DESIGN OF MASONRY
STRUCTURES
Dr. Ratnesh Kumar
Associate Professor
Department of Applied Mechanics
VNIT NAGPUR, [Link]
Department of Applied Mechanics, VNIT NAGPUR
TAJ MAHAL
Taj mahal meaning ‘Crown of Palace’ is an ivory-white marble
mausoleum on the south bank of the Yamuna river in the
Indian city of Agra
It was commissioned in 1632 by the Mughal emperor, Shah
Jahan to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mumtaz
Mahal.
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The tomb is the centerpiece of a 17-hectare complex, which
includes a masque and a guest house and is set in formal
gardens bounded on three sides by a crenellated wall.
Bricks were locally manufactured and chemically treated for
strength and stability.
Such ingredients as molasses, batashe, belgiri-water, urad-
pulse, curd, jute and kankar were mixed with lime mortar to
make it a perfect cementing agent.
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Three type of stones have been used in the construction of Taj
Mahal:
The construction of Taj Mahal involves the use of semi
precious stones such as Aqiq, Yemeni, FIroza, Lajward,
Moonga, Sulaimani, Lahsania, Tamra, Yashab and Pitunia
which were used for inlaying during the construction of Taj
Mahal.
Sang-i-Surkh (red sandstone), Sang-i-Musa (black state) and
Sang-i-Rukham (Sang-i-Marmar, white marble) which were
used in foundations and masonry and to finish external faces
like Mihrab and Minbar.
White marble from Makrana (Rajasthan) were also used in the
construction of Taj Mahal.
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COLOSSEUM
The colosseum or coliseum also known as the Flavian
Amphitheatre is a oval amphitheater in the Centre of city
Rome, Italy.
It is the Largest Amphitheatre ever built .
Construction began under the emperor Vespasian in AD 72
and was completed in AD 80 under his successor and heir
Titus
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Several materials were employed for the building of the
Colosseum, all of them easily found or produced in the Roman
area: first of all there is the Travertino, a limestone, then Tuff
for the other pillars and radial walls, tiles for the floors of the
upper storeys and the walls.
Travertine, a limestone that the Romans called lapis
Tiburtinus was used for main pillars, the ground floor and
the external wall.
Tuff in general a porous stone was used for the preparation
of special cements and as a building stone.
Bricks were used in wall structures, roofing and as fillings.
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GREAT PYRAMID OF GIZA
The Great Pyramid of Giza is the oldest and largest of the
three pyramids in the Giza pyramid complex.
It is the oldest of the seven wonders of the Ancient world
It is the tallest man-made structures with 146.5m high in the
world for more than 3,800 years.
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This Pyramid has been erected in the 20 – years of pharaoh
kheops
To Accomplish the task , at least 400 blocks per day has been
put in position
The joints between the adjacent blocks were so perfect. The
Horizontal and vertical Joints between million of blocks were
not more than 2mm.
The Pyramid at Giza have more than 5 million blocks of
limestone.
The blocks of the lowest 10 layers (upto 7m) are the largest
(1m by 2.5m and 1-1.5m high) and weighing 6.5 to 10 tons
Over 30 million tons of stone were used in the first 30m.
It is over 50% of total volume.
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LEANING TOWER OF PISA
The Leaning tower of pisa is the campanile, of freestanding
bell tower, of the cathedral of the Italian city of pisa.
The tower tilt began during 12th century, caused by an
inadequate foundation on the ground too soft on one side to
properly support the structure’s weight.
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The tilt increased in the decades before the structure was
completed in the 14th century.
It gradually increased until the structure was stabilized in the
late 20th century and early 21st century.
The Height of the tower is 55.86m from the ground on the
low side and 56.67m from the ground on high side.
Construction of tower occurred in three stages over 199
years.
The Tower of Pisa made up of Marble, Limestone and
Quartz.
The tower is mainly made up of white marble. Horizontal rows
pattern of black and white marble are used for decorative
look
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GREAT WALL OF CHINA
The Great wall of china is a series of fortifications made of
stone, bricks, tamped earth, wood and other materials
generally built along an east-to-west line across the historical
northern borders of china to protect the Chinese states and
empires against the rides and invasions.
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The construction of the great wall of china lasted more than
2,500 years, and the construction locations varied in
different states and dynasties due to different military
situations and topographies.
The walls were built layer by layer.
When building over mountain ranges, the stones of the
mountain were used, while in plains, earth rammed into solid
blocks are used in the construction.
