Rameshwaram: A Gulf returnee in a village in Ramanathapuram district near here has claimed to have built a ‘movable house’, innovating on his experience as a veteran construction industry worker for 22 years in Saudi Arabia.
M Shahul Hameed, a school dropout who early in his life went to the Gulf state to work at construction sites, on return to his native village of Melapudukkudi, near the ancient Vaishnavite pilgrim centre of Thirupullanai in the district, six years back undertook to build a house for himself without using conventional foundation. But he has chosen to go public on his work only now.
Having been exposed to the ‘raft fitting’ method of raising structures in Saudi that enables building a ‘moving structure’, Shahul Hameed, ignored stout protests by his family members and villagers to build such a house and went ahead with his project.
Information available on ‘Google’ says ‘raft foundation’ in civil construction “is reinforced concrete slab which founds the entire supporting member of structures like column, shear wall, etc…foundation construction of this type is required where made up ground of expansive clay soil, marshy site are chosen to found a heavy structure.”
Shahul Hameed told DC that he had adopted the ‘raft fitting’ technique to raise a one-storied house with a base of 1,080 square feet, but without the conventional foundation.
He said columns were raised on a reinforced concrete slab 1000 feet long and 90 cm thick, that forms the basis of his house structure. “Beneath the concrete slab, wheels have been fitted to enable the house to be moved in any direction,” claimed Shahul Hameed.
Noticing the way subways were constructed in Saudi Arabia – wherein pre-fabricated structures were assembled outside and wheeled in, Shaul said this “inspired” him to apply the idea to build a “moving house”.
This technique is particularly suitable where the site chosen has high limestone content “and the house can withstand heavy rains, a high-intensity storm or even an earthquake,” claimed Shaul, showing the house.
“It is six years since we built this house and nothing has happened,” says Shaul Hameed with a smile on his face. Of his five sons, three are engineers including one, S. Mohammad Rishwan, who has qualified in civil engineering.
“Initially we were very skeptical as raft fitting technique is hardly used in India; but when my father was firm to go ahead and experiment with it, we left it at that,” said Mohammad, adding, “even after six years now, our house stands strong and durable like any conventional structure.”
“We were very apprehensive when my husband first proposed the moving house structure; but now after six years all those who opposed it are surprised by its sturdiness and people from surrounding villages and other places come to see our house now as if it were a model house,” says Shahul’s wife, Ms. Sherketul Begum.
Meanwhile, Shaul Hameed is getting invites from engineering students from different places in neighbouring districts including Devakaottai, Karaikudi and Madurai, to come and explain this technique to them.
Civil engineers too drop in to his house to try and understand how this technique works, he says, adding, he has been offering classes too on his house-building technique in some local engineering colleges. A neighbour in Melpudukudi village has also asked Shaul to build a similar house for him.
However, the larger normative engineering issues of structural stability of such houses sans a conventional foundation, costs and the like besides the technique’s wider acceptability by the authorities may have to await a full formal certification process.
But the most interesting part is Shaul Hameed has done it in the land that produced a man like Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, who constantly pleaded for learning through innovations.
