 days to attain its maximum compressive strength.
Concrete is made by mixing: Cement, water, course/fine aggregates and admixtures (if required). The aim is to mix these materials in measured amounts to make concrete is easy to transport, place, compact, finish and which will set, and harden, to give a strong and durable product. The amount of each material (i.e. cement, water and aggregates) affects the properties of hardened concrete.
The three ingredients of concrete: aggregate, cement and water are combined to give a hard and monolithic solid that would take the form of the container (formwork) it has been casted in to this while it was fresh.
For the concrete to meet its intended purposes its ingredients have to be of good quality and the batching and mixing of the ingredients/constituents should be handled in a concrete friendly environment.
Slurry is a mixture of cement and water that is used for the formation of mite bond between the first cast and the one that is going to be casted.

Concrete mix ratios
The mixing ratio of the sand, cement and coarse aggregate + water differs from one concrete type to another. The mix design by volume specifies that for lean concrete a mix ratio of 1:6:7 (1 cement: 6 sand and 7 aggregate) should be used. A mix of 1:2:3 was adopted for all other concrete works. Refer to the table below for more information.
Design mix
Quality Max. size of coarse aggregate Minimum Cement
Content Minimum crushing strength of test cubes Alternative
Nominal
Mixes by weight Max. w/c
Ratio by
Weight
7 days 28 days
C15 20mm 200kg/m3 9.0N/mm2 15.0 N/mm2 1:4:8 0.7
C20 20mm 250 kg/m3 14.0 N/mm2 20.0 N/mm2 1:4:6 0.7
C25 20mm 360 kg/m3 17.0 N/mm2 25.0 N/mm2 1:4:6 0.7

•Mix ratio for concrete

On our site we use C-25 concrete as the designed concrete to use for every structure. This gives the structure more strength and stiffness without increasing the depth (thickness). Before casting the concrete some tastes should be taken in a laboratory. I had a chance once to see when they are preparing a cube taste.
Lean concrete
Lean concrete is concrete of 5mm thick with class, C-5 with minimum cement content of 150kg/m3 of concrete. Approximately at ratio of1:4:6. This kind of concrete is used under:-

- Footings
- Grade beams
- Floor slabs
- Masonry foundations
- Retaining walls etc… Advantages of lean concrete
• It protects all sub-structure element from extra moisture
• It act like hard stratum
• It prevents the soil particles that are present under substructure from any relative movement
Concrete casting
There were mechanisms used to uplift concrete to take it to second floor they were using lifts.
Concrete casting in Beams & Staircases
Casting in beams was same as slab casting except for that there were no need to provide “fasha”. Beams were monolithically casted with slabs.
Concreting into Staircases has followed a conventional procedure that casting has always begun by pouring into the forms of the most bottom steps. This was reasonable because b/n each consecutive steps there have been an open space (of thickness equal to the thickness of the soffit & length same as the width of the step) that necessitated pouring from lower to upper steps.
Reinforcement bars
It is observed at site that steel reinforcement is not stored in clean condition. It should be reasonably free from loose rust and other impurities such as grease oil, or tar and other kind of dirt.
The steel observed at site is available in the form of round bars and welded wire fabric but most commonly used bars have projected ribs on the surface of the bars which is called ribbed bars. The ribs of deformed bars improve the bond between the steel and surrounding concrete in reinforced concrete members by providing mechanical keys.
The bar that doesn’t have rib is also available at site with 6mm diameter which is used for stirrup work (Staffa).
The diameter, length and shape of the reinforcement bars are according to the drawings and specification. During placement of re-bars the professionals must control the labors for spacing and bar cutoff position. As we be acquainted with, the position for bar cut off is at the compression side because the concrete itself can withstand the compression.
The bending of reinforcement bar is done with adequate bending tools bat, heat is strictly not allowed for bending of reinforcement bars.
During work for super structure mostly slabsthe reinforcement bars may bend.For this, before casting of concrete starts, the pre-cast concrete blocks or spacers of metal chairs are prepared and all reinforcement bars straighten and placed on them. This spacer is pre cast at site.
To get the weight of reinforcement bars used to reinforce columns, beams, sheer walls or stair cases or used as a stirrup or as a mesh bar, we need to measure the length of the bar. Then by using a conversion factor for each diameter of bars we can get the weight of bars used. These conversion factors changes the amount of bars expressed in meters into kilogram. The conversion factors for each diameter of bars are stated on the table below.

