CONSTRUCTION METHODS AND

STRUCTURES AS EXPRESSION OF
ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN
A. BUILDING
The purpose of a building is to provide a shelter for the
performance of human activities.
The art of building encompasses all of mans effort to control
his environment and direct natural forces to his own needs.
This art includes, in addition to buildings all the civil
engineering structures such as dams, canals, tunnels,
aqueducts and bridges.
The form of the building is an outgrowth of its function, its
environment and various socio-economic factors. An
apartment building, an office building and school differ in term
because of the difference in function they fulfill.
Example:
Apartment buildings = living room and bedrooms must have
natural light from windows while bathroom and kitchen have
artificial light ;
Office buildings = artificial light is accepted for more uniform
illumination

B. FORM, SHAPE AND APPEARANCE
The beam or arch have developed through ages in relation to the
availability of materials and the technology of time. The arch
developed on a result of the availability of the brick. Technology
of buildings, every structure must work against gravity, which
tends to pull everything down to the ground.
A balance therefore must attained between the force of gravity, the
shape of the structure, and the strength of materials used. To
provide a cover over a sheltered space and permit openings in the
walls that surrounds it. Builders have developed four techniques
consistent with these balance between gravity form and materials.

The form of a building is affected by a variety of socio-
economic factors, including land, costs, tenancy building
budget and zoning restrictions.
Building with similar functions therefore take on different
forms

1. POST AND LINTEL
- A HORIZINTAL BEAM
BETWEEN TWO
VERTICAL
SUPPORTS
2. ARCH
CONSTRUCTION
- COVERING AN
OPENING SPACE BY
PLACING WEDGE-
SHAPED UNITS
TOGETHER WITH
THEIR THICK ENDS
OUTWARD.
3. CORBEL
/CANTILEVER
- A PROJECTION
FROM THE FACE OF
A WALL FIXED IN
POSITION TO
SUPPORT WEIGHT
4. TRUSS
CONSTRUCTION
- ALLOWING FOR THE
USE OF POINTED
ROOF.
D. CONCRETE
Concrete is a conglomerate artificial stone. It is made by mixing a
paste of cement and water with sand and crushed stone, gravel, or
other inert material.
It may be made in any desired shape. The wet mixture is placed in
wood, plastic cardboard or metal forms in which it harden or set.
Properly proportioned concrete is hard and durable materials. it is
strong in compression but brittle and almost useless in resisting
tensile stresses.

MASS OR PLAIN CONCRETE
is used in members in which the stresses are almost entirely
compressive such as dams, piers, and certain type of footing
In order to avoid compression and tension , reinforcement made of billet
steel ad rail steel, usually intermediate grade is introduced. This called
REINFORCEMENT CONCRETE.
REINFORCED CONCRETE
Reinforcement concrete is produced in two
different ways:
1. Cast in place
2. Precast concrete

1. CAST IN PLACE
When a concrete is poured at the jobsite whose beams, slabs and
columns are set in forms on scaffoldings and later on removed after
the concrete is hard.
The minimum length of time for walls 12 days and for beams and
columns 7-11 days. a rule of thumb is to retain the bottom forms 2
days for each inch of thickness of concrete
3000 lbs. concrete ratio of 6 gallons of water per sack of cement will
produce a watertight concrete . 6 gallons should be the maximum.

TWO TYPES OF MIXTURE TESTS
1. SLUMP TEST to test the consistency of mixes of plasticity
2. COMPRESSION CYLINDER TEST- to test the strength of the
concrete
SLUMP TEST
PROCEDURE
TYPES OF
CONSTRUCTION
MAXIMUM MINIMUM
REINFORCED
FOUNDATION WALLS
AND FOOTING
0.125 0.05
PLAIN
FOOTINGS,SUBSTRUCTU
RES WALLS
0.10 0.025
SLABS, BEAMS,
REINFORCED WALLS
0.15 0.075
COLUMNS
0.15 0.075
PAVEMENTS
0.75 0.05
HEAVY MASS
CONSTRCUTION
0.75 0.025
RECOMMENDED SLUMPS
COMPRESSION TEST
This is the test given to concrete for
strength. The specimen to be tested are
cylindrical in shape and have length twice
the diameter
Standard is 6 inch(.15) in diameter and 12
inch (.30) in height.

COMPRESSION TEST PROCEDURE:
A made concrete is placed into the mold in
these separate layers, each about 1/3 the
volume of the mold. Rodded with 16mm,
bullet-point rod. After the top layer has been
rodded, the surfaces is leveled with a trowel
and covered with glass or plane metal. After
2-4hrs , when the concrete has ceased
settling , the specimen are capped with thin
layer of cement paste and covered with
glass or metal.
It is customary to keep the specimen at the
laboratory for 24hrs. Usually test are made
7-28 day periods.
2. PRECAST CONCRETE
Prefabricated reinforced concrete which have been cast and cured in a
factory rather than in place on the site. Then delivered by long trailer
trucks and installed by welding together all the component s. these
include floor and roof slabs, columns, girders, beams, and joists, wall
panels and stairs . Whole wall sections are precast and later raised to
position in what we called TILT-UP CONSTRUCTION.
ADVANTAGES :
1. Casting and curing conditions, as well as concrete design, can be
rigidly controlled resulting in consistency high quality concrete.
2. The cost of forms and scaffolding is reduced since they can be
placed on ground rather than having to be suspended or
supported in position
3. Where mass production of a unit is possible , forms can be made
precisely of steel ensuring long use and very smooth surface.
4. Structural members can be mass-produced in a plant while
excavations and foundation works are taking place at the site.
5. Pre-cast concrete memebers are then delivered as called for in
work schedules and in most cases erected directly form truck
bed to the structure without rehandling at the site
6. Closed supervision and control of materials and a specialized
work force in a centralized plant result in a high-quality product.
7. Finishing work on concrete surfaces can be done more easily in
the plant than in position on the site
8. Because of superior reinforcing techniques the dead load of the
structural members are so often happens to jobsite operations.
9. Plant production is not normally subject to delays due to adverse
weather conditions as so often happens to jobsite operations.

TWO CALSSIFICATION OF PRE-CAST
STRUCTURAL MEMBERS:
1. Normally reinforced are designed according to accepted reinforced-
concrete-practice
2. Prestressed prestressed concrete unit is one in which engineered
stresses have been placed before it has bee subjected to a load.

a. pre-tensioned is employed, the reinforcement , in the form of
high-tensile steel strands, is first stretched through the form or casting
bed between two end abutment or anchorage.

b. post-tensioned- involves placing and curing a precast member
which contains normal reinforcing and in addition, a number of
channels through which poststressing cables or rods (tendons) may be
passed.


REINFORCED CONCRETE AND PRESTRESSED
CONCRETE

REINFORCED CONCRETE AND POST-
STRESSED CONCRETE