Suryakanta 
Durability of Concrete Piles Properly mixed concrete compacted to a dense impermeable mass is one of the most permanent of all constructional material and give little cause of concern about its long-term durability in a non aggressive environment. However, concrete can be attacked by sulphate and sulfuric acid occurring naturally in soils, by corrosive chemicals … Read more
Factors Affecting Quality of Topographic Survey Topographic surveyors perform most of their operational duties away from the parent unit. Topographic surveying involves fieldwork over a project area. Survey fieldwork consists of making observations and measurements; recording data; and returning the data to a computer and/or draftsman for computation, compilation, and dissemination. Surveyors must overcome many … Read more
Types of Chemical Admixtures for Concrete Unlike mineral admixtures, which may be introduced as blended cements, chemical admixtures are typically added during the mixing process of concrete production. Depending upon the requirement, different types of chemical admixtures are manufactured such as air-entraining admixtures, accelerating admixture, water reducing admixture etc. To a civil engineer, description of … Read more
Shear Strength Test of Soil The choice of appropriate shear strength tests for a particular project depends on the soil type, whether the parameters will be used in a total or effective stress analysis, and the relative importance of the structure. Common laboratory tests include direct shear, triaxial, unconfined compression, and laboratory vane shear test. … Read more
Types of Limes Different types of limes are used for building construction. It is not generally found in the free state. Lime is a product which is obtained by burning lime stone, a raw material, found in lime stone hills or lime stone boulders in the beds of old river, kankar found below ground level, … Read more
Building Finishes Building finishes such as plastering, varnishing, dis-tempering, white-washing, coloring, etc basically perform two functions as pointed below. They give a protective coating to the surfaces which protects them from weather effects such as rain water, frost, heat etc, and They provide decorative effects which add to the appearance of the surfaces and building … Read more
Unit Weight/Dead Weight of Construction Materials The tables given below give the unit weight or dead weight of some common construction material that is used by designer while computing load related calculation. 1. Bituminous Substance Item Weight (kg/m3) Anthracite coal 1550 Peat (dry) 560 to 640 Charcoal (light) 300 Coke 1000 Graphite 500 Crude oil … Read more
Basic Unit Conversion Tables Some of the useful and common unit conversion tables used by civil engineers to convert Metric and FPS units are given below. 1. Length FPS TO METRIC METRIC TO FPS 1 in 2.54 cm 1 cm 0.393701 in 1 ft 30.48 cm 1 m 3.28084 ft 1 yd 0.09144 m 1 … Read more
How to Select Proper Pile Type? The purpose of a pile foundation is to transfer and distribute load through a material or stratum with inadequate bearing, sliding or uplift capacity to a firmer stratum that is capable of supporting the load without detrimental displacement. A wide range of pile types is available for applications with … Read more
Flow Table Test for Cement Mortar The flow table test of cement mortar is done only to calculate the amount of water required for gauging for conducting strength test of masonry cement and for drying shrinkage test of cement. It also gives us some idea on the workability of cement mortar. The amount of water … Read more