Turf Reinforcement Mats - TRM's

Turf Reinforcement Mats (TRM's) are synthetic fiber erosion control blankets that offer permanent support to vegetation. TRM's combine vegetative growth and synthetic materials to form a high strength mat that helps prevent soil erosion in drainage areas and on steep slopes.

Erosion control systems that incorporate TRM's allow supported vegetation to be utilized in situations where unsupported vegetation would be washed away. In highly erosive situations where hard armor solutions such as riprap or concrete are being considered, a soft armor solution involving TRM supported vegetation may be an alternative. Soft armor solutions use the natural erosion prevention and filtration abilities of vegetation to offer cost and environmental advantages over hard armor.

TRM's are rolled products made from polymer fiber. They are stapled onto the ground over the area that has been seeded and fertilized. As the vegetation grows through the TRM, the TRM provides erosion protection, a microclimate for seed germination, and protection of the immature plants from mechanical damage.

Budget

A budget (from old French bougette, purse) is generally a list of all planned expenses and revenues. It is a plan for saving and spending.^[1] A budget is an important concept in microeconomics, which uses a budget line to illustrate the trade-offs between two or more goods. In other terms, a budget is an organizational plan stated in monetary terms.

Consulting Services Agreement

This form is to be used when a consultant will be providing professional consulting services. The Agreement is drafted in favor of the consultant providing the services.

certificate for payment

Document verified by an architect, engineer, or owner of a construction project that the noted work has been completed and is approved for payment by the general contractor.

JKR
50.3 (a) (i) Where a Payment Schedule is included in the Contract, the P.D. shall within fourteen (14) days upon receipt of any application for Interim Payment, issue an Interim Certificate stating the amount due to the Contractor from the Government if the P.D. considers that the amount stated as due in the application is in accordance with this Contract.

(ii) If the P.D. considers that the amount stated as due in the application is not in accordance with this Contract he shall forthwith issue to the Contractor a notice with reasons to the effect and the Government shall pay within the same period stated in Clause 50.3(c) such amount as the P.D. considers to be properly due as an Interim Payment.

1. The payment by the Government of the amount referred to in subclause 50.3(a)(ii) shall be without prejudice to the right of the Contractor in respect of any amount which he considers has been improperly withheld by the Government or in respect of any payment which he considers was not in accordance with this Contract.

ISM defination of QS

INTRODUCTION
The Quantity Surveyor is a construction professional, he or she is qualified and adequately trained to advise on all aspects of construction costs, financial and contractual administration. He or she is an expert on the cost and management of construction projects, whether building, civil or heavy engineering.

Throughout the world, Quantity Surveyors are working on projects as diverse as housing, commercial property developments, hospitals, mosques, petrochemical plants, highways, dams and airports. There are more than 1000 qualified Quantity Surveyors in Malaysia and a few hundred more in training for the profession

Whenever any building project is proposed, it is important that the cost involved is known in advance. These include site preparation cost, construction, labor, material and plant costs, professional fees, taxes and other charges as well as the likely running and maintenance costs for the new building. The Quantity Surveyor is trained to evaluate these costs and to advise on alternative proposals.

Once the decision is made to build the project, the Quantity Surveyor advises the client on appropriate contract arrangement as well as the legal contract and conditions under which the building will be constructed.

He or she also, acting on behalf of the client advises the architect and engineer on the cost implications. This includes the different construction methods, alternative choice of materials and size and quality of the project. This is also to ensure that each element is reconciled with the cost plan allowance and the overall project cost remains within the budget.

These skills place Quantity Surveyors in a strong position to take a leading managerial role throughout the development of a project. For example, they are able to assess the implications of changes in design, site conditions and working arrangements and give the client accurate budget and time estimates.

Quantity Surveyors may work in a variety of areas vis. private practice, government sectors, educational institutions, construction companies, property developers, banks and financial institutions, industrial companies and other commercial companies. Their professional skills are highly respected and often achieve top managerial status.

