CHAPTER ONE

1.0 BACKGROUND OF SIWES

Student Industrial Work Experience Scheme was established by the Industrial Training

Fund (ITF) in 1973 with the aim of bridging the gap between the skills which the labor market

required with that of those acquired by the graduate students.

Since its introduction by the ITF in 1973 the Scheme has gone through series of reforms.

It management, for instance, has changed hands from the ITF to the various regulatory

AGENCIES SUCH AS National Universities Commission (NUC) National board for Technical

Education (NBTE) and National Commission for college of Education (NCCE) and now back to

the ITF again. These are the major stakeholders in (SIWES).

Consequently, SIWES program was introduced into the curriculum of tertiary institutions

in the country as far back as 1974 with 748 students from 11 institutions of higher learning.

However, the scheme has over the years contributed immensely to the personal development and

motivation of students to be able to understand the important connection between the taught and

learnt content of their academic programs and what knowledge and skill will be expected of them

on professional practice after graduation.

As a result of the complaints from the industries about the practical deficiencies of the

graduates of the nation’s higher institutions, the Industrial Training Fund (ITF), a body

established by the Federal Government which engages in the training of technical manpower,

undertook to make up for the deficiencies by structuring and establishing Students Industrial

Training (SIT), as it then called, about 1973/74. By that, students went out to the industries if
only to familiarize them with the actual plants and equipment for which bench scale types exits

in institutions’ workshops and laboratories. With the rapids’ growth of higher institutions both in

size and number, funding became a problem for ITF which single-handedly initially funded the

program. And by 1979 the management of the scheme was passed on to the National University

Commission (NUC) a regulatory body for the Universities and its counterpart for the

Polytechnics, the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE). However, five years later in

1984, it was returned once more to the ITF which had continued to manage it to date but with the

burden of funding resting on the Federal Government. Today, all the bodies involved in SIWES

operations each has specific functions to perform.

Meanwhile, the need for students to possess adequate information on (SIWES) is further

underlined by the fact that (SIWES) is a course of study that attract two, four and six credit units

in Colleges of Education, Polytechnics and Universities respectively, depending on the need

attached to it by the institutions. The availability of required information therefore, enhances the

capacity of students to work for and earn the credit units allotted for SIWES, rather than

wobbling through the training intervention because of lack of pertinent information.

1.1 INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDENT INDUSTRIAL WORK EXPERINCE

SCHEME.

The student industrial work experience scheme (SIWES) in the university is a skill

training program designed to expose and prepare student for the Industrial work situation they

are likely to meet after graduation. The scheme also affords student the opportunity to familiarize

and expose themselves to the needed experience in handling equipment and machinery that is not

available in their institutions.

 The SIWES program was initiated, designed and introduced by Industrial Training Fund

(ITF) in 1973 as a result of a growing concern that graduates of higher institutions were no

longer responsive to the needs of the employers of labor because of their lack of practical

knowledge. The program thus, is created with the view of bridging the gap between theory taught

in the classroom and the practical knowledge the industries required. However, Unbearable to the

fund, it withdrew from the scheme in 1978. The Federal government handed over the scheme in

1979 to both the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) and the Industrial Training

Fund (ITF). Later the Federal Government in November, 1984 reverted the management and

implementation of the SIWES program to ITF and it was effectively taken over by the Industrial

Training Fund in July, 1985 with the funding being solely borne by the Federal Government.

1.2 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF SIWES

The Students’ Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) is a skill acquisition program

me designed to expose and prepare students of higher institution of learning for the industrial

work situation which they are likely to meet after graduation. This has been extended to cover

the entire curriculum of what students are expected to pass through while they are at their

respective higher institutions. SIWES deals with what is being practiced physically and

practically thereby acting as the important addendum to the school curriculum without which it is

uncompleted.

The aims and goals of the SIWES among others include:

1. To provide students with an avenue to acquire industrial skills and experience in their

course of study.
 2. To prepare students for the various work situations they are likely to face after

graduation.

3. To expose students to work methods and techniques in handling equipment and

machinery that may not be available in their institution

4. To provide an enabling environment where students can develop personal attributes such

as critical thinking, creativity, initiative, resourcefulness ,leadership, time management,

presentation skills and interpersonal skills amongst others

5. To relate theoretical knowledge acquired in classroom with practical hands-on

application of knowledge required to perform work in industry.

6. To make the transition from the University to the real world easier and thus enhancing

contests for later job placements.

7. To provide students with an opportunity to apply their theoretical knowledge to real life

situations, thereby bridging the gap between the University and actual practice.

8. To enlist and strengthen employer's involvement in the entire educational process of

preparing University graduates for employment in the industry.

