EDITOR’S MESSAGE

LEARNING TO LEARN

We wish our readers a Happy and a Prosperous New

Year. This is the fourth “Modulus” published by

SSESL for the year of 2018, elaborating different

research aspects and latest technologies and

practices in the industry. Since the beginning of

2018 we decided to formulate the Modulus in two

segments for technical papers; namely the

“Research and Development Forum” and

“Engineers’ Forum”. Structural Engineers were

invited to publish their successful projects and

technical concerns in the “Engineers Forum” It was

noted that initiative created a wider platform to our

readers for an active participation in the Modulus.

We earnestly look forward to issue the Modulus

quarterly in year 2019 too, hence invite all

enthusiastic readers to contribute articles either to

the “Research and Development Forum” or

“Engineers’ Forum”.

Two decades in to the new century the

SSESL as well as the structural engineering

profession as a whole comprise of both millennial

and older generations. Continuous Professional

Development courses that are being organized,

should cater to both these generations. The

difference in learning styles should be remembered

and well considered in such circumstances. SSESL

has been promoting more of active learning

opportunities through seminars, question times,

guest lectures and quarterly issued Modulus,

favouring both the millennials and Gen X members

of the industry. Realistic projects and real life

experiences of senior engineers shared at SSESL

events and published in the Modulus will appeal to

the sensing learners. New technologies and

research areas discussed under the “Research and

Development Forum” of the Modulus will

encourage the learning media of intuitive learners

who think highly of brainstorming and innovation in

their careers.

The paper presented under “Learning

Styles of Structural Engineers” in the Modulus is an

interesting read for all members to identify their own

learning style and adjust the learning materials

accordingly. It emphasizes the importance of

formulating a strategy for life-long learning to

structural engineers who always need updated

knowledge. The paper also discusses and has proven

that structural engineers are balanced between being

sequential and global which depicts whether they

absorb information in tiny parts or the whole picture

at once.

Use of equations and computer models

abruptly by new generation without understanding

the basic concepts is one complaint surfacing in

today’s engineering forums. However if the learning

styles of engineering students are meticulously

analyzed, the senior professionals will become

aware of the cause for the issue and be more

effective mentors in molding the juniors. Thus all

members are invited to peruse the paper to know

their personal differences in learning and

effectiveness in various teaching modes. We all

agree on the fact that “learning to learn” is the salient

point in acquisition of knowledge.

For supporting young engineers to be

aware of the lacks in their learning and the senior

engineers to strengthen their sentiments in teaching,

SSESL is planning to organize more events in the

coming year. The event calendar for the year 2019

is published for your reference.

Eng. S.S.A. Kalugaldeniya

B.Sc. Eng (Hons), M.Sc. (TUT- Japan), C.Eng.,

MIE (SL), MSSE(SL)

Editor,

Society of Structural Engineers, Sri Lanka.

Email: editor.sse.sl@gmail.com

The statements made or opinions expressed in

the Modulus do not necessarily reflect the views

of the Society of Structural Engineers, Sri Lanka

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The Editor wishes to thank who have peer

reviewed the research articles, Eng. G.

Jathurchan (Editor- Associate Member Chapter-

SSESL, Eng. S. Seyanthan (Asst. Editor-

Associate Member Chapter-SSESL) and Eng.

(Ms) N.A.Amarasinghe (President- Associate

Member Chapter-SSESL) for their contribution

in preparing the Modulus.

CONTENT Cover Story 02

Society News 03-04

Out-going President’s Message 05-07

Research and Development

Forum a) Learning Styles of Structural

Engineers M T P Hettiarachchi

b) Influence of High Temperature

Curing for Strength Development

of Concrete Comprising Fly Ash

and GGBS H.D. Yapa, M.S.M. Najas,

T. Vaseekaran

c) New Insights on Reactive Powder

Concrete for Application in

Bridges H G U Imega, I R A Weerasekera

08-17

18-24

25-33

Engineers’ Forum a) Repairing Methods in Reinforced

Concrete Structures Based on Case

Studies N A Amarasinghe,

S M A L K Sammandapperuma,

S S A Kalugaldeniya

34-42

SEMINARS IN 2019

Newly appointed Executive Committee of SSE-SL

has decided to hold three full day seminars as

conducted in 2018. Accordingly following Full Day

Seminars will be conducted in 2019.

