Engineer internship report

Traineeship completed from january 14 to march 15, 2014 with

organized by:

International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience

Responsible:

Eng. Lucio Glvez (top manager of the firm)

Mrs. Sabine Lenz (responsible for coordination IAESTE in Switzerland)
Mrs. Juana Aparicio (responsible for coordination IAESTE in Panam)

Trainee:

Lucien Zeller (Civil Engineer Master student at the Swiss Federal Institute of
Technology EPFL)

Content
I.

Introduction ................................................................................................................................3

II.

Activities realized ........................................................................................................................4

A.

Summary.................................................................................................................................4

B.

Details of activities ..................................................................................................................5

1.

Planeta II .............................................................................................................................5

2.

Pando y Montelirio ..............................................................................................................9

3.

Project of electric substation in the city of David ............................................................... 14

4.

Research and implantation of GPS points .......................................................................... 16

III.

Conclusion............................................................................................................................. 17

IV.

Annex.................................................................................................................................... 18

V.

Contact ..................................................................................................................................... 21

I.

Introduction

Incorporated to the Civil Engineer study program, the professional internships main aim is to
introduce the Bachelor students to what are the main skills of the Civil Engineer and how does
he/she manage and solve the problems on the construction site. The majority of the students freshly
graduated of their Bachelors degree decides to fulfil this task during summer break before starting
their master.
The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (better known as EPFL: Ecole Polytechnique Fdrale
de Lausanne) demands from its students to fulfil a two months professional internship before
starting the Master project (4th semester of masters degree). It is very important that everyone
knows not only the theoretical part of its study but also how projects are carried out on the
construction site and what are the problems that we, students, cannot imagine without having
experimented it by ourselves.
During the last year of my Bachelors degree, I realized how important it was for me to know
more about the job I will carry out the following years. For this reason, I decided to interrupt my
study one year between the bachelor and the masters degree to accomplish one year traineeship.
When I was looking for an internship I was told about offers from the association IAESTE
(International Association of Exchange Student for Technical Experience) and applied for the projects
that interested me. A few months later, I was accepted for training in topography projects in David,
Panam. An experience like that during the Panamanian summer convinced me to interrupt my
studies. I could not miss this opportunity to combine professional with cultural experience at the
same time.
The firm Lucio Glvez Ingenieros SA (next abbreviated LGISA) is specialized in topography
projects and also manages construction projects. LGISA leads projects all over the country but my
internship was located only in the province of Chiriqu where I had the opportunity to spend time in
both departments.
Indeed, I could experiment topography work not only in the construction site but also at the
office and follow the constructions steps of an electric substation; all these experiences were
obviously always supervised by professionals. Thus, no incident or safety problem occurred during
my entire involvement with LGISA.

II.

Activities realized

A. Summary
During my stay, I could take part in three different projects: two in the framework of topography
and one in construction. Subsequently, I will enumerate all the activities I could carry out.
1. Planeta II: located in Rincn Largo, province of Chiriqu : first steps of a new hydroelectric
project. Implantation and monitoring of master points for the construction companys
topography work (implantation of points (e.g. on the axis of a discharge channel),
computation of excavations volumes, computation of necessary area for a discharge
channel; these simple calculations represent the basic programs of the complete station) and
as an extra how to use el machete .
Supervisors: the young engineer Miguel de Ribera, the topographer Jos de la Crz Araz
Gonzlez and the assistant Jos Ramiro Araz.
2. Pando y Montelirio: located between the villages of Caisn and Volcn, Chiriqu: final steps
of the construction of two hydroelectrics built at the same time (already installed when I
came: turbines of the dams, sand traps, substations. Under construction when I came: pipes
network). Topography work supported by two assistants (monitoring of geometry on the
constructions steps, computation of dams settlements, computation of a monitoring
gallerys alignment that crossed the dam, numerical statement of the land (shotcrete wall,
cofferdam).
Supervisors: the experimented topographer Alex Javier Sols and his assistants Jess Patio
and Isaac Rodrguez.
3. Apprenticeship of the software AutoCAD Civil 3D: very useful tool for representation of
constructions geometry in a georeferenced workspace for engineering and architectures
plans.
In charge: the projects managers: architect Johnny Anthony Pinzn, software developers
Gustavo Rodrguez and Axel Batista Viloria and the environment engineer Edwin Martnez
Caballero.
4. Electric Substation: located in David, Chiriqu: last months of the construction of an electric
substation with high voltage transformer. Monitoring of construction steps and planning with
the software MS-Project.
Supervisors: engineer Edward Araz Caballero, foreman Edwin vila and engineer William
Rodrguez
5. Implantation of GPS points in different projects
Supervisors: the engineer Carlos Saldaa.

B. Details of activities
1. Planeta II

The firm Feisa SA contracted the Company RB construccin to lead the construction project
of a second hydroelectric central crossing the river David in the municipality of Rincn Largo. LGISA
is contracted by the owner to monitor topography work of RB.
As it was the beginning of the project, the construction site was still very natural. The location of
the future discharge channels area was being deforested.

