CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
(SIWES)
DEFINITION OF
SIWES
SIWES-students industrial
work experience scheme is an organizational body responsible for skill training
programme and forms part of the approved minimum academic standard (MAS) in the
various degree programmes for all the Nigerian Universities.
Brief
History of Siwes
Students
Industrial work experience scheme (SIWES) was orchestrated by the Federal
Government relationship between what is taught in the institutions (theory) and
what is obtainable on ground (practice).
It
was formally initiated and funded by the industrial training Fund (ITF) during
the formative years 1973/1974. Due to the large out-turn of students into
tertiary institutions, funding this scheme by the ITF became reservative,
hence, ITF withdrew in 1978 and the Federal Government in 1979, handed it over
to both the National university commission (NUC) and the National Board for
technical Education (NBTE).
By
1979, the colleges of Education were not part of the scheme and later in 1984,
the Federal Government reverted back to the industrial training fund which took
over the scheme officially in 1985 with the Federal Government providing the
funding.
Objectives
of the Scheme
v To provide placements in
industries for students
v To equip students, in-dept,
for real life issue (work) they will met
when they graduate.
v To acquaint students with
skills and techniques of handling tools and equipments which they never met
before in schools.
v To make the “school to
labour market” transition smooth and enhance students contact for later job
placement.
v To avail students the
opportunity to implement the knowledge in real life situation, there by closing
the gap between theory and practice.
v To promote the required
technical know how for the
advancement of the nation.
CHAPTER TWO
COMPANY
PROFILE
Nigerian ports authority (NPA) is not a company OR
firm so to say, rather it is a port organization run by the Federal government
which is responsible for the in-coming and out-going goods and services by
means of inland water navigation.
As
a Federal government parastatal, they employ many professions into the various
departments in the organisaiton.
Among
the various department, is the Engineering sector. The Engineering sector is
further split into architectural, survey, civil among others.
There,
the Architectural Department is commonly known as the the Drawing office
located at No 1 Joseph street Marina Lagos, Lagos State.
Nigerian
ports authority is not a today organization, most of their major projects have
been drawn and documented long ago. So the architects here are limited to
supervision of those projects, ronovation and partition of rented apartment,
and designing and officiating of staff houses.
WHAT WE DO
Nigeria
ports authority as an organization operations and development in Nigeria began
in the middle of the 19th century.
Efforts
towards the provision of facility for ocean going vessels started in the early
1900 with the construction of the Lagos breakwater (east and west moles)
capital dredging activities aimed at opening up the logos lagoon commenced in
1906.
A
year later, precisely 1914, the Lagos harbour was opened to shipping traffic.
Twenty one years later (1948) capacities were expanded through the building of
additional quarry walls of port operations and management remained under the
control of different government departments during this era (pre 1954) Cargo
handling at the terminals was the prerogative of Nigerian Railways while the
marine Department took charge of vessel movements in the channel up to the
quays.
Maintenance
of the quay wall was the responsibility of the public works department.
STATUTORY
DUTIES AND FUNCTIONS
* Develop,
own and operate ports and habours
* Provide
safe and navigable channel
* Offer
cargo handling and storage services
* Maintain
port facilities and equipment
* Develop
and own properties
This
system hindered port development and curtailed operational efficiency. The
ports became less competitive and a conduit to drain the meager national
resources. In an attempt to change this trend, the activities of the Authority
(NPA) were commercialized and offered greater autonomy in accordance with the
recommend of the technical committee on privatization and
commercialization However, this could not bring the expected
improvement because of the public service bureaucracy and interference. It was
later revised to the initial status. In an effort to reposition and enhance the
national economy, the federal Government embarked on various reform initiatives
in the public sector, which includes the maturities sub-sector this initiative
was to foster an economy that is responsive, robust private sector oriented and
in line with the international best practices.
In
line with the reform programmed, the transactions commenced with the
advertisement for expression of interest EOIs on the 3rd of December 2003 by the
National council on privatization agent. A total of 110 E01 were harvested out of
which a4 were pre-qualified.
Pre-bid
conference, Data room and physical due diligence were also done and request for
proposals sent out to bidders………….Technical bids were submitted and evaluated
and financial offers also opened to determine the successful bidders……………….
