HCM CITY UNIVERSITY OF ARCHITECTURE

FUNDAMENTAL SCIENCES DEPARTMENT

***

English
for
construction
students

For internal use

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UNIT 1 BUILDINGS
Buildings come in many shapes and sizes. Some, like single-family houses, garages, and garden
sheds, are fairly small. The materials and methods used to make these structures are referred to
as light construction.
Factories, office buildings and high-rise apartments require different materials and methods. For
instance, a steel or concrete frame is usually used. The frame is attached to the foundation and
supports the weight of the structure. The methods and materials used to build these structures
are referred to as heavy construction.
Heavy construction methods and materials are also used to build roads, bridges, airports, and
tunnels.
Buildings may be classified as to their purposes. Their purposes may be residential, industrial,
or commercial.
Residential buildings are those in which people live. Single-family houses are designed for just
one family. Multiple-family buildings house more than one family. They include apartments
and condominiums. The frames for most single-family houses are made of many pieces of
wood. The wood and other materials are brought to the building site and assembled there.

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 Wood-framed buildings are a type of light construction

Prefabricated houses are built at a factory in sections. The sections are then brought to the site,
where they are assembled. Manufactured houses are built entirely in a factory. They are then
transported to the site.
Factories and oil refineries are examples of industrial buildings. These buildings are used by
production industries. Some service industries, such as waste recycling, also need industrial
buildings. Many factories require only one large building. Others may need a dozen buildings in
one location. Each building is used for a different step in the production process.
Commercial buildings are usually used by businesses, such as supermarkets and insurance
companies. Libraries, schools, and churches require similar buildings even though they are not
used for business. The buildings are carefully laid out so that the work of business can be done
effectively. Some buildings, such as shopping malls and restaurants, should also be attractive.
This helps to draw customers. Commercial buildings must be built according to government
regulations. These regulations specify construction standards. For example, most commercial
buildings must have steel frames. Others may be required to have fire sprinkler systems.

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Structures made by man

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UNIT 2 LOADS
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Text 1

The weight of the building and everything in it must be carried by walls, or pillars , or both, so that
every part is strong enough to withstand the loads imposed on it. There are three kinds of loads:
dead, live and wind loads.

Dead loads consist of the permanent weight of the whole building and of each part of it. The
designer has to calculate how these loads will be distributed, and their effect on each part of the
building. Live loads, which arise only when the building is in use, include the people using it, the
furniture and goods stored in it, and possibly the volume of snow which may lie on the roof after a
storm. In most factories machinery represents a large part of live loads, and the vibration which the
running machine is likely to cause must also be carefully considered. In a warehouse the goods
stored there form the chief load, and the strength of each floor must be in proportion to the
maximum amount to be stacked on it. The total load, both dead and live, increases towards the
bottom of the building, and the thickness of load-carrying walls or columns must be increased
accordingly.

Text 2

The gravitational force on a structure can be divided into dead loads and live loads. Dead loads can
be calculated because they rarely change with time and are usually fixed in one place. Live loads are
always variable and movable, so no exact figures can be calculated for these forces.

Structures must also resist other types of forces, such as wind or earthquakes, which are extremely
variable. It is possible to predict accurately the magnitude of all the forces that act on a structure
during its life; we can only predict from past experience the probable magnitude and frequency of
the loads.

Engineers never design a structure so that the applied loads exactly equal the strength of the
structure. Therefore, a number called a ‘ factor of safety’ is used. The safety factor is defined as the
ratio of the probable strength of the structure and the probable loads on the structure. This factor may
range from 1.1 (where there is little uncertainty to perhaps 5 or 10 (where there is great uncertainty).
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Text 3

A building’s structure must be able to support two types of loads – static and dynamic:
Static loads are assumed to be constant in nature and are of two kinds:
 Dead loads are relatively fixed and include the weight of the building structure itself as well
as the weights of any permanent elements within the building, such as mechanical
equipment.
 Live loads are movable loads which may not be present all the time. They include the
weights of a building’s occupants and furnishings, as well as snow loads on roofs.
Dynamic loads can be applied to a structure suddenly and vary in magnitude and location.
 Wind loads can produce pressure or suction on a building’s wall and roof plans, depending
on their geometry and orientation. The dynamic effects of wind n tall buildings are especially
important.
 Seismic forces result from sudden movements in the earth’s crust. They are multidirectional
in nature and propagated in the form of waves. These cause the earth’s surface and any
buildings resting on it to vibrate.
While a building’s dead loads are relatively fixed in character, static live and dynamic wind and
seismic loads can vary in magnitude, duration, and point of application. A building’s structure must
nevertheless be designed for this possibility. Building codes typically provide equivalent distributed
or concentrated loads for design purposes. These are based on the effect of the maximum expected
combination forces.

Fill each blank with one word from the box

called due to forces live on permanently

structures support theatres weight

Houses, apartments, buildings, factories, _________, stadiums, warehouses, bridges, and dams are
some of a wide variety of _________. What loads act on these structures during their lifetime?
Vertical loads _________ the weight of a structure itself (such as walls, floors, and roofs) and other
bodies _________ attached to it during the entire life of a structure is _________ the dead load. In
addition to their dead load, structures _________ the loads due to their use and occupancy. These
include the weight of furniture and people in houses, apartments, schools and offices, the
_________ of goods in warehouses, the weight of vehicles _________ bridges, water flowing in the
aqueduct and so on. Such a load is called _________ forces of nature, such as snow, wind, and
earthquake.

