What is a Shear Wall Building? Reinforced concrete (RC) buildings often have vertical plate-like RC walls called Shear Walls (Figure 1) in addition to slabs, beams and columns. These walls generally start at foundation level and are continuous throughout the building height. Their thickness can be as low as 150mm, or as high as 400mm … Read more
The primary function of wall is to enclosure or divide the space. Basically wall is an essential component of the building. These walls may be built of different materials such as solid brick or stone masonry, plain monolithic concrete, reinforced masonry, hollow concrete blocks etc. Building walls can primarily be of two types, such as … Read more
Bonding in Brickwork Bonds in brick work means method of arranging the bricks in courses so that individual brick units are tied together and the vertical joints of the successive courses do not lie in same vertical line. Purposes of Brick Bonding Obtain maximum strength whilst distributing the loads to be carried throughout the wall, … Read more
A stair is a series of steps arranged in such a manner as to connect different floors of a building. Stairs are designed to provide an easy and quick access to the different floors. A staircase is an enclosure which contains the complete stairway. Terminologies Used During Staircase Design A few technical terms generally used … Read more
In any building construction piping systems are designed to serve the following primary purposes. To supply water everywhere in the building For the disposal of rain water above the ground To dispose water from water closets and washbasin etc To drain soil & waste water to septic tanks or town sewers. The principal types of … Read more
Sandblasting Sand blasting is the process of roughening and cleaning the surface of old and set concrete (or in any corroded steel surface) by means of coarse sand and air applied under pressure of 90 to 100 pounds per square inch (6.33 to 7.03 kilogram per square centimeter) through a nozzle, so as to erode … Read more
Quality Control of Concrete Construction Quality of concrete construction on site can be accomplished in three distinct stages as follow Quality control before concreting Quality control during concreting Quality control after construction Stage-1 (Quality Control Before Concreting) This stage of quality control consists of two steps. Checking of specification requirements regarding excavation, forms, reinforcement and … Read more
WBM Road Construction Procedure Construction of water bound macadam road involves the following 6 basic steps as given below. Preparation of sub-grade Preparation of sub-base Preparation of base Preparation of wearing course Preparation of shoulders Opening to traffic Step – 1 (Construction of Sub-grade) Sub-grade act as a cushion for other layers i.e. In order … Read more
Requirements of Good Stairs A good stair should provide an easy, quick and safe mode of communication between the various floors of the building. General requirements of good stairs are as mentioned below. 1. Location It should preferably be located centrally, ensuring sufficient light and ventilation. 2. Width of Stair The width of stairs for … Read more
Different Classes of Urban Roads The urban road are classified as under Express way Arterial streets Sub-arterial streets Collector streets Local streets 1. Expressways The city roads which are reserved for motor traffic with full or partial control access and are provided with grade separation at intersections are called expressways. These are generally constructed to … Read more