Month Date Topic Venue

April 1st

Design and

Construction

of Deep

Basements

Cinnamon

Grand,

Colombo 03

June 4th Vision on

High Rises

Cinnamon

Grand,

Colombo 03

October 29th

Design and

Construction

of Steel

Structures

Cinnamon

Grand,

Colombo 03

COVER STORY

The cover illustrates the Main dam & Spillway of

Kaluganga Reservoir. It was developed as a part of

Moragahakanda- Kaluganga project which is the last

project to be implemented under Maheweli River

Development Project. The reservoir has been

constructed by blocking the Kalu river at Laggala-

Pallegama area and the capacity of the reservoir

would be 248 million cubic meters. It will provide

water to 3000 families that will be resettled in the

law valley of Kaluganga; surrounding the green city;

New Laggala town. The reservoir will irrigate 2000

acres of land and excess water will be directed to

Moragahakanda reservoir. The project will also

supply water to Mahakandara wewa, Amban Ganga,

Yodha Ela, Minneriya, Girithale, Kavudulla and

Kanthale. Central Engineering Consultancy Bureau

was involved as the Engineer of the project working

together with the contractor; Sinohydro Corporation

Limited. The project cost was approximately 13

billion LKR. Main features of the project are tabled

as follows;

Main

Dam

Length : 618m

Height : 68m

Type : Rock-fill with central Clay Core

Outlets in possession: Bottom Outlet

(BO), Left Bank Irrigation Outlet

(LBO) and Transfer Canal Outlet.

(TCO)

Saddle

Dam

Length : 720m

Height : 28m

Type :Rock-fill with central Clay Core

Outlets in possession : Right Bank

Irrigation Outlet (RBO)

Spill

way

Type : Ogee weir with chute and stilling

basin.

No of Bays: 3 with radial gates.

Height : 12.30 m

Width of Gates : 8.80 m

Length of chute : 144 m

Length of Stilling Basin : 89 m

Depth of Stilling Basin : 19.25m

Tunnels All tunnels covering Diversion (DT),

TCO, LBO, RBO and BO consist of

concrete lining. The DT runs the

lengthiest route with 10m diameter.

SEMINAR ON CHALLENGES IN DESIGNING

OF MODERN INFRASTRUCTURE

The seminar on “Challenges in Designing of Modern

Infrastructure” was held on 27th November, 2018 at

Cinnamon Grand, Colombo. This seminar was

sponsored collaboratively by MELWA, Insee

Cement, Sanken Construction and DIMO. The

objective of this seminar was to learn, share and

discuss the knowledge on designs and construction of

modern infrastructure. Recent advances in design

technologies, construction methodologies and

material upgrading were also highlighted in the

seminar.

This was conducted in two sessions, Session A in the

morning and Session B in the afternoon. Morning

session was chaired by Eng.Saro Weerasuriya and

afternoon session was chaired by Eng.Deepal

Wickramasinghe. There were three presentations in

Session A on the topics of “Design and Construction

Aspects of the Colombo Lotus Tower”, “Structural

Design Aspects of Modern Airport” and “An

Overview of Strengthening, Modification and Repair

Techniques – Oil and Gas Industry”, which were

presented by Prof.W.P.S.Dias, Eng.S.A.Karunarathna

and Dr.Nadun Alwis respectively.

Besides, session B too consisted of three

presentations on “High Performance

Concrete/Durable Structures”, “Urban Infrastructure

and Connectivity” and “Design and Construction of

Port City”. These presentations were delivered by

Eng.Pieter Keppens, Archt. Dr.N.A.D.Senaka

Dharmatileke and Eng.Lal Kumarasiri respectively.

The seminar was concluded successfully, followed by

panel discussions for both sessions which enabled

participants to interact with speakers by forwarding

their queries and sharing thoughts.

Figure 1: President of SSESL delivering the Welcome

Speech

Figure 4: Archt. Dr. N.A.D. Senaka Dharmatileke delivering his

presentation on “Urban Infrastructure and Connectivity”

Figure 5: Eng. Deepal Wickramasinghe conducting the panel

discussion for Session B

Figure 2: Prof. W.P.S. Dias presenting on “Design and

Construction Aspects of the Colombo Lotus Tower”

Figure 3: Eng. Saro Weerasuriya conducting the panel

discussion for Session A

SOCIETY NEWS

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING – 2018

The Twenty Fifth Annual General Meeting of SSE-

SL took place on 11th February 2018, at Cinnamon

Grand, and followed by cocktail and fellowship

dinner. The welcome speech made by the president

SSESL is transcribed in the next page. Guest speech

on the topic of merging professionalism and

entrepreneurship was delivered by the Guest Speaker

Mr. W.K.H. Wegapitiya, Chairman, Group CEO of

Laughs Holdings. This was followed by the

presentation, sponsored by Ceylon Steel Corporation.