In fact, the benefit of the program to the employer from the objectives include amongst

others,

i. That through properly structured training program, the employer gets to train the

student in a manner that could suit his requirements so that should the student return,

on completion of his studies, to the company, less time and money would be
 expended on his normal industrial training. The reverse should be the case when he is

not opportune to participate in the training program me.

ii. Should the student return to the company after completing his studies, being able to

work with a worker who is familiar with all the work ethics, equipment used in the

company, as well as the rules and regulation guiding the company activities, will lead

to a fast and increase in productivity as the employer will be working with an

experienced aide.

1.3 THE BODIES INVOLVED IN THE MANAGEMENT OF SIWES

The bodies involved are the Federal Government, the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) and other

supervising agencies like the National University Commission (NUC), National Board for

Technical Education (NBTE) and the National Council for Colleges of Education (NCCE). The

functions of these agencies above include among others to:

a) Ensure adequate funding of the scheme.

b) Establish SIWES and accredit SIWES unit in the approved institution.

c) Provide logistic support and materials needed to administer the scheme.

d) Attend and give students a compulsory orientation before any SIWES exercise can

commence in any institution.

e) Supervise students at their places of attachment and sign their log-book and ITF Forms.
 f) Make it mandatory for all ministries, companies and government parastatals, to offer

attachment places to students.

g) Vet and process students' log-books and forward it to ITF Area offices.

h) Assess students’ performance and award grades accordingly.

i) Arrange for the payment of qualified students their allowances and pay institutions their

respective supervisory allowances.

j) Submit comprehensive reports on the scheme to the ITF after the programs.

1.4 BENEFITS OF SIWES TO STUDENTS

Internship confers the following benefits to the students;

a) Builds students resumes and expands their network of professionals.

b) Gives student an opportunity to apply academic concepts and principles to work

environments.

c) Allows students to evaluate their career choice either to continue on their academic/career

path or to consider other possibilities.

d) Often times, students may receive academic credit from the university for the experience.

e) Meeting high company expectations in the SIWES year leads to the internalization of

positive job attitudes and good working ethics; these attitudes and standards, would first

lead to and be reinforced by strong performance and success in later years.

 f) It enables students to understand the safety precautions involved while working in

industry, so as to protect and prevent themselves and environment from health hazard

1.6 BRIEF HISTORY AAP & PARNERSHIP LIMITED

AAP Partnership was incorporated as a limited liability company in March 1981,

the company which was formerly known as AAP Partner Ventures started
business in April 1981 and with the needs of expansion and bringing in more
investors, the company became a limited liability company with the name Fast
ATLOR NIG. Limited.

The company was formed because of the realization that Nigerian construction
professionals should take the bull by the horn and dictate the pace for the complete
development of the construction and real estate sector of the economy. Because of
the competitive nature of the terrain of business, the Organization is aware that for
indigenous engineering companies to survive, a complete re-orientation of the
erstwhile Nigeria approach to business must be embraced.

To this end, the organisation’s subscription to Total Quality Management is

unsurpassed consequently therefore matters such as;

i. Conducive business environment.

ii. Competitive pricing.
iii. Employees and Public safety.
iv. Commitment to ultimate quality.
v. Staff welfare
vi. Commitment to project on-time delivery.
vii. Effective management techniques have become second nature to our
organization.

ATLOR NIG. Limited provides and deploys the best in class project management
techniques and procedures in executing all projects to the highest standard.
Projects undertaken include Construction, Engineering and Architectural Design,
Interior Decoration, Procurement and Consultancy to both private and corporate
clients in Nigeria.

FAK Limited Team

A. MD/CEO: AYODELE. O. AJIBADE
M.sc Structure. Mgt, B.sc. Civil Engr., MNSE,
He has a versatile knowledge of the construction industry
since 1975.

B. Technical Director: OLOSU GABRIEL

M.sc Civil Engr., HND. Civil Engr., MNSE.
He has a versatile knowledge of the construction industry and has
been in practice since 1991.

C. Site Manager: OLUSOLA ODUFUWA

B.sc. Civil Engr. MNSE
He is experienced Interior and building designer with over 35 years of working
Nigeria
 CHAPTER TWO

2.0 Experience Gained During SIWES (Skills and knowledge Acquired)

I was introduced by my site supervisor to the construction site in general, the contractor,

project manager, and site engineers in charge of the on-going project who further exposed me to

proper site work. The on-going project was the construction of a Elemi Dam and Water

Treatment Plant at Afe Babalola University Farm Ado Ekiti.

Elemi Dam and Water Treatment Plant was initiated to serve as water bank and to help eradicate

scarcity of water in Afe Babalola University and its environment

2.1 Introduction to Site Materials, Equipment and Machineries

In the process of my work experience program I was introduced to various materials, equipments

and machineries used in the construction and development of a structure.

