PROJECT BRIEF:
The new Bengaluru International Airport Terminal project has been designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) Architects and the civil construction contract was awarded to M/s Larsen & Toubro Limited. The overall project value is estimated at approximately INR 3000 Crores. The theme opted for the project was to showcase the celebration of Karnataka’s rich heritage & culture combined with an outlook of eco-friendly environment, greenery and a good amount of flora & fauna.
Steel as A Choice of Material:
The project was completely designed and built using E350 grade structural rolled sections; this ensured an overall reduction of steel consumption by 15%.
Saving based on usage of high strength steel
The key factors that went in favour of high strength steel being the primary material and JSP as the vendor are as follows :-
- Durability and project sustainability
- Raw material being eco-friendly and recyclable
- Provides flexibility in doing changes in the structure as per the need later.
- Manufacturing and Installation lead times
- Steel provides large clear spans without intermediate columns and other support structures
- Structural steel used in airports is capable of anchoring glass facades with large spans and heights. use of glass which give excellent visibility to passengers inside the terminals
JSP supplied the entire lot for the required high-strength steel (E350 grade) for the BIAL project (Bangalore).
This radically reduced product thickness, provided them with very high- yield strength, superior toughness at low temperatures and outstanding weld-ability.
The challenge for JSP was to supply rolled sections which were pleasing aesthetically, as aesthetics was of paramount importance to the client as the beams are exposed, this requirement was JSP successfully delivered to their satisfaction.
For construction of airports, from an architectural point of view and aesthetics wise, the hollow sections are preferred over rolled section. However, JSP’s flexibility to supply in various grades like E250B0/C & E350B0/C provided flexibility to leverage steel in cold regions where the availability of hollow sections may or may not be possible.
Now, JSP is working towards inclusion of corrosion resistance/fire resistance steel for material selection to cater to future requirements.