Figure 1: Location of the future dam in the project Planeta II

Figure 2: Location of the future dam in the project Planeta II

Only a few master points have been implanted near the future dam (high strategic value points,
therefore they are stuck with concrete).

Figure 3: Excavation on the location of the dam with at its center a master point

Excavations were carried out every day and during this low activity period I learned how to use
the main programs of the monitoring station and the simple, fast and efficient way of communication
between the topographer and his/her assistant.

Figure 4: Communication between the topographer and his/her assistant (NB: here the assistant is not close, therefore
movements must be clear and noticeable)

All these methods are applied to lead a numerical statement of the land, an implantation of
points or an alignment 3D check.
There are various ways to accomplish these actions. However, topographers must manage
operations with many constraints.
Firstly, he must choose a suitable location to set up his station so that he can see all his
objectives, carefully set up the station (levelling and orientation) in order to work with real
coordinates. Precision and attention to details are the main words of the topographer because any
error can be reported to following measurements and therefore lead to severe complications. To set
up correctly the station is also fundamental in order to reduce the assistants amount of work (create
a corridor of visibility for instance (to create visibility between station and the reception lens)).
Secondly, topographers must organize his measurements with care and structure in order to
facilitate the following data management for the project manager at the office and for himself as well
(fundamentally he has to classify the measurements in a logical and an objective way). This concept
can appear simple and obvious but the more the project goes ahead, the more numerous and
important are the points.
Therefore with my colleagues topographer and assistants, we had to monitor the coordinates of
points that shaped a simple curve representing a discharge channel.
We had also to define the excavating materials storage area and the outline of the path leading
to the house of turbines.

Figure 5: Picture of fundamental measurement operation (the topographer and his assistant with the reception lens)

The terrain we had to work on was particularly rough because as it was still very natural, we
often had to create a corridor of visibility (in Spanish the verb is picar). All these actions
accompanied with heat, disturbing mosquitos, cutting plants, dust which caused cough every evening
and even some snakes or horses. To face the dust problem the construction company sprinkled
water pumped in the adjacent river on the roadways.
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Figure 6: Tanker which sprinkled roadways recovered with a thick dust layer

In this framework and as a bonus, I had the opportunity to learn the fundamental use of the
machete . I never cut so many plants in my life and I had no idea of all you can do with that tool.
Indeed, thanks to a sharpened machete, it becomes really easier to create a corridor of visibility and
to use natural elements to implant points on the future construction site and to make them visible.
Due to the permanent presence of the topographers on the construction site, possible
disagreements could be immediately discussed and solved.
In summary these two first weeks were very beneficial in so far as they helped me to get used to
hard climate, to learn the fundamentals of the station in the framework of a freshly started project.

Figure 7: Finale picture of my first young and lively group of work (from l. to r.:Jos de la Crz, Miguel, Jos, Luciano(me))

2. Pando y Montelirio

During the following four weeks I worked with another project located between the villages of
Volcn (at the bottom of the volcano Bar, the highest point of Panam) and Caisn (a few
kilometers west of Volcn). This project is similar to that of Rincn Largo (also a hydroelectric)
crossing the river of Chiriqu viejo but the construction is much more advanced than in Planeta II
(end of construction planned for March 2014). My immediate superiors thought it would be more
interesting for me to discover a project that would end soon.

Figure 8: General plan of the dam Montelirio (cut B-B) and the house of turbines of Pando (picture of the two turbines is
visible at the bottom right of the plan)1

The firm EISA contracted the company Cobra which collaborates with HDC (Hydrulica del
Chiriqu) to build these two interconnecting hydroelectric centrals: Pando and Montelirio. The
project will at its ending have lasted four years. Our LGISA team of topographers is contracted by
EISA to manage implantation of points on the construction site and to monitor existing structures
movements. It was for me a challenge to use the station in a context with higher precision
requirements (one tenth of a millimetre). Geometry of the structure was more complicated. Thus, we
had to define (for example) where to implant points of different parts of the floodgate or the shape
of the dam.

Picture taken from plans of the firm HDC

Figure 9: Picture of the floodgate

Figure 10: Montelirios dam: the last block (N5) was being built during my involvement

During my involvement in this project, our activities included:

Measurements of dams settlements

Computations of excavations volumes and 3D surface of the cofferdam
Checking the alignment of the monitoring gallery crossing the dam
To plot the geometry of a shotcrete wall
To delimit the surface of the generator room
To nail benchmarks in order to install the formwork which would draw the shape of the dam
To correct previous activities

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We were also available to project managers for any wished complementary information.

