Tunnel Formwork Feedback Report

Scope of Work
The project involved the fabrication of a Tunnel Formwork
designed by the client Technoworks. The design was to be
implemented with purchase of H-Beams and U Channels. The
manufacturing involved gas cutting the 40 ft. pieces of beams and
channels and to weld them in certain alignment as assembled in
the drawings. Plates were to be tacked and drilled to a certain
diameter. Channels were to be rolled in a roller based bending
machine to a certain curvature. All of the carried out works were
to be carried out keeping a moderate amount of quality in mind
such as leveling, dimensional verification, vertical and horizontal
alignment and welding inspection. The structure was to be
manufactured in 2 parts assembled disassembled and then to be
transported to its destination. The entirety of the project was to
be completed within a month of its initiation.

Working Environment
At best it could be stated that the working environment worsened
as the project approached its deadline. When the project was
initiated the workforce has just completed the delivery of 34
gratings. And were burnt out from the previous project.
Regardless they started work with rigor as soon as the drawings
were finalized. As the project progressed the workforce performed
obediently. The atmosphere was generally conductive to a goal
oriented approach and the labor was quite happy with the new
work started. Midway through the project things started to
change. The daily routine and the fact that some of the workers
didnt leproject and their attentions diverted to other activities
and problems they were encountering domestically. This mentality
spread contagiously. The worst was when they were pushed to
their exhaustive limits with the end result that half of the labor
had to be fired.

Observations
1. Workers performed better when they were given the freedom
to provide solutions to problems. A general distance should
be maintained from the technicality of the project and
control should be provided to the workforce.
2. Workers performed better if their mistakes were
compromised and let go off.
3. Appreciation of their efforts also improved their behavouir
and attitude towards the project.
4. Engineering and ease of work should be given top priority
such as the manufacturing of the cart.
5. Rumors and bad verdict from the worker class to the upper
management should be squashed and resolved on spot.
6. A system for leave should be established.
7. Professionalism should be maintained and workers should be
given dedicated jobs limiting their flexibility to a certain
degree.

Mistakes Made
In the paragraphs that follow are explained the detailed problems
encountered during the project lifecycle of the Tunnel Formwork
fabricated at the workshop in Tharnol. The problems and
observations made are strictly from my own perspective and may
or may not hold true for everyone who reads my report. The
report lists major difficulties that were present during the different
phases of the project and details their assessment so that such
issues can be addressed and hopefully prevented in upcoming
projects.
Lack of Experience in Formwork Fabrication
Probably the single deciding factor when we judge the projects
delay would be our inexperience in fabrication of formworks.
Following are the key factors that influenced the projects delay to
a considerable degree.
1. Crown fabrication was started halfway through the project.
Practically Channel rolling and their assembly could have
been performed simultaneously alongside Base Fabrication.
Attributing to a loss of at least 14 days of which the crown
could have been initiated earlier with half the labor
dedicated for the crown.
2. The entire structure will be stable if placed upon bricks or
scrap material. There was no need for fabrication of a proper
scaffolding to be made out of channel.
3. Vertical beams should be aligned and welded with the base
beams before placement of the horizontal beams in
between. With horizontal aligment each diagonal and piece
placement took longer than expected.
4. Sizes to be maintained pre and post welding operations.
5. Channel compression led to an extension in the size of the
channels in arc length. Sizes of the arc were hence read
incorrectly leading to an extended period of time and energy
wasted on their correction.
6. Mechanical Compass should have been used to check the
curvature of the rolled channels. Other methods were
questionable and doubtful in their methodology.

7. Gap should be properly compensated when fitting pieces

together. Most of the time pieces were sent back for size
reduction and others required gaps to be filled during
welding which took almost twice the time it would take if the
sizes were correctly fitted.

8. The cart was manufactured so late. It was the most crucial

component after welding and gas cutting equipments
responsible for ease of movement and a general savior of
 time. This is where engineering counted and was a major
failure on our part.

Technoworks Involvement
Owing to the experience the company had in formworks it is
natural for them to not rely on drawings for their projects. All they
rely upon are overall sizes and the rest is upto the fabricators and
on site technicians to compensate.
1. Relative unavailability of complete and finalized drawings. It
was all up in the air for us and for them. Even if such was to
be the workstyle we should have had regular
correspondence from their end guiding us through the
project.
2. Their suggestion that the channel could not be rolled to their
theoretical dimensions and would require cuts and
adjustments post rolling. This proved to be disastrous for our
overall planning and scheduling of works. As it took around
10 days and half of the labor as well as unneeded effort to
fix things that could have been right in the first place.
3. Feedback on welding and other defects should have been
provided firsthand rather than in the end when the project
had reached its deadline.
4. Placement of vertical plates that were not the ones that were
mentioned in the drawings.

Non-Technical Issues
While it may be remarked that the workforce was lazy and
ignorant during certain time periods of the project it has to be
kept in mind that these were minor issues that didnt have the
marginal impact as those mentioned above. The workers did
ocassionally cause issues during the lifecycle of the project and
ocassionally worked with passion and beyond their physical and
exhaustive strengths. Without which the project could possibly not
have been completed at all.
 1. Workforce grouped into two parties. With one managed by
Shehzad and the other by Javaid sb. It became really hard
transferring and managing labor as both parties were
unwilling to work for the other. While they did cooperate
occasionally with one another where need be the general
idea was to work for oneself and not for project.
2. Labor accommodated by the company given residence were
generally upset with the envoirment provided for their stay.
This effected their performance during work hours and they
would repeatedly log complaints.
3. Part of the issue was some arguments with certain people
from the upper management. Their attitude towards such
people was highly contemptuous. Resulting disobeying
orders if the said person had any involvement in its say.
4. While it is mentioned at last but it definitely holds important
that I too made mistakes during the projects different
phases. I should have been more vigilant in decision making
and made my own decisions whether wrong or right. On the
other hand I did my work keeping in mind the professional
ethics entrusted by my education. Following orders and
giving my best whether in sickness or health.

It is important to summarize that in life making decisions whether

be It the company or an individual should be done by taking ones
own intelligence and thought process into consideration. Listening
to advices can be highly counter initiative some times. Also
professionalism should be given the highest amount of decree
whether a small or a large company. Management should macro
manage things and not micro manage every person. Management
should be their to help, motivate and speed up their workforce not
to judge, micro manage and to complain on their efforts.