Yearly Archives: 2016

Maga Engineering, Sri Lanka’s leading construction company, announced that it has completed the building structure of its flagship residential project, the 48-storey Clearpoint Residencies, set to be the world’s tallest vertical garden upon completion. Clearpoint now stands at 185m and is presently the second tallest building structure in Sri Lanka, second only to Grand Hyatt Colombo which is also being built by the construction giant.

A brainchild of renowned architect Milroy Perera, Clearpoint Residences is a joint venture between Milroy Perera Associates and Maga Engineering. The residential apartment tower consists of 171 apartments comprising of 2, 3, 4 bedroom apartments, a limited number of penthouses and presidential suites spread across 48 storeys. One of the key highlights of Clearpoint Residencies will be the planted terraces encircling the building. Formation of a green cover through the planting of trees will provide a natural cooling system for the entire building, resulting not only in a fresher and more relaxing atmosphere, but less energy spent on air conditioning. The plants will be maintained through a specially designed automated drip irrigation system that uses recycled water. Furthermore, several key sustainability features such as solar panels, rain water harvesting, water recycling and solid waste management have been incorporated in to the building.

In overcoming the complex engineering and construction challenges encountered in bringing this landmark residential tower to life, Maga Engineering used innovative engineering technologies throughout the construction process. Post-tensioning (a technique for reinforcing concrete with pre-stressed steel cables) was used in the construction of the suspended floor slabs of the 9-storey car park, as well as the protruding balconies that will house the private green terraces (‘vertical gardens’) of each apartment, the signature feature of the building. These terraces and the 10 private swimming pools were constructed using cantilevered working platforms anchored at one end that required meticulous planning and flawless execution.

Commenting on the special occasion, Chairman & Managing Director of Maga Engineering Mr M. G. Kularatne stated, “The on-schedule completion of Clearpoint’s structural work symbolizes the passion and commitment ingrained in the entire project team to bring this landmark building to life, overcoming the numerous challenges they have faced along the way. Beyond commercial considerations, Clearpoint aims to redefine the future of high-rise living and act as a benchmark for sustainable buildings across the globe. It is truly a project close to our heart.”

Constructed at a cost of 6 billion rupees, Clearpoint Residencies will be ready for occupation by mid-2017.

http://www.ft.lk/article/568898/Maga-completes-structural-work-of-Clearpoint-Residencies

Sri Lanka’s leading construction firm Maga Engineering (Pvt) Ltd was recently awarded the contract to rehabilitate and improve 634 Kilometres of rural roads in four districts of Sri Lanka, including their performance based maintenance for three years.

The project is formulated and financed by the Asian Development Bank and implemented by the Road Development Authority under the Integrated Road Investment Program (I-Roads). Maga Engineering will rehabilitate and improve 634km of rural access roads in Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Kalutara and Kurunegala Districts. The projects were awarded to Maga Engineering after a national competitive bidding process, at a total value of LKR 13.2 billion.

Maga will soon commence work on 85km of roads in Kurunegala district, 332km of roads in Anuradhapura district, 123km of roads in Polonnaruwa district and 94km of roads in Kalutara district and will complete the project within a period of 24 months. As intended by the Asian Development Bank and Road Development Authority, these projects will provide connectivity across towns and villages, creating the framework for greater economic development, simultaneously enriching local communities through improved access to education, healthcare and employment.

Commenting on the project, Chairman & Managing Director of Maga Engineering M. G. Kularatne said “Maga is committed to ADB and Government’s vision of developing the entire road network of Sri Lanka, not just confined to cities and towns but also connecting rural villages with economic hubs in their respective districts. We have been able to secure these projects in an extremely competitive environment, which is a testimony to Maga’s proficiency in the field of infrastructure development. We are confident that the rehabilitation of roads will revive rural agriculture, SMEs and tourism. Armed with the right experience in delivering projects of this magnitude, our project teams will work together with all stakeholders to achieve their timely completion.”

The Employer, Road Development Authority will direct and oversee the implementation of the projects, while Pyunghwa Engineering Consultants Ltd of the Republic of Korea, Resource Development Consultants (Pvt) Ltd and Egis-CEA JV will act as project consultants.

Picture caption: Chairman of the Road Development Authority Nihal Sooriyarachchi exchanging the contract agreement with the Chairman & Managing Director of Maga Engineering M. G. Kularatne

http://www.ft.lk/article/557309/Maga-Engineering-to-rehabilitate-Rs--13-2-b-worth-of-rural-roads

After a 10-month period of implementation, Maga Engineering successfully achieved "go-live" status of its ERP system today (05 May 2016) in partnership with Infor global solutions. Infor LN is the leading integrated suite of software designed specifically for project-driven, engineer-to-order or work-order-based industries.

