CW Milestone – Part 7 - Boundary wall

Boundary wall is provided on a greenfield telecom site for safety purposes. Sometimes instead of boundary wall a steel fence can also be provided based upon agreement at the time of bidding or on a later stage. Steel fence will be discussed at a later stage. At some places it is more convenient to use concrete blocks. Same guidelines can be helpful with appropriate modifications.

Rough face of bricck boundary wall

A Typical boundary wall drawing on a telecom site

The backfilling of the compound would be done in layers up to the required level. Approved backfill material would be used to get the desired compaction.

Construction of boundary wall is then made on the edges of leased area. Any of the three options like, reinforced brickwork wall, pre-cast boundary wall and galvanized fence can be adopted. Barbed wire is then installed on the wall for security purposes using turn-buckles to tighten it. Meanwhile the gate (hot dip galvanized) is also installed on the entrance to site.

During the construction of reinforced brickwork boundary wall following points should be checked.

• A-Class bricks would be used.

• Alignment of area should be correct as per drawings.

• Brick Fog portion should be in the upward direction.

• Bricks should be properly soaked before application of mortar.

• Verticality should be checked after placement of every three layers of bricks.

• Ask mason to tie a string around the first stake and loop it around the rest of them until bricks are being laid to the last one, where the string is being tied off. This helps to keep the boundary wall straight and keeps the bricks at same level.

CW Milestones Part-6 - Backfilling and top slab pouring

Once the proper curing of the foundation pad and columns has been achieved, backfilling of excavated area has to be started. At instances (as per project demand and mentioned in DEDs) the backfilling is also required for whole site up to a certain level. This is normally required, when EGL at site is lower than its surrounding. Or if there is risk of flooding during some part of year due to excessive rains etc.

In some rollout projects where BTS and Generator pads are under tower, the top slab or pad is supported by columns and is cast monolithically on beams connecting all the columns. And in some projects, there is separate pad for BTS/Equipment and Generator/Fuel Tank. In later case the, the supporting wall (either concrete or bricks) for pads, has to be raised before backfilling.

CW Milestones Part-5 – Concrete pouring of foundation pad and columns for tower (Greenfield Site)

Once the proper layout, excavation and lean concreting (CW Milestone Part -4) has been done, it comes now the time for steel fixing. The steel for pad/s and columns is then cut and bent according to bar bending schedule. In the meanwhile the size of foundation is marked over the lean layer. The steel for foundation is then fastened with the help of binding wires and placed over spacers to give specified cover in both horizontal and vertical directions. The main reinforcement for columns is also fastened which is extending from top right into the foundation re-bars. 

Workers tying steel ribs for foundation columns



CW Milestones Part-4 – Excavation, Layout and Lean concrete

When site is being kicked –off, the site becomes the responsibility of Civil Works. And the period between Kick-off and RFI becomes very crucial for maintaining overall project speed because during this time only one department (i.e. Civil Works) is working on site. For the telecom rollout projects,  this period normally becomes among major bottlenecks, if not handled or planned properly. And the sales and management team has to be thoroughly worked out this period and need to identify for any manageable (contract negotiation/finalization of subcontractors, Sub-con preparedness and their relative brainstorming and trainings in order to be synchronized with targets etc.)  and unmanageable constraints (like offshore supplies of masts or generators etc., shortage of construction material etc in market), before finalizing and sharing targets and deadlines with customers.

The first thing after kick-off a civil subcontractor has to do is to mark boundaries of site, and clear or demolish (if required) the things within parameters.

CW Milestones Part-1 - Technical Site Survey from Civil works and Site Design Prospective

Technical Site Survey is an important milestone, to be achieved before land/building for Site is being leased or purchased. TSS component of a Network Rollout Turnkey Project is normally owned by Site Acquisition however a CW/SD representative is also part of TSS team. Here CW representative finalize the site and confirms as if site is initially okay from Design, Material transportation and Power availability point of view. In addition to CW representative there are normally three other departments to be represented, which include RF Planning, MW planning and Site Acquisition. It is important that