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

The services provided by the Professional Quantity Surveyor can be categorised under the following :
Basic Services
Supplementary Services

Basic Services

The scope of basic service is outlined as follows :

• Preparation of preliminary cost estimates and cost plans of the development project.
• Advise on cost estimates in relation to design development of a project.
• Advise on procurement, tendering and contractual procedures and arrangement.
• Preparation of the Bill of Quantities or Specification document for tendering purposes.
• Organise the calling of tenders.
• Evaluation of tenders received in the form of tender reports.
• Preparation and execution of the formal contract.
• Interim valuation of works in progress on site for purposes of interim payments.
• Preparation of financial statement of regular intervals during the construction period.
• Settlement of the final accounts of the project.
• Supplementary Services

Besides the aforementioned basic services, the following supplementary services may also be provided by the Professional Quantity Surveyor if required :

• Preparation of feasibility studies of a project.
• Projection of estimated project or development expenditure and anticipated income cash flows.
• Evaluation of contractors registered for prequalification.
• Comparative cost studies on the economics of the project during design stage.
• Project management of construction project.
• Life-cycle costing and studies on economics of alternative design.
• Pricing of Bills of Quantities or negotiating and agreeing Schedule of Rates.
• Valuation or auditing of contractual claims for arbitrations litigation cases.
• Valuation or auditing of insurance claims for fire damaged buildings.
• Auditing of contracts and their related budgets and expenditure.
• Application of the full scope of quantity surveying services in Turnkey or Privatisation Contracts.

THE PROJECT & THE PROFESSIONAL QUANTITY SURVEYOR

The services of a professional Quantity Surveyor can be useful applied to anything that involves measurement and pricing and as yet, his services have been not fully made use of.

However the following are projects, by no means exhaustive of which quantity surveying services can be utilised :

• Bungalows, flats, apartment, townhouses, condominium developments, housing schemes and town ships and places.
• Commercial offices, banks, shopping and entertainment complexes, hotels, chalets, hostels, holiday and recreational resorts including tourist complexes.
• Universities, colleges, educational institutions and research centres, hospitals, medical centres and monumental works.
• Airports, seaports, railway and vehicular terminals and telecommunication buildings and towers.
• Bridges, highways, roads, reservoirs, dams, power and atomic stations including other related civil engineering and infrastructure works.
• Factories, warehouses, mills, manufacturing and assembly plants, refineries, oil rigs and petrol stations.
• Extension, alterations, restoration and demolition works including interior architectural work.

Geogrids

The development of methods of preparing relatively rigid polymeric materials by tensile drawing [1], in a sense "cold working," raised the possibility that such materials could be used in the reinforcement of soils for walls, steep slopes, roadway bases and foundation soils. Used as such, the major function of the resulting geogrids is in the area of reinforcement. This area, as with many other geosynthetics, is very active, with a number of different products, materials, configurations, etc., making up today's geogrid market. The key feature of all geogrids is that the openings between the adjacent sets of longitudinal and transverse ribs, called “apertures,” are large enough to allow for soil strike-through from one side of the geogrid to the other. The ribs of some geogrids are often quite stiff compared to the fibers of geotextiles. As will be discussed later, not only is rib strength important, but junction strength is also important. The reason for this is that in anchorage situations the soil strike-through within the apertures bears against the transverse ribs, which transmits the load to the longitudinal ribs via the junctions. The junctions are, of course, where the longitudinal and transverse ribs meet and are connected. They are sometimes called “nodes”.

Currently there are three categories of geogrids. The first, and original, geogrids (called unitized or homogeneous types) were made in the United Kingdom by Netlon, Ltd., and were brought in 1982 to North America by the Tensar Corporation. A conference in 1984 was helpful in bringing geogrids to the engineering design community [2]. A similar type of drawn geogrid which originated in Italy by Tenax is also available, as are products by new manufacturers in Asia. The second category of geogrids are more flexible, textile-like geogrids using bundles of polypropylene coated polyester fibers as the reinforcing component. They were developed first by ICI in the United Kingdom around 1980. This led to the development of polyester yarn geogrids made on textile weaving machinery. In this process hundreds of continuous fibers are gathered together to form yarns which are woven into longitudinal and transverse ribs with large open spaces between. The cross-overs are joined by knitting or intertwining before the entire unit is protected by a subsequent coating. Bitumen, latex or PVC are the usual coating materials. Geosynthetics within this group are manufactured by many companies having various trademarked products. There are possibly as many as 25 companies manufacturing coated yarn-type polyester geogrids on a worldwide basis. The third category of geogrids are made by laser or ultrasonically bonding together polyester or polypropylene rods or straps in a gridlike pattern. Two manufacturers currently make such geogrids.

The geogrid area is extremely active not only in manufacturing new products, but also in providing significant technical information to aid the design engineer.

Pile Shoe

(′pīl ′shü)

(civil engineering) A cast-iron point on the foot of a timber or concrete driven pile to facilitate penetration of the ground.