COST COMPARISON OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF FLOOR SLABS

Abstract

The cost of land in the commercial zones of the metropolitan cities have gone so high that the vertical construction has become a " compulsion for the economic viability. As a result the sky line is gradually increasing and now 25 to 35 storeyed buildings are quite common. In addition to the structural safety, economy is the most important consideration in planning, designing and construction of such projects for obvious reasons.. The choice of flooring system to be adopted in such building is vital as significant savings can be affected by making a right choice. At present there are no guidelines available with the design engineer to choose an optimal flooring system for a given task except to undergo the rigour of analysing, designing and cost estimating of various alternatives to arrive at a right choice. This study is an attempt in this direction to provide a rational basis for such decisions. In all twenty different types of floors comprising of solid slab, beam and slab, flat slab with drop panels, grid slab and waffle slab have been designed for the two column grid spacings of 6m x 10m and 10m x 10m, In each case an interior panel has been designed for the vertical loads. The estimated cost include the cost of materials, labour,form work and as well as the premium of having additional floors- in the same total height. iv Based upon the study it is seen that the simple beam and slab, the waffle slab and the grid slab are the most appropriate choices, in the same order, which would minimise the cost of floors in a multistoreyed buildings