MEASUREMENT OF AREAS

 Introduction

1. One of the main purposes of your topographical survey may be to determine the area of a tract of land where you want to build a fish-farm. From existing topographical maps, you may need to calculate the area of a watershed or of a future reservoir (see Water, Volume 4 in this series).

Note: in land surveying, you should regard land areas as horizontal surfaces, not as the actual area of the ground surface. You always measurehorizontal distances.

2. You will often need to know the areas of cross-section profiles to calculate the amount of earthwork you need to do.

Horizontal area

Cross-section area

3. You may determine areas either directly from field measurements, or indirectly, from a plan or map. In the first case, you will find all the measurements of distances and angles you need by surveying, and you will calculate the areas from them. In the second case, you will draw a plan or map first (see Chapter 9). Then you will get the dimensions you need from the scale, and determine the area on that basis.

Truss

In engineering, a truss is a structure that `consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so that the assemblage as a whole behaves as a single object'.Although this rigorous definition allows the members to have any shape connected in any stable configuration, trusses typically comprise five or more triangular units constructed with straight members whose ends are connected at joints referred to as nodes. In this typical context, external forces and reactions to those forces are considered to act only at the nodes and result in forces in the members which are either tensile orcompressive forces. For straight members, moments (torques) are explicitly excluded because, and only because, all the joints in a truss are treated as revolutes, as is necessary for the links to be two-force members.

Contents

• 1 Etymology of truss
• 2 Characteristics of trusses
  • 2.1 Planar truss
  • 2.2 Space frame truss
• 3 Truss types
  • 3.1 Pratt truss
  • 3.2 Bowstring truss
  • 3.3 King post truss
  • 3.4 Lenticular truss

Types Of Culvert

Types of Culvert

Culvert is used to pass the water underneath a road, railway, etc.  Culvert is used to channel water. It is made in different materials like steel, polyvinyl chloride, and concrete.  Concrete  comes in many shapes and sizes, including round, elliptical, flat- bottomed, pear shaped, and box. They vary from small drainage culvert on highways and driveways to large diameter structures.  In US, the boxes or pipes are placed side by side to create a width of greater than twenty feet then culvert is defined as bridge. We will discuss the types of Culvert in the following paragraphs.

Types of Culvert

The types of culvert are

• Pipe Single or multiple
• Pipe arch single or multiple
• Box culvert single or multiple
• Pipe Arch culvert

RCC Roofing

Common Defects in Flat/RCC Roofing

 Slopes are not proper and lot of depression is existed on the surface where water is stagnated.Drip courses are not constructed according to required specifications. 

• Broken tiles which create depression are used in tile tracing.
• Supports of water tanks are not finished properly.
• Cement concrete ‘Gola’ with joints of walls and roof is not properly finished.
• Mouth of rainy water pipe is higher than top ‘Khurra’.  

Quantitative Methods

Definition

Quantitative methods emphasise on objective measurements and numerical analysis of data collected through polls, questionnaires or surveys. Quantitative research focuses on gathering numerical data and generalizing it across groups of people.

Characteristics of Quantitative Research

In quantitative research, your goal is to determine the relationship between one thing (an independent variable) and another (a dependent or outcome variable) in a population. Quantitative research designs are either descriptive (subjects usually measured once) or experimental (subjects measured before and after a treatment). A descriptive study establishes only associations between variables. An experiment establishes causality.

Quantitative research deals in numbers, logic and the objective, focusing on logic, numbers, and unchanging static data and detailed, convergent reasoning rather than divergent reasoning.

Its main characteristics are:

• The data is usually gathered using more structured research instruments.
• The results are based on larger sample sizes that are representative of the population.
• The research study can usually be replicated or repeated, given its high reliability.
• Researcher has a clearly defined research question to which objective answers are sought.
• All aspects of the study are carefully designed before data is collected.
• Data are in the form of numbers and statistics.
• Project can be used to generalize concepts more widely, predict future results, or investigate causal relationships.
• Researcher uses tools, such as questionnaires or equipment to collect numerical data.

