Unconfined Compressive Strength Test of Soil Purpose The primary purpose of this test is to determine the unconfined compressive strength, which is then used to calculate the unconsolidated undrained shear strength of the clay under unconfined conditions. According to the ASTM standard, the unconfined compressive strength (qu) is defined as the compressive stress at which … Read more
Standard Penetration Test (SPT) Procedure Aim To perform standard penetration to obtain the penetration resistance (N-value) along the depth at a given site. Equipment & Apparatus Tripod (to give a clear height of about 4 m; one of the legs of the tripod should have ladder to facilitate a person to reach tripod head.) Tripod … Read more
Constant Head Permeability Test of Sandy Soil Purpose: The purpose of this test is to determine the permeability (hydraulic conductivity) of a sandy soil by the constant head test method. There are two general types of permeability test methods that are routinely performed in the laboratory: The constant head test method, and (2) the falling … Read more
Supervision of Brick Work Construction The following points should be kept in mind during supervision of brick work. Before using the bricks in construction it should be checked for its physical properties (such as strength, dimension, water absorption etc). Bricks must conform to the designer’s specification. Prior to use bricks in construction, it should be … Read more
Deciding the right depth of foundation for a building structure is an important step in the process of building design. Information given in this post will help you decide the proper depth of foundation for a building. After reading this post you will be able to answer the following questions. What is a foundation? What … Read more
PLT (Plate Load Test) Plate load test is a field test which is commonly adopted to determine the bearing capacity and settlement of soil under a given condition of loading. In this test a square or circular rigid plate of standard dimension (generally 300 mm2 for square or 300 mm dia for circular) is placed … Read more
Economy in Formwork Construction The total cost of concrete construction work includes the cost of formwork also. Construction of formwork involves considerable expenditure in terms of cost of material, cost of labour for fabrication, erection and removal of formwork and time element. In case of buildings, the cost of formwork may range between 30 to … Read more
Strength and Modulus of Weathered Rock from SPT Values In the weathered rock it is difficult to drive the split sampler to the full specified depth as in soil. Hence we may estimate the strength and elastic modulus values of weathered rock by driving the spt apparatus for a fixed number of blows and find … Read more
A pile is a slender, structural member installed in the ground to transfer the structural loads to soils at some significant depth below the base of the structure. Structural loads include axial loads, lateral loads, and moments. Another term commonly used in practice for pile foundations is deep foundations. Structures that cannot be supported economically … Read more
Repair of Ceiling Plaster There are many cases where the steel reinforcements corrode due to various causes such as lack of cover, leakage of roofs, etc. As steel rust occupies very much larger volume (more than 10 times) than steel, the surrounding concrete cracks and tends to get separated from steel and finally it falls … Read more