KATHMANDU, July 20: After last year's devastating earthquakes damaged its main office building at Bagdurbar, Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) office has decided to construct a new multi-storey steel structure at Teku for its main office.
This is for the first time that a multi-storey steel structure is being constructed to house a government office, claimed KMC officials. KMC has allocated Rs 200 million for its new office building and it plans to start construction work from the current fiscal year.
Chief Executive Officer of KMC Rudra Singh Tamang said that KMC decided to construct a new steel structure for its office as such structures are more resilient to earthquakes compared to RCC (reinforced cement concrete).
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“We all know that Kathmandu is vulnerable to earthquakes. So, it's high time government bodies like KMC adopted various earthquake-resilient measures and constructed safer buildings. The to-be-constructed steel structure is part of KMC's initiative toward resilient measures,” said Uttar Kumar Regmi, chief of Department of Physical Development and Construction at KMC. Regmi, who is a structural engineer, has designed the new steel structure for the KMC office.
According to Regmi, the new multi-storey KMC building will use mainly steel materials and it will cover an area of 45,000 square feet.
As per KMC's plan, steel materials will be used in place of the RCC method. “We are not just constructing a new steel structure but also introducing such structures to the country,” he said.
Regmi argued that the new technology will withstand big jolts better than RCC.
He opined that the Nepal Reconstruction Authority (NRA) should encourage the general public also to go for steel structures as these are comparatively safer during earthquakes.
“The steel structures are only 10 to 20 percent more expensive than RCC,” he added.
