Pakistan ambassador Manzoor ul Haq admired the high caliber of Pakistani engineers and their contribution in the development of brotherly Country of Saudi Arabia. He was the chief guest at the 44th Technical Seminar organized by the Institution of Engineers Pakistan, Saudi Arabian Center (IEP-SAC) at the Conference hall of King Salmam Social Center here. Parvez Naushai, general manager of Ground Engineering Contractors in Saudi Arabia, spoke on "Pile Foundation In Saudi Arabia" — the theme of the seminar. The program started with the recitation of verses from the Holy Qur'an by Aim Siddiqui. Asrar Ahmed, convener of technical committee, gave a brief introduction of the keynote speaker Naushai. Naushahi, as an expert in the field of soil mechanics and foundation engineering, has accomplished several prestigious projects in the Kingdom. The presentation encompassed the historical background of stone columns as footings and pile foundation, starting from Taj Mahal built about 400 years ago on stone shafts to Terbella Dam, the largest earth-fill dam in the world. With the help of various sub-soil investigation reports in different regions of Saudi Arabia he advocated for different but safe type of pile foundation. In this regard he referred to liquefaction potential of soil and active earthquake zone in Jazan area and adopted stone columns as foundation. He described piles as, "A structural installation that is capable of transferring the applied load including compression, tension and lateral loads to a competent load bearing strata." With the help of sketches and photos he described various construction methods, testing procedure to ensure the integrity of pile as well as its load carrying capacity. Pakistan envoy in his address appreciated the presentation and admired the high caliber of Pakistani engineers who have earned a good name for their motherland by sheer hard work, dedication, professional skill and contribution in the development of Saudi Arabia. IEP-SAC Chairman Syed Mubashir Kirmani expressed his thanks and gratitude to the ambassador for his continuous support for IEP-SAC. Kirmani recalled the vision of IEP-SAC is to promote knowledge of science and engineering and to facilitate engineers by sharing knowledge and experience to enhance their capabilities in their field. He said that with the development of Nano Concrete by addition of Nano-Silica and CarbonNano-tubes which helps to increase both compressive as well as felexral strength of concrete and with Nano-Silica reducing the porosity of concrete it makes it impervious to ingress chlorides through it and as a result concrete becomes corrosion resistant which is a revolution in marine or off shore piling. He expressed his earnest desire to expand IEP-SAC scholarship program from 88 at present to 99 in 2016. In this regard he appealed to the engineering community to come forward and contribute to this noble cause.