NEW EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE FOR THE

YEAR 2018/2019

The following members were elected as the

Executive Committee for the year 2018/2019 at the

Annual General Meeting.

Office Bearers

President Eng. N. A. Abeysuriya

Immediate Past

President

Eng. K.L. S. Sahabandu

Past President Eng. S.A. Karunaratne

Vice President Eng. A S B Edirisinghe

Hon. Secretary Eng. T J Jayasundara

Assistant Secretary Eng. Y. Goguladas

Treasurer Eng. L. Gunawickrama

Assistant Treasurer Eng. R.M.A. Senerath

Editor Eng. S.S.A. Kalugaldeniya

Assistant Editor Eng.(Dr.) K.S. Wanniarachchi

Public Relations

Officer

Eng. G. Ramawickrama

Executive Comittee

Eng. S.U. Jayakody

Eng. A. Mataraarchchi

Eng. R.S.K. Trimavithana

Eng. U.L.S. Fernando

Eng. D.T. Rajasekaran

Eng. W.J.B.S. Fernando

Figure 1: The outgoing executive committee for the year

2017/2018

Figure 2: Conducting procedures of the AGM by presenting

the report for the previous year

Figure 3: Clarifications and quarries forwarded by the

audience

Figure 4: Mr. W.K.H. Wegapitiya delivering the guest

lecture

Figure 5: Cocktail and dinner followed by the successful

completion of the AGM

SPEECH MADE BY ENG. K.L.S.

SAHABANDU, THE PRESIDENT-

SSESL AT THE ANNUAL GENERAL

MEETING 2018

Past Presidents, Executive

Committee Members.

Hony. Fellows, Fellows

and Members of the

Society of Structural

Engineers - Sri Lanka

Ladies and Gentlemen

Good evening to you all

It has indeed been an honour and privilege

to serve as the President of the prestigious Society

of Structural Engineers – Sri Lanka; I am deeply

grateful to the membership for having faith in me

and re-electing me for the second term at last Annual

General Meeting. I’m humbled to note that along the

journey, I did discover that “I may be the President

by title BUT we are a TEAM when it come to the

day to day activities.”

Having said that at the outset, I consider it

as my duty, in this fine evening, to recollect and

gratefully acknowledge the significant contributions

of our past Presidents and Executive Committee

Members whose dedication and commitment helped

us to build and propel the professional stature of

SSESL to what it is today – Eng. Daya Silva our

first President for his pioneering efforts with other

leading structural engineers in the country forming

the Society in 1989; the late Dr. Balasooriya, Dr.

A.C. Visvalingam, Eng. A.D. Wickremasinghe and

Eng. Ajith Jayasinghe for their untiring efforts

especially in achieving recognition for the Society in

the industry as well as through the Parliament Act in

year 2009, and Eng. S.A. Karunaratne and Prof.

Ruwan Weerasekara for evolving the thriving

practitioner-academia interactions in advancing

industry relevant structural engineering best

practices and knowledge in Sri Lanka.

Me together with my fellow colleagues of

the Executive Committees of 2017/2018, engaged in

strategic planning to contemplate our Society’s

future. Our priorities have been to strengthen the

Society and serve our members and our community

as best as we can while maintaining and enhancing

their present status and activities. Please allow me

to list out some of these which I promised you at the

time when you all elected me first time in year 2015

as the President of the Society:

1. Gaining Industry recognition – including increased

awareness among policy makers and the political

leadership – to achieve prime responsibility status

and lead role for Structural Engineers in the

development, design and implementation of mega

scale national engineering projects.

2. Gaining wide recognition and awareness for

Structural Engineering as a unique profession with

a strong professional identity for contributions in:

public safety and risk management,

sustainable / economic resource use

management, and

application of innovative technologies for

creation of environment friendly,

inspirational structures and a sustainable

built environment.

3. Acquiring a suitable land / building for the Society

Headquarters.

4. Implementing programmes to attract the “best and

bright” engineering graduates to the field of

structural engineering.

5. Strengthening programmes for updating technical

competencies; providing a forum for resolving

technical issues; maintaining professional conduct

/ ethical behaviour internally among members of

the Society and externally with Clients and other

stakeholders.