The overarching aim of a quantitative research study is to classify features, count them, and construct statistical models in an attempt to explain what is observed.

Estimating Annual Home Maintenance Costs

If you’re thinking about trading up to a bigger home, or moving from renter to homeowner, you’ve probably done a lot of math. BankingMyWay has a lineup of calculators that can help.

But one key figure is devilishly hard to project, and is often overlooked: If you buy a home, how much will you shell out every year for maintenance and repairs? A careful look at these potential costs might discourage you from buying a more expensive property, or might make renting look more appealingthan it would seem otherwise.

Obviously, there’s no way to forecast these costs for sure. But mortgage-data firm HSH Associates suggests homeowners assume they will come to about 1% of the property’s value — every year.

That’s $3,000 on a $300,000 home. To be on the safe side, you should probably use that as a minimum. So let’s say $4,000, and assume you’d also need a healthy cash reserve for any big expense that’s not covered by homeowner’s insurance, like a new furnace or roof.

A $4,000 annual maintenance and repair budget is $333 per month. If you bought a $300,000 home with 20% down and a 30-year fixed-rate loan at 4.75%, your $240,000 mortgage would cost $1,252 a month, according to the Mortgage Loan Calculator.

A $333 monthly maintenance and repair budget would equal nearly 27% of your principal and interest payment. That stings!

Types of Bridges

Bridges by Structure

• Arch bridges – These bridges uses arch as a main structural component (arch is always located below the bridge, never above it). They are made with one or more hinges, depending of what kind of load and stress forces they must endure. Examples of arch bridge are “Old Bridge” in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina and The Hell Gate Bridge in New York.
• Beam bridges – Very basic type of bridges that are supported by several beams of various shapes and sizes. They can be inclined or V shaped. Example of beam bridge is Lake Pontchartrain Causeway in southern Louisiana.
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• Truss bridges – Very popular bridge designs that uses diagonal mesh of posts above the bridge. The two most common designs are the king posts (two diagonal posts supported by single vertical post in the center) and queen posts (two diagonal posts, two vertical pots and horizontal post that connect two vertical posts at the top).
• Cantilever bridges – Similar in appearance to arch bridges, but they support their load not trough vertical bracing but trough diagonal bracing. They often use truss formation both below and above the bridge. Example of cantilever bridge is Queensboro Bridge in New York City.
• Tied arch bridges – Similar to arch bridges, but they transfer weight of the bridge and traffic load to the top chord that is connected to the bottom cords in bridge foundation. They are often called bowstring arches or bowstring bridges.
• Suspension bridges – Bridges that use ropes or cables from the vertical suspender to hold the weight of bridge deck and traffic. Example of suspension bridge is Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.
• Cable-stayed bridges – Bridge that uses deck cables that are directly connected to one or more vertical columns. Cables are usually connected to columns in two ways – harp design (each cable is attached to the different point of the column, creating harp like design of “strings” and fan design (all cables connect to one point at the top of the 

Purpose of Specifications and types of Specifications

What are Specifications?

Specifications describe the nature and the class of the work, materials to be used in the work, workmanship etc. and is very important for the execution of the work. The cost of a work depends much on the specifications. Specifications should be clear.

Types of Specifications

Purpose of giving Specifications

• The cost of an unit quantity of work is governed by its specifications.

• Specification of a work is required to describe the quality and quantity of different materials required for a construction work and is one of the essential contract documents.

• This also specifies the workmanship and the method of doing the work. Thus specification of a work serves as a guide to a supervising staff of a contractor as well as to the owner to execute the work to their satisfaction.

Frame Structures - Types of Frame Structures

Frame structures are the structures having the combination of beam, column and slab to resist the lateral and gravity loads. These structures are usually used to overcome the large moments developing due to the applied loading.

