KMC to carry out structural strengthening work of HUDCO Bldng in New Mkt

Kolkata: Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has decided to take up partial structural strengthening work of the nine-storey HUDCO Building in the New Market area because of medium to high-grade deterioration of some critical structural components like beams, columns and slabs due to the ageing effect.

HUDCO Building, as learnt from the information shared by the civic body, was constructed 35 years ago adjacent to the New Market area.

It was an office-cum-market complex. KMC is now the present owner of the building. It is a nine storied structure with basement+ground+eight storey Reinforced Concrete Cement (RCC) framed structure. It is learnt that in such structures, the load of the building structure is transferred from slabs to beams, then to the columns and lower columns, and eventually to the foundation.

The building houses some KMC departments and a Senior Municipal Magistrate’s Court with shops on the ground to second floors.

According to KMC, currently, the building exhibits distress in several structural elements mostly due to “ageing effect and corrosion of reinforcement”.

As for the extent of damage, the civic body states that the building now “exhibit medium to high grade deterioration of some critical structural components like RCC beams, columns and slabs”.

Further, a structural assessment has revealed that the “below-ground basement area is in a bad shape. Leakage/seepage from the base slab/RCC wall and distress in several column bases are vulnerable for the structural safety of the whole nine-storey building”

The civic body has now decided to carry out structural strengthening of HUDCO Building (phase –I). A detailed project report (DPR) has been sent to the Urban Development and Municipal Affairs (UDMA) department after it was approved in a recent member Mayor-In-Council (MMIC) meeting.

However, KMC sources said that the proposal to carry out such work for the entire building was not considered due to “austerity measures”.

After discussion, it was then decided that the work be carried out on the critically distressed area of the building up to the second-floor level in the first phase.

Under phase-I, the repairing of columns, beams, basement slabs, ground floor up to the second floor and the retaining wall of the basement will be done. All toilets up to the second-floor level will be renovated.

The cost for the project is estimated at over Rs 6 crore (Rs 6,09,45,604).