All
the successful bidders negotiated their concession agreements with a public
sector team made up of Nigerian ports Authority and the Bureau of public
Enterprises. Successfully negotiated agreements were signed and transaction programmed
initiated preparatory to handling over-under this new arrangement, the
authority ceded some of functions and responsibility as enumerated below.
* Ownership
and administration of land water within ports limits.
* Planning
and development of port operational infrastructure.
* Leasing and concession of port infrastructure and setting
bench mark for tariff structure.
* Responsible for nautical/Harbour operations and
hydrographic survey…………….
* Marine incidents and pollution……..
* Maintenance of safety and security at the common user
areas...
* Enacting port regulations and bye-law as well as monitor
and enforce them.
* Day to day monitoring of operations and enforcement of
relevant section of respective agreement.
* Development and maintenance of ports’ superstructure.
* Acquisition of cargo handling and operations related
equipment.
EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT TEAM
Am-Ã Engr Rufai Mohammed
AGMÃ Engr Peter Obinomen
Executive director
Engineering & technical -Ã Engr Mohammed saleh
ED Finance & Admin à Mr. Olumide Oduntah
Managing Director à Mr. Habibu Abdullahi
ED Marne & operation à Engr. David Omonibeke.
CHAPTER THREE
Majority of the works I did as an industrial
trainee under the auspices of Nigerian ports Authority (NPA) is relegated to
staff building Via Designing and Auto carding, partitioning and site
visitation, scanning, Photocopying and printing.
For
clear enumeration of work done, it would be necessary to split or group my work
experience under office and on-site experiences.
(1) OFFICE EXPERIENCE
As
Architects we do paper work in the office and what is obtainable in paper, put
to scale, is also practicable on site,
put on ground.
Here, are some Experience gain in
the office
CAD USE
The
call for the use of CAD in this computer age cannot be decried as it makes work
easier and faster and with no or negligible error.
The
use of AutoCAD was my first major experience while working with NPA. Here I was
taught the basics in Autocad use only in 2D drawing it took a total of three
weeks to master the full autocracy of 2D Autocad in design.
The
second major experience is in the use of Revit VAD application in projecting
both 2D and 3D drawings. Overall, it took a total of 6weeks to learn both
Autocad & Revit.
The
use of these CAD make it easier and faster with less time consuming for me to
do work in the office as the use of hand to draw, may be prone to error and
time consuming. This is important as the use of hand is no longer employed
outside school system. 1 stand to be corrected.
Below
are some Autocad 2D and Revit 3D drawing during this period of industrial
training.
* A
3-bedroom terraced flat of 5 units
* A 4
– bedroom bungalow
* A 2
– bedroom semi detached bungalow
* A 3-
bedroom semi detached duplex
* A 4
– bedroom Bungalow.
* Others
not specified.
PRINTING PHOTOCOPYING AND SCANNING:-
Industrial
training is a rich form of equipping students in various ways and with various
skills. Though, here, in school we were not thought how to print, scan, type
and photocopy, Yet this opportunity Availed us the experience and technique.
Often times, we take our term papers and other documents pertaining to studies
to business centers for typing, duplication and scanning with little or no
experience on how these machines are operated.
There
in NPA, I was availed the opportunity to operate their Xerox machine which has
many usage (photocopying, Printing and Scanning sets) in documenting drawing.
DETAILING
One
of the first test I faced as an industrial trainee is in the detailing of some
building components like flush doors, balustrade, staircases and folded plate
roof.
·
Flush doors:- Flush door consists of a core
of either skeleton frame work or laminated solid timber with a facing of
plywood, veneer, hardboard, aluminum, Plymax or plastic. A hardwood edging or lapping
strip is required on all the edges of the facing materials.
* Folded plate:- folded plate roof is mostly
employed in the roofing of circular structures. In details, it had four major
focal perpendicular vertices known as the ridges and the subordinate diagonals
as the valleys. In some eases, the fall is channeled towards a centrally
located gutter or hole known as run-off to discharge water down the building.
This is seen in high rise circular structures.
HOW TO PREPARE
BUILDING DRAWINGS
Building
drawings give the most effective means of communication in the building
industry. They explain the building design in sketches and details that
constitute the essential working basis for any building structure. it is
divided into two VIZ sketch and production or working drawings.
