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Fire resisting properties of common construction material Fire resisting properties of common building materials such as stone, brick, timber, cast-iron, glass, steel and concrete are mentioned below. 1. STONE The stone is a bad conductor of heat. But it suffers appreciably under the effects of fire. The stone is also liable to disintegrate into small pieces…

Properties Of Aggregates Approximately 75% of the volume of concrete is occupied by aggregates, so quality of aggregates plays an important role in determining properties of concrete.  Aggregates are chemically inert, solid bodies held together by the cement. Aggregates come in various shapes, sizes, and materials ranging from fine particles of sand to large, coarse…

                        Foundation design There are, in foundation design, a number of practical construction problems and costs to be considered. The chief ones are: 1.      The foundations should be kept as shallow as possible, commensurate with climatic effects on, and strength of, the surface soil; particularly in waterlogged ground. Excavation in seriously waterlogged ground can be expensive and…

                                        Design Procedure of foundation Good design must not only be safe but must aim to save construction costs, time and materials. The following procedures should help to achieve this and an ‘educated’ client will recognize the importance of funding this work with a realistic fee. 1. DECIDE THE LOCATION OF COLUMNS & FOUNDATION AND TYPE…

Weight Volume Relationship Of Soil The physical properties of a soil give insight as to the identification of the soil and the determination of its characteristics and load response. These properties can be determined by performing a laboratory analysis on undisturbed soil samples obtained during the test boring process. The laboratory analysis should be performed in accordance with the…

Weathering Of Rock Mass ‘Weathering is the process of alteration and breakdown of rock and soil materials at and near the Earth’s surface by chemical decomposition and physical disintegration’ Of particular note in this definition is that weathering is described as a process. It is not a method for describing the engineering properties of a rock mass. As…

Fast growing trees close to buildings can cause unequal settlement when active tree roots dry out the soil causing differential soil shrinkage. Shrinking clays affect the bearing capacity and lead to movement in the building, especially in shallow foundations. Tree roots can extend over a considerable distance and can extract moisture from as deep as 6…

Properties Of Hardened Concrete                                  Flexural Strength Test Arrangement The following are the properties of concrete in its hardened state, used by the designer during design process of reinforced concrete structure. 1. COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH The characteristics strength is defined as the strength of concrete below which not more than 5% of the test results are expected to…

Portland Pozzolana Cement 1. POZZOLANA Pozzolana is a volcanic powder found in Italy near Vesuvius A pozzolanic material is essentially a siliceous or aluminous material which possess no cementitious properties. But it has the property when it combined with lime to produce a stable pozzolana compound it has definite cementitious properties. In the presence of water…

Dampness prevention methods: The following are the precautions to be taken to prevent dampness in buildings, before applying the various techniques. 1.      The site should be located on high ground and well-drained soil to safe guard against foundation dampness 2.      All the exposed walls should be of sufficient thickness to safeguard against rain protection (minimum 30 cm)…