6. Conducting Conferences and Workshops of

international standard to facilitate knowledge

transfer to our members.

7. Promoting fund raising activities.

I am humbled to report some highlights of our

achievements and successes during my tenure.

Having gained due recognition under the

Construction Industry Development Act passed by

the Parliament of Sri Lanka in 2014, we have been

increasingly contributing to a number of policy

formulating / technical committees related to the

construction industry which were set up by well

reputed institutions such as Urban Development

Authority (UDA), Construction Industry

Development Authority (CIDA), Sri Lanka

Standards Institution (SLSI), etc. Further, thereby,

we have been able to portray ourselves to the above

institutions to the effect that the field of Structural

Engineering is a unique profession with a strong

professional identity towards contributions in the

aforesaid areas.

I am also pleased to note that the Association of

the Organization of Professional Associations of Sri

Lanka (OPA) in which SSE-SL secured membership

in year 2016, has nominated the President-SSE-SL

as the Chairman of the Construction Industry Sector

Committee for year 2017/2018 and 2018/19. For

your information, currently there are 49 Professional

Member Associations attached with OPA.

Also, we gained the Institutional Membership

of the Chamber of Construction Industry (CCI)

which is considered today (also by the proposed Act

of Parliament) as apex representative body of

construction industry stakeholders in Sri Lanka.

According to the CCI rules; Professional Institutions

and Associations related to construction industry,

with a membership and rules and regulations of their

own, admitted as Institutional Members. Currently

there are 11 member institutions and associations

attached with CCI.

You may already aware that SSE-SL represents

the Credential Committee of the Construction

Industry Development Authority (CIDA) on

registration of Qualified Persons and Organizations,

the Steering Committee of CIDA and the Sub-

Committee to draft Criteria Procedures related to

Technical Auditing as per Construction Industry

Development Act No.33 of CIDA.

You may also aware that in our attempts to

acquire a suitable land / office space for the Society,

we have been successful in convincing the Ministry

of Megapolis and Western Development after which

the Secretary of the Ministry has agreed to provide

a space from proposed Real Time Flood Control

Centre building which is being constructed at

Kirimandala Mawatha, on long term leasing basis.

The proposal is presently re-considered under the

circumstance that the progress of construction has

become very slow and financial allocation for the

building has not been finalised.

Yet, we have learnt that another land owned by

the Institute of Town Planners (ITPSL) is planned to

be developed in collaboration with CCI at which

place SSE-SL could secure an office space. We have

principally accepted the proposal and decide to carry

out further discussion with CCI and ITPSL on

project implementation. Meantime, the Ministry of

Megapolis has also made plans to develop a plot of

land at Colombage Mawatha to provide office space

for professional institutions. If this works out, there

would be an opportunity securing an office space

there having informed our need to the Ministry

already.

Anyway, please let us keep you informed of the

progress of works in this respect and rest assured

that we’ll be resorting to the best decision which

would be beneficial to the Society in every aspect

with your blessings.

Last year, we’ve made initiatives to form

categorical Chapters of the Society and establish

such Chapters towards further reach out and to

provide appropriate platforms to suiting the

dynamism of the different categorical membership.

In this respect, two chapters were identified; one for

the Associate Members and other one for the

Student Members of each university where

Engineering educational degree programmes are

conducted. The main objectives of these Chapters

would be:

1. To enhance the Society Activities in the

industry as well as in the Universities.

2. To attract the “best and bright” engineering

graduates to the field of structural engineering.

3. To further structural knowledge among the

members of the Chapters by conducting

seminars, workshops etc.

4. Train young engineers / engineering students

for the leadership which will useful to identify

strong characters to undertake the leadership of

the Society in future.

As per our plans, I’m very much pleased to put

on record that we’ve already established the

Chapters of Associate Membership and Students

Membership of the University of Moratuwa,

Perdeniya and Ruhuna.

In support of the professional development of our

membership by affording them professional

dialogue, this year too, the Society conducted the

monthly Question Time programme uninterruptedly

and conducted one Evening Lecture. Fellowship

dinner was introduced after the Question Time

Programme to give opportunities to participants to

have dialogues and networking which would be

beneficial to the growth of the construction industry.

We held three seminars, namely; “Advances in

Reinforced Concrete Technology”, “Design Aspects

of High Rise Buildings and Modern Infrastructure”

and “Challenges in Designing Modern

Infrastructure” on 27th March 2018, 18th June 2018,

and 27th November 2018, respectively, attracting a

house-overflowing audience.