Bar diameter 6mm 8mm 10mm 12mm 14mm 16mm 20mm 24mm 32mm
Weight [Kg] /unit length [m] 0.222 0.395 0.616 0.888 1.209 1.579 2.466 3.552 6.315 Conversion factor for each diameter of re-bars
The area of formwork casted on the day is computed after we measure the length & width of the covered area. The product of length & width give us the area. But we have to keep in mind that when we say formwork it consist the props, timber beams & the plywood. On a particular day if only the props are casted then we write props are casted not a formwork.
When ribbed HCB placed its area can be computed easily by multiplying the width and length of the covered area. Then we write it on the diary.
After we finish the computation of volume of concrete, the weight of bars used, the area of formwork & HCB placed we write them on the daily work diary. The construction Engineer and the Engineer on the contractor side will sign on it after checking it.
The steel observed at site are available in the form of round bars and welded wire fabric. But the most commonly used bars have projected ribs on the surface of the bars which is called ribbed bars. The ribs of deformed bars improve the bond between the steel and surrounding concrete in reinforced concrete members by providing mechanical keys. The bar that doesn’t have rib is also available at site that have 6mm diameter which is used for stirrup work (Staffa) they call it as mesh.
The diameter, length and shape of the reinforcement bars are according to the drawings and specification. During placement of re-bars the professionals must control the labors for spacing and bar cutoff position. As we be acquainted with, the position for bar cut off is at the compression side because the concrete itself can withstand the compression.
The bending of reinforcement bar is done with adequate bending tools bat, heat is strictly forbidden for bending of reinforcement bars.
During work for super structure mostly slabsthe reinforcement bars may bend. For this, before casting of concrete starts, the pre-cast concrete blocks or spacers of metal chairs are prepared and all reinforcement bars straighten and placed on them. This spacer is pre cast at site.
While they try to cut the bars if they have got some rust on them they will try to remove the rust by using brush that is capable of removing the rust from it so that it will not make any kind of defect to the building.
There are different kinds of bars like:-
• Negative bars found at the top of the ribbed blocks
• Ribbed bars found in the middle of the blocks
• U bars used as to anchor the ribbed blocks
The men who take care of reinforcement steels are called bar bender. He needs to communicate with the site engineer & able to understand the structural arrangement on the structural drawing.

• Bar reinforcement of ribbed slabs and ribbed beams

Slabs
Ribbed slabs are the types of slabs that are used in the construction site which are good for many reasons some of them are it is earthquake resistant, fire resistance but the main importance of ribbed slab is that it’s cost effectiveness. When we say they are economical it means the use less concrete for casting. We used ribbed blocks for it so that it will not use too many concrete which is too costly.

columns
There are three types of columns foundation, basement and elevation columns. Foundation and basement columns are above +0.00. Foundation columns are below + 0.00; where 0.00 is the ground level.
Foundation column is column is the one that carries the load down to a foundation must have means to transfer the load without overstressing the foundation material. Reinforced concrete and masonry columns are generally built directly on top of concrete foundations.

Extensions of column:-
When a column is too long to be built or transported in one piece, it has to be extended or spliced at the construction site.

