These foundations are known as deep foundations. A pile is a slender column made of wood, concrete or steel. A pile is either driven into the soil or formed in situ by excavating a hole and then filling it with concrete. A group of piles are driven to the required depth and are capped with […]

Types of Foundations In this article, broad guidelines for fixing the dimensions of foundation are given and different types of foundations are explained. Dimensions of Foundation Guidelines for minimum dimensions are given below: (a) Depth of Foundation: For all types of foundations minimum depth required is calculated using Rankine’s Formula: where p = safe bearing

Planning of Buildings All buildings should be properly planned, keeping in view the various requirements of a good building. Except strength requirement, all other requirements of good buildings are taken care at the stage of planning. Strength requirement is taken care during structural design of building components. However in planning the building by-laws of the

Every family needs a building to reside. Apart from residential purposes buildings are required for educational, institutional, business, assembly and for industrial purposes. Buildings are required for the storage of materials also. In this chapter basic requirements of buildings are presented and then planning of the building with respect to orientation, utility of space, energy

Paints are applied on the surfaces of timber, metals and plastered surfaces as a protective layer and at the same time to get pleasant appearance. Paints are applied in liquid form and after sometime the volatile constituent evaporates and hardened coating acts as a protective layer. Types of Paints Depending upon their constituents there are

Glass, plastics, bitumen, asbestos, paints, distemper and varnishes are some of the miscellaneous materials used in building constructions. Their properties and uses are briefly presented in this article. Glass Silica is the main constituent of glass. But it is to be added with sodium potassium carbonate to bring down melting point. To make it durable

Various metals used for building works can be broadly classified as ferrous metals and non-ferrous metals. The properties and uses of ferrous metals and some of important non-ferrous materials like aluminium and copper are explained in this article. A ferrous material is the one in which iron is a main constituent. Iron ore is first

Properties of Concrete Concrete has completely different properties when it is the plastic stage and when hardened. Concrete in the plastic stage is also known as green concrete. The properties of green concrete include: 1. Workability 2. Segregation 3. Bleeding 4. Harshness. The properties of hardened concrete are: 1. Strength 2. Resistance to wear 3.

Preparing and Placing of Concrete The following steps are involved in the concreting: 1. Batching: The measurement of materials for making concrete is known as batching. The following two methods of batching is practiced: (a) Volume batching (b) Weight batching. (a) Volume Batching: In this method cement, sand and concrete are batched by volume. A

Plain concrete, commonly known as concrete, is an intimate mixture of binding material, fine aggregate, coarse aggregate and water. This can be easily moulded to desired shape and size before it loses plasticity and hardens. Plain concrete is strong in compression but very weak in tension. The tensile property is introduced in concrete by inducting