Types of frame structures

Frames structures can be 

1. Rigid frame structure Which are further subdivided into: Pin ended Fixed ended 2. Braced frame structure Which is further subdivided into: Gabled frames Portal frames

Rigid Structural Frame The word rigid means ability to resist the deformation. Rigid frame structures can be defined as the structures in which beams & columns are made monolithically and act collectively to resist the moments which are generating due to applied load. Rigid frame structures provide more stability. This type of frame structures resists the shear, moment and torsion more effectively than any other type of frame structures. That's why this frame system is used in world's most astonishing building Burj Al-Arab.

Specification and Classification

For many years already Specifications and technical drawings, the Tender Documents, form the core of a project IS. The basis of Specifications is formed by systems for Classification and Coding. Though ICT has been successfully applied in the area of technical drawings (Autocad c.s.) and Specifications, these first generation instruments only play a minor role in inter- and intra- project communication, i.e. even if an electronic document is exchanged, humans have to transfer the information by hand into the next application.In this section, first Classifications will be analysed, being the basis for most information structuring done in practice nowadays. Second,Specification systems, as an important user of Classifications and as a system that often has a central place in current BC. Third and last, two examples are analysed.

Classification and Coding systems

In the BC industry, Classification systems saw increased adoption in the fifties. Most prominent example is the Swedish SfB Classification andCoding system, which, in one form or another, has been in use ever since. It has received CIB endorsement and is used in many countries. Recently, the formalisms behind the SfB family of Classifications were standardised in the ISO 12006-2 standard 

A more rigorous variant of the original SfB, CBC, was created in Denmark by Bjørn Bindslev , mainly with computer-based support in mind. It used very strict boundaries between classes for that aim. This fits in well with the Merriam-Webster dictionary definition `a systematic arrangement in groups or categories according to established criteria'.

Classification is a grouping of entities according to some external criteria. The grouping will be quite natural, as it is mostly made from a specific viewpoint. Classification is basically a set of boxes (with labels) to sort things into and can be used as a user-friendly view on other kinds of information storages.

Goal of a Classification is to allow information, documents and drawings to be ordered . The level of granularity is quite low, an example is the use of Classifications in naming layers of CAD drawings. Doors and windows can be described in layer 30 for instance; a more granular subdivision is not normally feasible in drawing practice.

Specifications

A building Specification (Dutch: bestekstekst) is usually understood as a central document in a building process. It, traditionally, functions between the design phase and the actual construction phase. It is a contract document, part of the Tender Documents, detailing the agreements made between the Client and the Contractor.

Content of specifications

Essential properties of the Specification text are the formal description, (references to) conditions and regulations, a Classification structure and references to Specification drawings.

Formal description

The formal description is build-up from a list of Specification items. Historically, one Specification item often deals with something that has to be budgeted. For such an item for instance the required end-result, required quality and source material is described.

Conditions

DAMP PROOF COURSE (DPC)

MATERIALS FOR DAMP PROOF COURSE (DPC):

An effective damp proofing material should have the following properties;

1. It should be impervious.
2. It should be strong and durable, and should be capable of withstanding both dead as well as live loads without damage.
3. It should be dimensionally stable.
4. It should be free from deliquescent salts like sulphates, chlorides and nitrates.

The materials commonly used to check dampness can be divided into the following three categories:

1. Flexible Materials: Materials like bitumen felts (which may be hessian based or fibre/glass fibre based), plastic sheeting (polythene sheets) etc.
2. Semi-rigid Materials: Materials like mastic, asphalt, or combination of materials or layers.
3. Rigid Materials: Materials like first class bricks, stones, slate, cement concrete etc.

SELECTION OF MATERIALS FOR DAMP PROOF COURSE:

The choice of material to function as an effective damp proof course requires a judicious selection. It depends upon the climate and atmospheric conditions, nature of structure and the situation where DPC is to be provided. The points to be kept in view while making selection of DPC materials are briefly discussed below: