KEEPING INDIA’S BOOMING IT INDUSTRY WATERPROOF - CASE STUDY I

by Sunanda g. SUNANDA SPECIALITY COATINGS PVT LTD

1.Edelweiss/IBM

DESCRIPTION OF THE PROBLEM:

In 2008 Edelweiss, one of India’s leading financial service companies struck the highest deal in real estate by purchasing a 3 basement, G + 14 stored RCC building for approximately 250 crores with a built-up area of 2 lakh sq. ft. to house their corporate office. As part of their IT infrastructure, this building was also going to house Edelweiss’s main server room, battery room, electrical room, and UPS. The entire IT infrastructure for Edelweiss’s operation was designed, built, and maintained by IBM.
The structure consisted of RCC columns and PT slabs. In order to provide external glazing to the structure, extended cantilevers were cast along the entire periphery of the bldg. During June 2010 monsoon, rainwater seeped in through these extended cantilever portions which resulted in leakages in the server room and UPS area. It was also found that the existing PT slabs were porous resulting in the passage of water through the entire slab. This resulted in the shut down of the mainframe thereby hampering the entire trading activities of the company. Due to this major break down the clients demanded a full-proof waterproof system to ensure business continuity.
The clients approached Sunanda’s Concrete Materials Consultancy Division, based on our exemplary track record of delivering results. This site was especially complicated since the slab was post-tensioned and hence it was impossible to grout it. Consequently, the selection of a waterproofing system, design, implementation of a foolproof waterproofing specification, and on-job quality assurance assume paramount importance.

Post a detailed inspection, identification of weak spots, the custom methodology was recommended, approved, and executed in a record time of 45 days.

Fig 2: Edelweiss Financial Services, Mumbai