Construction Philosophy

CP: Economic meltdowns always trigger a flurry of public investment programmes, primarily to get economies moving and create jobs. Construction of the Interstate Highway System in the U.S. is perhaps a case in point. Do you see the same happening in India as indicated by the Rs. 5.54 lakh...

  Q. You have never said ‘No’ to a project. When a project proposal comes with all its complexities, you see its positive side. You go deep into its implementation aspects. You always say ‘I can’. How can you be so optimistic? I won’t say I am very optimistic, but infrastructure...

  Isn’t every Engineer concerned about deriving optimum value from a project? Then how can we differentiate between the calling of an ordinary engineer and a value engineer? Most of the time, what happens when an Engineer’s design contract is negotiated is that there will not be any room for him...

People are reluctant to spend money and time on detailed soil investigations irrespective of the fact that it can bring down the cost of foundation construction. How important do you think is it to carry out a detailed investigation? Many practitioners have a false sense of economy and are ignorant...

Jet Demolition Managing Director Joe Brinkmann and Edifice Engineering partner Uttkarsh Mehta, who led the demolition of three out of the four apartments at Maradu in Kochi, narrate how they pulled it off in an interview given to Construction Philosophy magazine. Excerpts from the interview: How happy are you with the...

We spent a lot of time planning. Then our plan was given to the police. Then the police added their points. We went back and forth several times. In a project like this, time is of crucial importance. We planned everything meticulously using clear maps as early as 10...