Building technology

• Portal frame is one structural unit with rigid joists between beams and columns to reduce the bending movement.
• Steel frame has high strength for its low weight and is fire protected due to steel melting at high temperatures
• Concrete frames are strong, durable, and can support heavy loads but have poor ductility
• Timber frames are lightweight, renewable, and sustainable but have limited load-bearing capacity
• Concrete frames have little tensile strength so are reinforced
• Timber frame - transfers loads horizontal and vertical to the foundations
• timber joists are used for floors and roofs and are made from softwood
• hard wood is a type of wood that is dense and strong, and is used for furniture and flooring
• Green oak is fresh Sawn oak cut 3-18 month after felled without drying or preservation
• Straw bales are for both non load and load bearing construction

  • prominent in the 19 century
  • cheap, indigenous (naturally occurrin) material

  +ecological alternative

  +earthquake resistant

  +good insulator

  -thick walls

  -moisture
• Renovation is structural and technical restoration

  • eg: new carpet, re flooring, plumbing
• Adaption is adjusting any work done to a building

  • small - painting
  • medium - air conditioning
  • Large - int and ext modification
• Refurbishment is stripping out and redecorating

  • eg: carpentry, windows, flooring, decorating, snagging
• Substructure is the foundations or supporting part

  • below ground level
  • transmits the loads of buildings
• Site surveys ensure that the site is suitable for intended use without harm to the environment.

  • establishes parameters (limit) for foundations sub and superstructure
  • assesses geotechnical (the use of scientific methods to plan and build structures that is concerned with rocks and soil), geological and environmental risks
• Desk top survey uses existing publicly available data
• Site analysis - physical characteristics, environment must be completed before work

  • information in appraisal document as it informs decisions
• Appraisal document - a document that contains the information about the appraisal of the project.
• Site appraisal is an essential aspect of the design process for any construction project. It involves evaluating the suitability and potential of a site for a specific development and is typically carried out at the early design stages
• Projects->walkover->desk study->subsoil->final report+recomendations
• Boreholes are drilled to gather information about the composition, structure, and properties of the subsurface. This information is vital for foundation design, groundwater assessment, contamination studies, and other geotechnical and environmental investigations

  
• Trial pits are used to determine the ground conditions as part of the site investigation. Trial Pits are a site investigation technique used to assess the ground conditions, soil profiles and ground water conditions on a site where construction or development is planned

  
• Hand auger drilling is a simple method to measure subsurface soil properties (to depths up to 3 m). This method allows us to accurately calculate depths to soil horizons and determine the depth of the ground water table

  
• Foundation factors

  • loads - dead ( structural) and imposed (weather)
  • Water table-water in the earth, once reach doesnt stop 

  Contamination-water+nitrates in ground, producing acid that erodes concrete

  Bearing capacity of soil-force soil will support, determined 

  Basement factors- waterproofing+drainage, structural stability, ventilation, access, natural 💡 

  Retailing wall-holds soil behind 
• Excavation - Process of removing earth to form a cavity in the ground

  Top soil strip

  • Stored for later use
  • legal to take this of for lower levels

  Reduced level strip-subsoil

  • predetermined and stored on site

  *Bulk excavation 

  • large volumes providing basement area by reducing level

  *Trench

  • outside of buildings for laying service pipes + cables

  *Hole or pit 

  • Below water level
  • extra expense to carry out due to depth
  • less stable causing a higher likelihood to collapse when water logged
• Raft foundations spread the load of structure over a large base

  • low bearing soil
• Strip foundation are used for low to medium rise buildings
• Timber frames

  +relatively inexpensive

  • versatile
  • ethically sourced

  -risk of rotting

  -bad acoustics
• Concrete frame - common, columns and beams

  • columns are primary load carriers

  +greater fire resistant compared to steel

  +resists compression and tension

  -skilled work required
• Steel for non residential

  • I beams and vertical columns
  • either welded, riveting, bolted connections

  +pest resistant

  +mass fabrication

  +durable and fire resistant

  -supplementary structure

  -low energy retention
• Portal frame

  • Constructed from steel and differ from normal frames where they are connected

  +factory produced quality

  +lighter foundations

  -protective coating needed
• Cavity walls replaced solid walls due to the lack of insulation, poor thermal conductivity, potential for damp and condensation
• Beam bridge consists of a horizontal beam that is supported at each end by piers. The weight of the beam pushes straight down on the piers. The beam itself must be strong so that it doesn't bend under its own weight and the added weight of crossing traffic.

  
• Truss bridges are characterized by the joining of numerous relatively small structural members into a series of interconnected triangles. They were first built of wood, then iron, then steel or occasionally a combination of the materials

  
• An arch bridge is a bridge shaped as an upward convex curved arch to sustain the vertical loads. A simple arch bridge works by transferring its weight and other loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the strong abutments at either side

  
• cantilever bridge is a bridge built using cantilevers, structures that project horizontally into space, supported on only one end. A balcony protruding from a building would be an example of a cantilever

  
• A suspension bridge is designed to carry road and rail traffic, often over great distances in a single span, to connect communities. The roadway is suspended from two long cables that straddle the towers. The weight of the bridge and the traffic is held by the cable being anchored at each end.

  
• A cable-stayed bridge has one or more towers, from which cables support the bridge deck. A distinctive feature are the cables or stays, which run directly from the tower to the deck, normally forming a fan-like pattern or a series of parallel lines

  
• Beam and truss bridges are the earliest, cheapest and east to design and construct

  • trussed frame acts as deep beams designed to maximise strength that depth provides
• Arch bridges are supported by abutments either side