The implementation has covered all of Maga’s Head Office departments and divisions, and projects and activity centers spanning across the island. Speaking on the momentous occasion, the Chairman & Managing Director of Maga Mr M.G. Kularatne remarked: “As the leading construction company in Sri Lanka, this successful implementation of a fully-fledged resource management software has further strengthened our capacity, speed and agility as an organisation. Furthermore, it is a testimony to our 21^st century zeal to combine our construction expertise with class-leading technology in our journey towards excellence. We are delighted to partner Infor, one of the leaders in providing integrated enterprise software and I thank the Infor and Maga implementation teams for their tireless efforts.”

Mr Ranga Pothula, Vice President of Infor Consulting Practice and Center of Excellence offered “Hearty Congratulations to Maga and Infor on this strategic ERP Go-Live at Maga Engineering.  I thank the both the project and business teams on this important occasion, which would not been possible without a close collaboration, commitment, and dedication by all. I personally thank the Management team of Maga for all their support and this relationship will help both Maga and Infor to go a long way in having a solution for construction industry.”

Infor LN ERP has focused on bringing construction technology, business processes and people together to achieve optimal business results. With the help of the system, Maga is confident that it will be able to implement better control strategies to drive systems optimization, eliminate inefficiencies, reduce costs and optimize value generation across the board.

Holcim (Lanka) Ltd., a member of the Lafarge Holcim Group who is a global leader in the
building material industry, Maga Engineering Ltd., Sri Lanka’s leading construction and engineering company together with CSR Sri Lanka (Guarantee) Ltd., held their first Deciders’ Forum at Hilton Colombo on 9 March under the theme ‘Sustainable Cities – Vision for the Sri Lankan Urban Transformation’.

The forum comprised of top-level decision-makers and stakeholders from both private and public sectors, in an effort to share knowledge, expertise and industry best practices and shed light on future plans. The introduction and objective setting was carried out by the moderator World Bank Senior Urban Economist Zhiyu Jerry Chan. This was followed by Urban Development Authority (UDA) Director General Nayana Mawilmada, who presented the key concepts behind sustainable urban development in Sri Lanka and the Government’s plans for same.

The keynote speech was delivered by Surbana Jurong Consultants Ltd. Singapore Managing Director (South Asia and Middle East) Dr. Uma Maheswaran, on the planning of sustainable cities, key principles and a case study on Singapore. Concluding remarks was presented by Western Region Megapolis Planning Project Director Lakshman Jayasekera, on the model for the Megapolis project.

Dr. Uma Maheswaran in his keynote speech commented, “All across Asia, sustainability in construction is the most pertinent problem today. Within the last decade, sustainability as a constant has evolved, and has come to some kind of global understanding, but there are still different shades of sustainability. However, the big question today is, do we begin projects correctly? It is imperative that the leaders in construction and its partners get it right from inception, which means setting key performance indicators succinctly and correctly for every individual involved.”

Nayana Mawilmada pointed out some common challenges of urban development in all Sri Lankan cities including handling congestion, solid waste and urban sprawl and noted, “The principles of sustainable cities have been embedded in the Government’s Megapolis plan and the project proposals are being developed with sustainability at its core. The vision of sustainable cities is also integral to the plans being initiated for several other major cities of Sri Lanka such as Galle, Kandy, Jaffna and Trincomalee.” He stressed that this long-term vision can be achieved through a coordinated effort across agencies and a combination of both government and private financing.

In his concluding remarks, Lakshman Jayasekera pointed out that steps are being taken to fast-track and facilitate environmental approvals via a Strategic Environmental Assessment Programme (SEA), an integrated in-house process to wade through and combine a glut of applications and corresponding approvals.

These forums will be followed by three programs later in the year on several aspects of sustainability in the construction industry including challenges faced, social responsibility, finance and regulations and architecture and techniques. These forums aim to provide the construction industry stakeholders with a platform to exchange, develop and share their knowledge whilst addressing key concerns. This initiative is a result of the memorandum of understanding between Maga Engineering Ltd. and Holcim Lanka on charting a sustainable path for the construction industry in Sri Lanka.

http://www.ft.lk/article/532204/Holcim-Lanka--Maga-Engineering--CSR-Sri-Lanka-hold-Deciders--Forum-on-Sustainable-Cities