In addition, there were some materials like sticky rice and
bricks conveyed from other places to reinforce the walls.
In the desert, even the branches of reeds and red willows
were layered with sand.
Wooden planks were used as the flank wall in some
sections.
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LIBRARY OF CELSUS (EPHESUS)
Ephesus was an Ancient Greek City on the coast of lonia,
three kilometers southwest of present-day Selcuk in izmir
province, Turkey.
It was built in the 10th century B.C on the site of former
Arzawan capital by Attic and Ionian Greek colonists.
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The library of Celsus is capable of holding 25,000
spectators.
The city flourished after it came under the control of Roman
Republic in 129 B.C
The city was famed for the nearby Temple of Artemis, one
of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
It was built on a platform with nine steps spanning the full
21m width of building leading up to three front entrances.
Four pairs of Marble columns flank the entrances.
The column at either side of facade are slightly shorter than
those in the centre, creating an illusion that the building is
bigger than it actually is.
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TEMPLE OF ARTEMIS
The Temple of Artemis also known less precisely as the
Temple of Diana, was a Greek Temple dedicated to an
ancient, local form of the goddness Artemis.
It was completely rebuilt three times, and in its final form was
one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
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By 401 A.D it had been ruined or destroyed.
Only foundation and fragments of the last temple remain at
the site.
The temple was shaped in rectangular fashion, measuring
377 feet by 180 feet.
Each marble column featured beautifully engraved caps and
inside the temple, there were many highly detailed
sculptures of Amazon warriors
The supporting columns were erected first, then marble
beams were placed to span the gap and allow for a support
for the roofing structure.
While the construction would have been up to par to build
the structure, it didn’t make it necessarily resistant to outside
loading forces
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BRIHADISVARA TEMPLE
Brihadisvara Temple, also called Rajarajesvaram or
peruvudaiyar koyil, is a hindu temple dedicated to Shiva
located in Thanjavur, Tamilnadu, India.
The original monuments of this 11th century temple were
built around a mout.
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The temple is built out of Granite , the vimana tower above
the sanctum is one of the tallest in south india.
More than 130,000 tons of granite is said to have been used
to build it.
The Shiv Ling at the sanctum measures 3.7 meters tall.
The huge bull statue (Nandi) measures about 16 feet long
and 13 feet height.
The statue of Nandi at the entrance of the temple is carved
out of a single stone.
The main Vimanam, which is at about 200 feet is often called
Dakshin Meru or Southern Meru
This vimana rising over the sanctum sanctorum is a hollow
structure achieved by interlocking stones and no binding
materials whatsoever was used in the process.
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STONEHENGE
Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument in Wiltshire, England,
2 miles (3 km) west of Amesbury.
It consists of ring of standing stones, with each standing stone
around 13 feet (4.0m) high, 7 feet (2.1m) wide and weighing
around 25 tons.
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The native Neolithic people of England began construction of
Stonehenge I by digging a circular ditch using deer antlers as
picks.
The circle is 320 feet in diameter, and the ditch itself was 20
feet wide and 7 feet deep.
Two parallel stones were erected at the entrance to the
circle, one of which, the Slaughter Stone, still survives
Construction of Stonehenge II began around 2100 BC. In this
phase, a semicircle of granite stones known as bluestones
was assembled within the original bank and ditch circles.
Stonehenge III is the stone circle that is still visible today.
There were originally 30 upright stones; 17 of these still
stand.
These stones came from the Marlborough Downs, 20 miles
to the north, are 7 feet tall and weigh 50 tons each.
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PHILADELPHIA CITY HALL
Philadelphia City Hall is a seat if government for the city of
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The building was constructed from 1871 to 1901 within Penn
Square, in the middle of Center City.
John McArthur Jr. and Thomas Ustick Walter designed the
building in the Second Empire style
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City Hall is a masonry building whose weight is borne by
granite and brick walls up to 22 ft (6.7 m) thick.
The principal exterior materials are limestone, granite and
marble.
At 548 ft (167 m), including the statue of city
founder William Penn atop its tower, City Hall was the tallest
habitable building in the world from 1894 to 1908.
The building covers 14.26 acres, originally contained 634
rooms with over 1 million square feet of space, and with its
tower and statue of William Penn rises a total of 548 feet
above the ground.
The 18-foot 3-inch high basement story was constructed of
white granite blocks that weigh from two to five tons and
form walls up to 22-feet thick.
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ANACONDA SMELTER STACK
The Anaconda Smelter Stack is the tallest surviving masonry
structure in the world with an overall height of about 585 feet
(178.3 m).
