Uploaded on 2017-03-07 by Hossam Nada

The upper photo was not taken by me, the link to the photo is: http://rowad-rme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/MSH_1617.jpg It depicts the "Point 90 Mall"; one of the large renowned commercial malls in the "fifth settlement" area in Cairo, Egypt. The lower photo was taken by me & it shows the steel cables / tendons used in the reinforcement of post tension slabs in addition to the regular steel re-bars. This construction process was used in this project to enable wider slab spans allowing for larger spaces without more columns. The steel cables used were made in Egypt but the steel billets; the raw material for making the cables, were imported. Egypt produces steel billets but the "local billet production in Egypt is not sufficient to meet the demand of rebar manufacturers as the iron ore in Egypt has a 53% concentration of iron while the industry needs at least 73% concentration of iron. Around 1.2 million tons of steel billets are imported each year to Egypt." [Selim, Tarek H.. Monopoly: The Case Of Egyptian Steel. Journal of Business Case Studies- Third Quarter 2006- Volume 2- Number 3- Page 86]. This holds even more true for tension cables as there could be no compromise regarding their high quality & iron concentration otherwise there would be a high risk of snapping; a relatively big problem. For the same reason, the hydraulic machine, that is used to pull the tendon till a specific stress value, is also imported as there are currently no Egyptian machinery manufacturers capable of independently making a similar high caliber machine. I believe the above is a small yet suitable example of how "construction used to be a localized activity, but with the advancement of construction processes and construction materials almost every building contains components of a globalized economy."