Overall benefits I have gained
1. Practical skills
During the four months internship period I have gained so many practical lessons like:-
 Checking form work of column whether it is aligned or not by using an instrument called plum bob or as they say it tumbi(a circled concreteheld by rope) and also we need to check the area of the column before casting the concrete.
 To check visually the type of selected material is good or not if laboratory is not available around the area.
 I observe the difference between ribbed and solid slabs visually.
 Bars like negative, u and ribbed bars were also used in different diameters from diameter 6 to diameter 24.
 Taking slump test on site to check whether the mixing of the concrete has high, low or best mixing ratio. In order to check if we need the slump test instrument to be filled with concrete so that if it moves downward 3-5 cm then it is best mix.
Overall I could say I really got to improve my abilities of coming up with problem solving ideas wherever the working station is located, be it within the office or at the actual construction site. One thing that needs to be pointed out when discussing improving practical skills is that I got to learn how to associate myself with professionals who had a lot to offer in the field. Being able to easily communicate and understand each other with superiors by it is greatly improving one’s practical skills.
2. Theoretical knowledge
The theoretical knowledge I have gained from my stay on the site is to read drawings and know their exact places on site also reading drawing and take out how many bars are needed for a specific work. It is obvious that in order to improve one’s theoretical based knowledge, he or she has to be able to grasp every little bit of information that is forwarded during the internship program and being able to integrate this newly acquired knowledge with the previous one and use this information to solve any problem that may arise on the course of time.
The differences between client, consultant and contractor:-
 The client is the party that needs the work done on time. It is the owner of the construction and also the source of the money.in our case INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY MINISTER(ICT)
 The consultant is the party hired by the employer for the purpose of designing the structural and architectural drawing of the construction and also it has a responsibility of consulting the contractor to be done in a right way as the design says. MH ENGINEERING
 The contractor is the party that is responsible for the actual work done on site by hiring engineers and also labours by providing the necessary construction materials. SATCON CONSTRUCTION
In our site the consultants are very strict people they do not pass not even one thing during their inspection on site. They always check on form works of the columns, beams, and slabs before casting whether they are right or not.
I also differentiate works of the project manager, office; site and construction engineers work in detail.
 The project manager is the main person on site and the responsible person for everything that is going on in the project. He should be well aware of how the construction progress is going on since he is going to be asked at the head office of the organization he works for.
 The office engineer is the one that calculates the profit and loss every day, week, month, and year to check whether the project is profitable or not and he/she also have a duty of preparing payments for the consultants and explaining what they have done on paper.
 The site engineer is the person who has contact with the super intendant and responsible person to check on what is done on site so that the building is done as the drawing orders therefore it should be safe and serviceable for the user. He/she also have the responsibility of checking drawings whether they are done in the right way or not because the structural engineer might make mistakes while doing calculation of the loading since he is also a person but the site engineer cannot correct the mistakes but he has the responsibility of suggesting the defects that is going to happen so that the structural engineer will take a look at it and correct it. Have also the responsibility of checking on:-
 errors in indicating the top and bottom reinforcements
 Miscalculated overlap lengths since the overlap length should not be greater than 4 times the diameter of the bar.
 unspecified dimensions
 miscalculated functional areas and wrong bars
 The construction engineer has a responsibility of checking on what kind of materials are available on site and what should be added in order for the construction to progress in as planned.
Another theoretical knowledge from reading the contract document is differentiating the word contingency and escalation:-
 Contingency is payment made to the contractor if when designed there are missing things when agreements are made but it should not be greater than 10%.
 Escalation is payment made to the contractor if and only if the contractor and the employer have an agreement to pay the difference when there is increments of goods while the construction underway.
3. Interpersonal skills
Interpersonal skills like:-
 how to communicate with the labours we should be a little aggressive during working hours in order to get the respect that you need but when it comes to their free time we should be able to talk with them in a nice way in order for the work to be done in the right way and on time.Managing daily workers is a really tough job though we should let them know that what they are doing now by their efficiency will be useful to their children of the future so that they will be motivated and also we should give them much care to their safety so that they will be comfortable and safe because what we have planted today will be the fruit of tomorrow.
 Communicating with customers who brought materials to the site for the purpose of the construction unless they are convinced that they will be paid on time they might not bring you the materials on time or else this may make the construction to be late in its progress so we need to convince those people as much as we can.
 When it comes to payment and having discussion with the consultants we need to be confident in what we are telling them even though it is not convincible we should make a strong argument against them in order to get payments on time.
I tried my best to create a channel of communication with my peers and colleagues so that I would be benefited from the experience.
4. Work ethics
In terms of understanding work ethics:-
 Punctuality is one of the major issues that could be raised when talking about work ethics.Every person should be able to be in on time during the morning and out on time during night time that is being punctual but of course if we let the workers do their job during overtime hours we should be able to pay their money in order to make them more hard workers.
 People should not interfere in one another’s job because people may think that they are not effective in their competence of their own skills.
 How thework flows on in the construction site is also one of the issues that I learnt during my intern period.