* Sketch drawing:- these are the preliminary
drawings or diagrams showing the designers general intentions. Here, the scope
of the project is defined, the various spaces are connected and the basic
design is expressed in elevations and perspective drawing. Sketch make our
intentions clear and gives us freedom to outline any shape before putting them
to scale.
* Working drawings:- working or production
drawings as it is called, is the most effective mode of conveying to the
constructors- quantity surveyor, engineer, the specific intentions of the
accurate dimensions (meters) and the different construction elements and
materials are outlined.
They
include
* Location
plan.
* Site plan
* Floor
pan
* Roof
plan
* Elevations
* Sections
* Details
* Schedules
* Perspectives
* Models
REPRODUCTION
OF DRAWINGS
This is important as it is not possible to use
the original drawing on site as they are not durable enough especially when
they come in contact with water. Also, many copies of the drawings are normally
needed during both design, planning approval, contract and construction stages
of the building. Inking was the means of Duplication before, now, it is with
photocopy Machines.
(2) SITE EXPERIENCE
In the previous chapter (chapter two) I said
that Nigerian ports Authority is not a construction company but a port
organization which is responsible for transportation and documentation of goods
and services in and out of the country by means of inland water navigation. As
it is a federal Government property, they employed the services of different
professions to undertake its various functions, including Architects and
Engineers. most of the Architects there are limited to supervision works while
most their projects are handed over to private firms on contract duties.
As it stands, we only do minor projects like staff
houses, renovation works and mostly partitioning of rented apartment. So when I
say “site”, I am taking about staff projects……..
The
word “site” is a part of a plot of land undergoing construction. A typical site
is not usually a community farmland, but rather, a thick bush, with big trees,
water logged areas, valley or site with old buildings. It is therefore
necessary to prepare any of these types of building site with a lot clearing and
leveling tools or heavy machines.
My
site experience could said to be divided into various segments that affect the
erection of any building structure.
(A) BUILDING REGULATIONS AND APPROVAL
(PLANNING AUTHORITY)
The main function of the
local planning authority is to give planning approval, which is the permission
granted any individual, firm or government organization to erect a structure.
The drawings are first
submitted to the registry of the area planning office for registration. After
being assessed, and the client charge certain fee, it is then sent to the
technical registry where it is checked and made sure it met the architectural
principles of ventilation, lighting, comfort, safety and structural stability.
It is sent to the lands department for assessment before returning to the area
planning officer for stamping & collection. Overall, the drawing are to be
duplicated in four sets after which only two is returned to the client before
execution starts.
(B) ROLES DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE CONSTRUCTION
TEAM:-
The construction of a building involves the services
of many professions either directly or indirectly. Categorically, they are panelled
in four groups.
(i) Client
(ii) Designers
and Administrators
(iii) Statutory
organization and personnel
(iv) Constructors.
(i) Client:- The client is the person or
organization that commissions the building work. He directly or indirectly
employs other specialists and provides relevant information’s and bears the
financial implications of the project.
(ii) Designers and
Administrators:- They are responsible for the interpretation, design and supervision of
the project. Architects fall into this group and they take the lead from here.
They include Architects, clerk of works, Quantity surveyors.
(iii) Statutory Personnel:- Having mentioned before,
they are the urban or local authorities
responsible for registration and approval of building projects. They consists
of Town planners, Building control officers, public Health inspectors.
(iv) Constructors:- These sets implement or
erect the projects as they are being supervised by the client, Designers and
administrators, and the statutory personnel’s. They include the contractor,
builder, General foreman etc.
(C) BUILDING CONSTRUCTION
EQUIPMENT AND TOOLS:-
The practical stage of my
site experience is getting to see, feel, observe and know the various tools and
equipment used in the site and their uses.
(i) Site preparation tools and equipments
Hand tools:-Cutlasses, Hoes,
Axes, Spade, Chain saw.
Heavy Machines:- Bulldozer,
Pay loader, Grader, Tipper
(ii) Block work Tools
Hand trowel, Pointed
trowels, the Hawk, square, lines, spirit level or plumb, ranging Pole
(iii) Carpentry Tools
Saws,
Planes, hammers, chisels, nails
(D) SETTING OUT PROGRAM
Overall, I a attended three
setting out programs. The first was at Enugu,
second was at 32 omidiji street otto Ebutte meta Lagos and the third was at 23 Omidiji street otto Ebutte meta Lagos state.