Figure 11: Points alignment at the same height (orange points here) for next concrete paving

Figure 12: My second work team very lively as well in Caisn (from l. to r. : the assistants Isaac and Jess and the
topographer Sols)

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Figure 13: Me in the pipe network heading towards house of turbine of Montelirio

During these four weeks, I spent half of the time on topography work on the construction site
and the other half with office work the main purpose of which was the management of the software
AutoCAD Civil 3D. Principally this apprenticeship involved creation of surfaces in a georeferenced
workspace, data management, computation of excavations volumes, creation of level curves in
order to design plans for any construction project. Applications of this software are numerous and
varied (especially in the context of topography, hydraulics and design of road infrastructure etc.)
Thus, it was for me an excellent exercise to figure out on one hand how measurement data were
collected in the construction site and on the other hand how these same data were managed,
corrected and stocked.
Some photos of the modelling I created thanks to this program AutoCAD Civil 3D:

Figure 14: Picture of the cofferdam

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Figure 15: Plane modelling with AutoCAD Civil 3D of the same cofferdam with level curves made by my numerical
statement of land with the station

Figure 16: Picture of the future discharge channel (with as extra the horses in front of the projects Planeta II)

Figure 17: 3D modelling of the same channel but entirely represented and made by linear interpolations triangles

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3. Project of electric substation in the city of David

During the first days of my internship and the last three weeks, I had the opportunity to follow
the construction day after day of an electric substation. High voltage power lines come to the little
town of David and this substation transforms power lines tension in order to make them appropriate
for consumption.
The firm Fenosa Gas contracted indirectly LGISA for its construction in August 2013. End of
construction planned for May 2014.
During my stay in the building site, I could see a lot of recurrent problems that engineers face on
the technical, human or organizational aspect. Engineer Edward Xavier Araz was my teacher during
this period.

Figure 18: Concrete paving on the discharge tank

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Figure 19: Joint between old and fresh concrete fulfilled by a chemical

I followed the planning and growth of the construction steps that engineer Araz organized
thanks to the program MS-Project (very performing software aiming at organizing tasks with time
constraints). I could learn the fundamental tools of MS-Project.

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4. Research and implantation of GPS points

These interventions were short and not regular. I took part in these interventions only twice. I
attended the computation of GPS coordinates which will be afterwards the base points to which the
station will be set in the following project. In summary, we can readily assume that research of GPS
coordinates represents the very first steps of topography work that will be carried out by the next
responsible of work.

Figure 20: Base GPS on a point referenced by the national geodesic network (Instituto nacional Tommy Guardia), here in
front of the school New California located in Volcn.

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III.

Conclusion

Firms like LGISA are contracted either by the owner or by the construction companies to lead its
topography work which is a fundamental task for any project. I learned in the framework of different
projects what were the responsibilities, the costs and the reach of topography. LGISA works with
Swiss brand machine Leica. These machines are of high quality and high precision. The
topographer, through his actions, his management and the organization of his work will highly
influence the quality of the outgoing information. Only good quality measurements allow for
excellent work at the office.
By seeing all the aspects of measurements on the construction site, I could imagine the huge
responsibility that carry topographers and see that a single mistake can be easily committed by bad
weather, bad day of work or by a single excessive caress of the millimetric crank of the station.
This internship in topography was very useful because I could understand and assess a
supplementary part of the construction life I will lead in the future. How to keep a geometrical
control of a construction and how the first measurements in a natural site at the beginning of a
project are collected.
The skills I acquired in the field and behind the desk were extremely enriching and embellished
by a marvellous experience in latin american culture, largely unknown to me despite my Salvadoran
origins.
We have the huge advantage as engineers to practice a profession the application of which has
no boundary and it is extremely beneficial to discover how engineers from other countries find
solutions, face problems that happen in varied climates, varied mentalities and with different
capabilities (more advanced or more rudimentary).
Therefore, I encourage every young engineer of my school (EPFL) and all the others who have the
opportunity to participate in this kind of professional trip to experience practical engineering abroad.
Finally I would like to thank warmly and cordially Lucio Glvez Ingenieros SA for its irreproachable
welcome, the organization of my internship as well as for the kindness of its employees (I already
miss them).I would like to thank also the organization IAESTE Switzerland/Panam for the
organization and its professional support in this adventure do not forget my dear host family with
which I really felt at home (Mrs. Ily and Esperanza Vldes, Carlito and Alain especially).
I left Panam with new skills, but unfortunately also with a deep sorrow I can hardly hide. I will
always remember my stay As a bonus, I would like to add to this report some private pictures
showing the adventure I lived during these two intensive and very charming months in David.

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IV.

Annex

As an annex, I will add some pictures that show my unforgettable trip.

Figure 21: Ship crossing the famous Panam channel (locks of Miraflores)

Figure 22: Junior baseball semi-finals Chiriqu vs. Los Santos

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Figure 23: Cangilones de Gualaca: natural wonder of Panam

Figure 24: Group picture of LGISA

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Figure 25: Green plantain

Figure 26: With Ily o.m.l. and Esperanza o.m.r., my host family

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V.

Contact

lucien.zeller@gmail.com

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