A. MATERIALS

Example of materials used in building construction is as follows;

Cement: This is a powdered substance that develops strong adhesive properties when mixed

with water. It is used in Block work, Plastering, Rendering and Concreting. The establishment of

Cement is achieved by burning a mixture of clay and chalk or limestone in a kiln. A proportion

of the raw materials in a definite proportion are converted into liquid state by grinding, mixing

and watering, termed Slurry. The slurry is then conveyed through a set of pipes to rotary kiln

which dry and burn the constituent in a high temperature to form hard lumps. This process

changes the slurry to hard lumps called Clinker, which afterwards pass on through a conveyor

belt to the grinding mills for grinding to a fine powder in its final process. During the final

grinding, small quantity of gypsum of between 2 and 5% of the whole materials is added to
retard the setting time. Tests are usually carried out on the finished product occasionally to

ensure high quality.

This process is mainly on Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) used for general purposes. There are

other types of cement made for special purposes, including Rapid Hardening Portland Cement

(RHPC), Sulphate resisting Portland cement and Low Heat Portland Cement.

Reinforcement: Reinforcement is provided in concrete structures to enhance its tensile strength.

Therefore in all structural elements, the reinforcement is provided in the region of the element

that will be subjected to tension. Standard bar diameters ~ 6, 8, 10, 12, 16, 20, 25, 32 and 40 mm.

Aggregates: This consists of sand, ground crushed stone, pebbles, broken blocks and similar

such materials. Aggregates may either be light or heavy weight and also All-in-Aggregates.

Aggregates must be clean, structural sound, well graded, weather resistance and inert in the

presence of water.

Aggregates are of two types:

Fine Aggregate; this should be clean, sharp and passes through the sieve size of 4.5mm.

Coarse Aggregate; aggregate which consists largely of particles over 5mm in diameter. This is

usually gravel or crushed stones.

Water Bars: A strip of rubber or plastic embedded into a sill or threshold to inhibit the passage

of water. The water bars were fixed into the reinforcements with the use of Binding wire at the

four edges/corners of the septic tank to avoid the passage of Moisture.

 B. EQUIPMENTS

The following are examples of various tools used in construction;

Trowel: This is a flat metal blade fixed to a short handle used for the application, jointing,

smoothing and shaping of mortar in masonry. It is also used in the trimming of block/bricks.

Trowel sizes ranges from 225-350mm measuring from the blade.

Spirit Level: This is a Hand-tool used for indicating true horizontal and vertical of a work, by

means of an air bubble sealed in a marked, liquid-filled glass tube mounted in a frame; the tube

is horizontal when the bubble is between two marks. Spirit levels are of various length ranging

from about 225mm to 1.2m.

Straight Edge: The kind of straight edge that was used on the construction site is an Aluminum

frame of about 2m in length. The straight edge is used to check the fairness of the newly laid

piece of a wall and to ensure that all the blocks are laid to the same level of each course.

Iron Square: This is a hand tool of angle 90 which measures 600mm by 450mm long. It is used

for setting out walls at right angles to check for square nature of a section of work.

C. MACHINERIES

The machineries that were used on site were brought into considerations so as to promote high

standards required particularly in the context of structural engineering works. Machineries are

used on site to eliminate heavy manual work thus reducing fatigue and as a consequence

increasing productivity. Such machineries that were used include;

Tilting Drum Concrete Mixer: This is a type of concrete mixer with a rotating hinged drum in

which the constituent materials are mixed thoroughly and can be tilted to enable emptying.

Choice of Mixer ~ the factors to be taken into consideration when selecting the type of concrete

mixer required are …

1. Maximum output required (m3/ hour).

2. Total output required (m3).

3. Type or method of transporting the mixed concrete.

4. Discharge height of mixer (compatibility with transporting method).

Poker Vibrator: This consist of a hollow steel tube casing in which is a rotating impellor which

generates vibrations as its head comes into contact with the casing.It is immersed in fresh

concrete to provide compaction through gentle agitation,

CONSTRUCTION OF THE ROUGHENING BASE

The construction of the roughening base involved the establishment of the Formwork;

Temporary structure erected to contain concrete during placing and initial hardening. It is used to

give temporary support for in-situ concrete while it hardens.

After the Establishment of formwork, the arrangement of reinforcement rods proceeded. The

reinforcements of 12mm in diameter were arranged in a Grid manner at150mm centres. The

reinforcements are then tied with Binding Wire; soft iron wire for tying reinforcing bars

together before the casting of concrete. The insertion of Spacers; a small piece of concrete fixed

under the reinforcing bars to provide the appropriate amount of concrete cover between the bar

and the formwork surface.

