Rural Appropriate Technology: Using Locally Available Wires for Pre-tensioning

The prices of the building materials are skyrocketing in these days in almost all developing countries, resulting in disturbing the picture of dream home from a mind of middle class rural citizens. This paper reports the results of an experimental study of the thin concrete slab panels with concrete beams pre-tensioned with locally available galvanized iron wires to prove a low cost and effective substitute for conventional pipe purlin supported GI sheet roofing system, using the concept of Rural Appropriate Technology (RAT). Wires used are up to 4mm diameter with recorded ultimate tensile stress is up to 700N/mm2. Being located tropical region the temperature variation in central India ranges from 7o to 450 which makes the conventional roofing system almost useless in summer. The proposed roofing system will help to solve this problem to a considerable extent as concrete bad conductor of heat. This system also helps in bringing down the cost of roofing, promoting the use of locally available labourer to slowdown the movement of rural people towards metros, and use local material to reduce overexploitation of natural resources.Â