In the construction of any
building, setting out is the first major procedure to be undertaken. Careful
examination is required because any alteration in this stage affects the
Architect’s intention in later stages.
(i) Locating
the beacon and boundary of the site.
(ii) Taking
the offset as shown in the site lay out plan.
(iii) Pegging and nailing of the profile board, other wise called ‘The
Approval’ and must be perpendicular at every intersection.
(iv) Marking out the lines of the walls with respect to the
approval.
(v) After marking out of the walls, offset of the building blocks
is taken in two opposite side of the wall to give room for workability other
wise called the gatt.
* Foundation type
The choice of foundation is
affected by the load bearing strata of the soil, site conditions, type of
construction, magnitude of the load and intensity.
After the excavation of
trenches, blinding of about 5OMM depth is cast. The essence of the blinding is
to
(i) To
serve as a base for foundation forms
(ii) To serve as base for structural formation reinforcements
(iii) Base
for workability
(iv) To
serve as a regular flat base.
* Site Horizon
(i) foundation block is formed on the blinding up to a required
surface level.
(ii) In setting the blocks, plumb and ranging poles are used by
masons to determine levels and straight lines. At intersection of walls, they
either use builder’s square or transfer of measurements.
(iv) I never witnessed the hardcore used in the site rather they
introduced wire mesh as reinforcement for the mass concrete (German) floor.
* Site Deductions
(i) in water logged areas, we use pile foundation, there is no
need for blinding, rather piles are drilled into the ground, a chemical denser
than water (benzonette) is poured to displace the water and finally concrete
mixes which is denser, forces the benzonette out. In some cases, the benzonette
helps the concrete to dry quickly……….
(ii) Offset of building lines from major high ways is 45m. offset
of 30m from major road. Offset of 6m from township roads
(iii) At anytime the engineer wants to alter the drawing due to site
constraints, he will need
VO-> Variation order
AI-Ã Architects instruction
Else, he is responsible for any tactical improptu.
(iv) Two blocks plus the gap in between equals 1m
(v) standard concrete Mixes = 1: 2: 4
CHAPTER FOUR
PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED AND
RECOMMENDATION
(i) Traffic congestion
I experienced traffic a lot
during my time at Nigerian ports Authority. Both in the morning while going to
work and at evening while closing down.
Recommendation
Waking
up as early as possible in order to beat the traffic. The second is to try and
find attachment close to your area in order to be punctual regularly and save
cost of transportation.
(ii) Cost of transportation
Initially, when I started,
it cost N 500 to and from the office complex and actually it
was not funny.
Recommendation
(a) Find
an attachment close to your house
(b) let
your parents or guardian know about the distance
(c) Make friends with your co-workers who have cars so that they can
drop you by
(iii) Installation of Trial version
Revit trial version
installation was used up and the next thing was uninstalling the software and
properly installing the full version. It cost me my initial works in the office
which was never saved in the flash drive.
Recommendation
Always seek the services of a good computer
technician to crack your software and install them properly.
(iv) Working with Different Tribe
First was language
difficulty as I would only hear them speak Yoruba and would not appropriately
reply in same language.
Recommendation
As
a student, try to be linguistically diversified because it will take you to
many places.
CHAPTER FIVE
CONCLUSION
Overall, students industrial work experience scheme
is worth a shot …. It really gave me the experience I’ve ever craved for as a
student architect. I have never been more exposed in this field of study like I
was during this period working with different tribe, adjusting to real life
situation, knowing actually what it means to meet your client’s demands, Having
to stay under the sun just to make sure you understand every pinch of
construction work going on in the site;
Nonetheless,
it is interesting getting to known how to make quick drawing with CAD use,
projection of 2-Dimension or perspective drawings. And most especially getting
connected with Nigerian ports authority is worth giving thanks first to God and
finally to the siwes Department Nnamdi Azikiwe University AWKA, Anambara
state………
REFERENCES
1 SIWES
Hand book, by ENGR. JA. Okeke
2 Nigerian
Ports Authority office Profile Keep
3 Fundamentals of Building Construction by FADAMIRO J.A &
OGUNSEMI D.R.
4 SITE DISCUSSION WITH ENGR OLAWALE AYODELE
5 CONSTRUTIVE CRITICISMS BY ARC BLOR. AKNOWKOLUE OLUGBENGA.