CONCRETING; This is generally referred to as Casting. It is a process of working with
freshly mixed concrete especially the placing of concrete. Before the establishment of the
second floor some procedures where undertaken. Such procedures include;

i. Material Supply and Storage: This is the receiving on site of the basic materials
namely cement, fine aggregate and coarse aggregate and storing them under
satisfactory conditions.
Cement is supplied in bags form and was stored on racks to prevent moisture
penetration from the ground in a dry store free from draughts which can introduce
moist air and cause air set of the material. Cement should not be stored on the site
for long period of time on site; therefore provision should be made for rotational
use so that the material being used comes from older stock. Aggregates were
stored in Bays on a clean firm base to ensure that foreign matter is not included
when extracting materials from the base of the stock pile.
ii. Batching: Before mixing was carried out, the ingredients have to be measured in
their correct proportion to enhance the quality of the concrete. Volume batching
was used in this process with the aid of a head pan with a ratio of 1:2:4 and this
was supervised by the site engineer.
iii. Mixing: The purpose of mixing is to coat the surfaces of Aggregate particles with
cement paste and to make it a uniform mass. The quality of mixture depends on
the accuracy of proportioning of the materials and the method of mixing. The
method of mixing was carried out mechanically through the use of a Tilting Drum
concrete mixer.
iv. Transportation: This involves the means of conveying concrete from the point of
mixing to the point of placement. The choice of transportation depends on the size
and complexity of the site, weather condition and the height of the placement of
the concrete. The mode of transportation used was the manual method with the use
of head pans and labour. A mason’s ladder made of both bamboo and timber was
constructed to enhance vertical/inclined movements.
 v. Placing: Before the concrete was placed in the formwork, the inside of the
formwork is thoroughly cleaned and a release agent (lubricant) was applied after
the formwork was blown off of dust. The concrete was placed at a reasonable
height of not more than 1m so as to avoid the segregation of its component
materials.
vi. Compacting: The Compacting of freshly placed concrete is to make it a unit mass
by eliminating voids within it. The method and the type of compaction given to
concrete depend on the nature of work. Poker Vibrator was used for the
compacting of concrete during the construction of the second floor.
vii. Curing: After the placing and compacting of the concrete it is allowed to
sufficiently harden for a day then the curing process comes in which involves the
prevention of the evaporation of moisture in the concrete. The concrete was
watered for 7days with use of a hose pipe connected to a tank. This was done to
avoid shrinkage of the concrete and cause a more permanent and durable material
produced.

After 21 days the formwork and Arcos used in supporting the base are removed
completely to enhance the full setting of the reinforced concrete floor.

BLOCKWORK

The walling system was mostly carried out using sandcrete hollow blocks. The
sizes of blocks were used in respect to their functions. The 6 inches blocks were
used mostly for internal walls like the toilets and the store partitioning while the
9inches blocks were used in load bearing areas and external walling. The bonding
process used in the union of these block is Stretcher Bond; which is when the
stretcher faces of the blocks appear on the front or rear elevation of the wall.

LINTELS

Lintel is referred to as the beam above an opening in a building, which supports the

weight above it and transmits such weight of the imposed materials to the vertical
sides of the wall opening. The lintels used on the site were Precast Reinforced

Concrete Lintels that were constructed on site by using a wooden mould. The precast

lintels were transported and placed manually with use of labor. One of the advantages

CHAPTER THREE

3.0 CONTRIBUTION I MADE TO THE COMPANY

 I made the following contribution to my company

1. During casting I ensure that the ratio of the concrete is complete when mixing.

2. I offered valuable suggestions when necessary.

3. I assisted in finding solutions to machine when it gets faulty.

4. I helped in keeping store for my company

3.1 PROJECT CARRIED OUT

The project carried out during my SIWES is the construction of dam and water treatment,

which the dam consist of five (5) element that which is

1. Weir

2. Retiling wall

3. Stilling basin

4. Intake structure

5. Foot bridge

The Dam
A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Floods

but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human, consumption, industrial,

aquaculture, and navigability.

Dam structure built across a stream, a river, or an estuary to retain water. They are used to

increase the amount of water discharge of floodwater created by large storms or heavy snowmelt,

or to increase the depth of water in a river in order to improve navigation and allow barges and

ships to travel more easily. Dams can also provide a lake for recreational activities such as

swimming, boating, and fishing.

A dam can be a central structure in a multipurpose scheme designed to conserve water resources

on a regional basis. Multipurpose dams can hold special importance in developing countries,

where a single dam may bring significant benefits related to hydroelectric power production, a

cultural development, and industrial growth. However, dams have become a focus

Other related functions

Uses of dam

There are many dam in civilized world. Although the main function of dam is to hold water

back, they are often provided additional useful facilities. Major Dam uses are discussed.

i. Water supply

ii. Flood control

iii. Fishing

iv. Recreation

v. Irrigation
vi. Hydroelectricity

vii. Navigation