Including a brick chimney 555 feet (169.2 m) tall and the
downhill side of a concrete foundation 30 feet (9.1 m) tall.
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It is a brick smoke stack or chimney, built in 1918 as part of
the Washoe Smelter of the Anaconda Copper Mining
Company (ACM) at Anaconda, Montana in the United States.
The inside diameter at the bottom of the brick chimney is 76
feet (23.2 m) while that at the top is about 60 feet (18.3 m).
The walls range from 5 feet 4 inches thick at the base to 22⅛
inches thick at the top.
Total weight of the stack is 33,060 tons.
First brick was laid on May 23, 1918. Final brick laid on Nov.
30, 1918.
The floor of the stack is generally conical leading 17 feet
(5.2 m) down below the brick chimney to a 5-by-33-foot
(1.5 m × 10.1 m) rectangular grate, then into a 5-foot (1.5 m)
square horizontal duct that exits the stack at the center of
the downhill side of the foundation on its south-southeast
side.
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MOLE ANTONELLIANA
The Mole Antonelliana is a major landmark building
in Turin, Italy, named after its architect, Alessandro Antonelli.
A mole in Italian is a building of monumental proportions.
Construction began in 1863, soon after Italian unification, and
was completed in 1889, after the architect's death.
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The building was conceived and constructed as a synagogue.
From 1908 to 1938, the city used the Mole to house
its Museum of the Risorgimento, which was moved to
the Palazzo Carignano in 1938.
The Mole Antonelliana got the final height of 167.5m after
series of modification by the architect, as the Jewish
Community were not happy with the initial proposal which
is 121m high.
The 167.5 meter high Mole Antonelliana is the tallest
masonry building in Italy.
Mole Antonelliana was the tallest brick building in the
Europe at that time.
From the top of the Mole, visitors can look onto the entire
city of Turin with a 360° view of its rooftops and the Po
river, which looks like a glittering strip that cuts across the
city.
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LIGHTHOUSE OF GENOA
The Lighthouse of Genoa is the main lighthouse for the city's
port.
Besides being an important aid to night navigation in the
vicinity, the tower serves as a symbol and a landmark for the
City of Genoa.
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At 249 feet (76 m) it is the world's fifth tallest lighthouse
and the second tallest "traditional" one, built of masonry.
Since 1543 and until the construction of the lighthouse on Île
Vierge, France in 1902, it was the tallest lighthouse in the
world.
Considered as a whole with the natural rock on which it
stands, as it is commonly perceived and represented, its
height is 383 feet (117 m), making it the second tallest
lighthouse in the world and the tallest in Europe and tallest
"traditional" lighthouse.
It is constructed in two square portions, each one capped by
a terrace; the whole structure is crowned by a lantern from
which the light is shone.
it is the world's third oldest lighthouse, following the Tower
of Hercules in A Coruna, Spain, and Kopu Lighthouse, on
the island of Hiiumaa, Estonia.
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QUTUB MINAR
The Qutub Minar, also spelled as Qutab Minar, or Qutb
Minar, is the tallest minaret in the world made up of bricks.
Qutub Minar is a 73-metre (239.5 feet) tall tapering tower of
five storeys, with a 14.3 meters (47 feet) base diameter,
reducing to 2.7 meters (9 feet) at the top of the peak.
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It contains a spiral staircase of 379 steps.
Qitub-ud-Din Aibak, founder of the Delhi Sultanate, started
construction of the Qutub Minar's first storey or the
basement around 1192.
In 1220, Aibak's successor and son-in-law Shamsuddin
Iltutmish completed a further three storeys.
The last two storeys were completed Firoz Shah Tuglak.
This tower is the highest tower in India, complete with five
storeys and projecting balconies.
The first three storeys of the Qutub Minar are made of red
sandstone and the last two are made of marble and
sandstone.
Apart from the tower, the Qutub Minar complex comprises of
the Quwwat-us-Islam Mosque (the first mosque to be built in
India), a 7 meter high iron pillar, the tomb of Iltutmish, Ala’i-
Darwaza and the Ala’I Minar.
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Thank You
Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology, Nagpur
Department of Applied Mechanics, VNIT NAGPUR
Contact
Dr. Ratnesh Kumar
Department of Applied Mechanics
Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology, Nagpur
South Ambazari Nagpur
Maharashtra – 440010
Email: [Link]@[Link]
Tele. +91 712 280 1582
Department of Applied Mechanics, VNIT NAGPUR