5. Leadership skills
In terms of improving my leadership skills:-
• The skill of leadership is the ability to guide, control and monitor peers and colleagues that are taking part in a given activity may it be in the office or at construction sites. Honestly speaking, getting into the internship program, I never expected to order or boss around anyone who obviously has a greater working experience than me. Instead I was hoping to witness a quality leadership skill from my supervisors and that was what I observed. I could say I learned how to handle tricky situations that may escalate into an unwanted stage. At times like when the wage of daily workers is late we should be able to make a nice speech to them otherwise they may create strike to the company.
• People should respect their manager in one way or the other or else their will not be good environment for the work.
6. Entrepreneurship skills
In terms of entrepreneurship skills:-
 These set of skills are what make a certain individual able to create a brand new set of ideas that may help in the production process not only in the construction stream but also in any form of activity that has a certain end product to it.
 I learnt that if we have the guts of taking risks after some years of experience there are lots of works to be done by the youth like we can raise the idea that we should be able to consult some construction sites that does not have a professional person around them then learning engineering will become more and more valuable for the society.
Since the time I have spent in the internship was not that long I could not come up with too much ideas may be if I stayed longer I may create some new ideas that may be taken as a brand new Ideas.

Conclusion and Recommendation
This Internship program is proved to be a bridge between the student life and professional life. The various types of orientation programs, tasks and trainings that I have been undertaking during this past four months on the site and the office enhanced my knowledge in building construction.
As an intern I would say that among the most important things for one nation or country economic growth is information and technology is the most important thing now a days therefore it would be much more effective if it is done on time so that the future Ethiopia will be a better place for everyone that come from abroad and the one that is living here now.
I have learnt good lessons out of what I used to see on site while the site engineers were doing their job (following up and controlling the construction) and I believe that by the time I move out to the field, I will be able to conduct the supervision work with only little help from those who had long years’ experience in the field.
The construction site that I have been in to have got so many problems like
• Daily workers and handy mans will not stay on the site for long time since they are not paid well comparing to other sites so instead of staying there they will find another job and will leave the work and also there are not any kind of safety materials like safety capes so that they will not feel safe when they are doing their work.
• Payments will not be ready on time for the purpose of what they are needed for but of course the office engineers did their job on time.
• The place is found around sefera area which is a very remote area and has got no road to the construction site therefore construction materials will not come on time because of its road.
• The workers on site did do their job so other people interfere in one another’s duty.
To overcome those problems that I have discussed above first we should be able to have a meeting with all the main department heads and try to figure out other problems they saw by their own and try to ask them what they are feeling about the work they are doing at the moment so that if they do not feel good about what we will try to motivate them so that they will feel good about it.
Another methodology we should take is try to convince the construction head office persons to buy safety materials so that at least the workers will feel safe even though they are not paid well.
I do not think that the head office of the construction site take the project seriously because I have never seen any kind of person that comes to site to check its progress. Even the auditor seats in the construction site and send the files to the head office without explaining for them.
When the foreman’s are not around the daily labourers make so many mistakes like adding so many water on the concrete to make it more workable for their own sake. This has an effect on the strength of the concrete and could be a means for occurring of segregation and the other thing is that they make a joke on the work time. So my recommendation for the company is that there should be a foreman on the site every day and every time. The company should take a look at its work every time if it wants to be profitable. There is some kind of miss-understanding between the workers and the company I have never seen anybody being transparent to the management body. So this thing hurts the work progress.
Another recommendation that I would like to give is that there should be enough water for drinking purpose since during day time workers need too much water. References www.biezrach .com