Output of these Seminars and Question Time

Programme are considered essential for the

Structural Engineers and Construction Professionals

to stretch their creativity and adapt their knowledge

to cutting edge limits. These events not only expose

new technology to the local professionals but also

give opportunities to develop networking among

investors, government officials, professionals,

contractors, and suppliers etc. who are actively

engaged in the construction industry in the region.

Further, the participation of international

resource personals has also disclosed the need to

“go-global” while facilitating a Regional Hub for

such professional dialogues. I am certain that with

our dedication and commitment, it would definitely

be possible to reach out, and as the first step, to plan

for a peer reviewed international structural

engineering conference in the near future. Let us be

hopeful that the academia, in particular, would

extend their fullest cooperation in this regard.

Equally important and successful was the

“Annual Sessions” held on 14th August 2018 of the

Society organized with the broad aim of creating a

research and innovative culture amongst its

membership which had reached out to the target

groups appreciably. The Sessions included eleven

peer reviewed, fascinating, research work presented

in two plenary sessions of which the Best piece of

work would be awarded the Professor Raggu

Chandrakeerthy Gold Medal after evaluating at

three stages.This year, we have also been successful

in publishing three issues of the quarterly Modulus

providing a further opportunity to the engineers to

publish and share their works of engineering value

which certainly stands to serve the primary objective

of the Society.

In the interest of motivating authors towards

contributing for the Modulus while improving their

research, innovation and writing abilities, you may

aware that SSE-SL decided to recognize the best

paper published in “Modulus”, annually, with a

prestigious Gold Medal Award to be awarded at the

AGM since last year. I take this opportunity to

gratefully acknowledge the financial contribution of

Access Engineering PLC, for this endeavour on

behalf of the society. Please await for the moment of

Professor Raggu Chandrakeerthy Gold Medal

Award for the best paper presented in the Annual

Session and “Access Engineering PLC Gold Medal

Award” for the Best Paper published in “Modulus”.

All in all, the events calendar of the Society was

basically saturated with a well distributed series of

activities including Seven Question Times, One

Evening Lecture, Three seminars, Annual Sessions,

and the release of 3 quarterly issues of the Modulus.

I’m also pleased to bring to your kind

information that, by way of the said activities, we

have been able to attract more sponsorship with a

significant increase of income of the Society

compared to previous financial years, while

increasing the profit which we need to fulfil our

dreams especially to have our own office and a

premises. Increase of the net income and assets of

the Society is very important for its future

sustainability and further development of its

activities.

Further, I should pay my gratitude to the

sponsors who voluntarily supported us to make these

events in realities. Special thanks are deserved by

UltraTech and Melwa sponsoring for the Seminar on

“Advances in Reinforced Concrete Technology”. I

would like to thank Alumex, Insee Cement and

Maga for being joint sponsors for the seminar on

“Design Aspects of High Rise Buildings and

Modern Infrastructure”. I greatly acknowledge

Incee Cement, Melwa, Sanken Construction and

Dimo for their generous sponsorships on the

Seminar on “Challenges in Designing of Modern

Infrastructure”. We greatly appreciate Tokyo

Cement for their Generous Sole Sponsorship for our

Annual Sessions. A special thanks is deserved by

Ceylon Steel Corporation for their sponsorship on

today’s Annual General Meeting. Further, being in

the recent post conflict era, in which the construction

industry looks forward to many new innovative and

glamorous structures, I believe our members will be

busy analysing, evaluating and communicating their

results to the policy makers and the public which

would help improve their understanding, whereby

the presence of the Society would be further

recognized and consolidated.

Finally, I want to thank my fellow

colleagues in the Executive Committee help portray

the Society as a dynamic entity in the engineering

sector of the country. They have proven to be tireless

workers. They understood the needs and

complexities of managing the prestigious society

and, accordingly were dedicated, committed and

cooperated towards the success of the Society’s

goals. Let me express publically my sincere

appreciations to each one of you.

Conclusively, as the President, you get the

opportunity to express your ideas and beliefs in a

way that has authority, precision, and can be heard

all across the membership and stakeholders. To the

best of my ability, I have sought to speak for all of

us, and I hope I have accomplished that to your

satisfaction. I have tried to be that one voice that has

been consistent on the values and principles that

have made us strong, that have bound us together for

all of these years, and that have protected the

structural engineering fraternity of Sri Lanka.

Wish you all pleasant and extremely pleasing

moments ahead.

Thank you very much.