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UNIT 3 BUILDING MATERIALS
Text 1
The main construction materials of earlier times were wood and masonry – brick, stone, or tile, and
similar materials. The layers were bound together with mortar or bitumen, a tarlike substance, or
some other binding agent.

Both steel and cement, the two most important construction materials of modern times, were
introduced in the nineteenth century. Steel is basically an alloy of iron and a small amount of carbon.

Modern cement, called Portland cement, was invented in 1824. It is a mixture of limestone and clay,
which is heated and then ground into powder. It is mixed at or near the construction site with sand,
aggregate (small stones, crushed rock, or gravel), and water to make concrete. Different proportions
of the ingredients produce concrete with different strength and weight. Concrete is very versatile; it
can be poured, pumped, or even sprayed into all kinds of shapes. Concrete has a great strength under
compression, whereas steel has a great tensile strength. Thus, the two substances complement each
other.

They also complement each other in another way: they have almost the same rate of contraction and
expansion. Steel rods are embedded in concrete to make reinforced concrete in concrete beams or
structures where tension will develop. Concrete and steel also form such a strong bond - the force
that unites them - that the steel can not slip within the concrete. Another advantage is that steel does
not rust in concrete. Acid corrodes steel, whereas concrete has an alkaline chemical reaction, the
opposite of acid.

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Text 2

Building materials are used in two basic ways. In the first way, they are used to support the loads on
a building and in the second way they are used to divide the space in a building. Building
components are made from building materials and the form of component is related to the way in
which it is used.
We can see how this works by considering three different types of construction:
In one kind of construction, blocks of materials such as brick, stone or concrete are put together to
form solid walls. These materials are heavy; however, they can support the structural loads because
they have the properties of high compressive strength. Walls made up of blocks both support the
building and divide the space in the building.
In another type of construction, sheet materials are used to form walls which act as both space-
dividers and structural support. Timber, concrete and some plastic can be made into large rigid
sheets and fixed together to form a building. These buildings are lighter and faster to construct than
buildings made up of blocks.
Rod materials, on the other hand, can be used for structural support but not for dividing spaces.
Timber, steel and concrete can be formed into rods and used as columns. Rod materials with high
tensile and compressive strength can be fixed together to form framed structures. The spaces
between the rods can be filled with light sheet materials which act as space-dividers but do not
support structural loads.

Text 3

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 Concrete, a stone-like material, is made by mixing cement, water, fine aggregate (often
sand), coarse aggregate, and frequently other additives (that modify properties) into a workable
mixture. In its un-hardened or plastic state, concrete can be placed in forms to produce a larger
variety of structural elements. Although the hardened concrete by itself, i.e., without any
reinforcement, is strong in compression, it lacks tensile strength and therefore cracks easily.
Because un-reinforced concrete is brittle, it cannot undergo large deformations under load and
fails suddenly without warning. The addition of steel reinforcement to the concrete reduces the
negative effects of its two principal inherent weaknesses: its susceptibility to cracking and its
brittleness. Although steel is a stiff, high-strength material, it also has several weaknesses that
can be minimized or eliminated by encasing it in concrete. Concrete surrounding steel protects it
from corrosion by moist air or salt water. At temperatures over 1200o f, the tensile strength of
steel reduces rapidly. Since concrete is a good insulator, steel that is protected by several inches
of concrete cover will retain its strength during several hours of exposure to intense heat. Thus,
steel and concrete form a synergistic relationship; i.e., each material improves the usefulness of
the other. When properly combined by the designer, the weaknesses of each are largely
eliminated while all desirable characteristics are retained.
When the reinforcement is strongly bonded to the concrete, a strong, stiff, and ductile
construction material is produced. this material, called reinforced concrete, is used extensively
to construct foundations, structural frames, storage tanks, shell roofs, highways, walls, dams,
canals, and innumerable other structures and building products. two other characteristics of
concrete that are present even when concrete is reinforced are shrinkage and creep, but the
negative effects of these properties can be mitigated by careful design.

Further reading
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 Pre-stressed Concrete
In conventional reinforced concrete, the high tensile strength of steel is combined with concrete's
great compressive strength to form a structural material that is strong in both compression and
tension. The principle behind prestressed concrete is that compressive stresses induced by high-
strength steel tendons in a concrete member before loads are applied will balance the tensile stresses
imposed in the member during service.

Compressive stresses are induced in prestressed concrete either by pretensioning or post-tensioning

the steel reinforcement.

In pretensioning, the steel is stretched before the concrete is placed. High-strength steel tendons are
placed between two abutments and stretched to 70 to 80 percent of their ultimate strength. Concrete
is poured into molds around the tendons and allowed to cure. Once the concrete reaches the required
strength, the stretching forces are released. As the steel reacts to regain its original length, the tensile
stresses are translated into a compressive stress in the concrete. Typical products for pretensioned
concrete are roof slabs, piles, poles, bridge girders, wall panels, and railroad ties.

In post-tensioning, the steel is stretched after the concrete hardens. Concrete is cast around, but not
in contact with unstretched steel. In many cases, ducts are formed in the concrete unit using thin
walled steel forms. Once the concrete has hardened to the required strength, the steel tendons are
inserted and stretched against the ends of the unit and anchored off externally, placing the concrete
into compression. Post-tensioned concrete is used for cast-in-place concrete and for bridges, large
girders, floor slabs, shells, roofs, and pavements.

Further reading

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 Stress – Strain
When a force acts on a member (such as a building component), the member develops an internal
resistance to the applied force. The intensity of internal resistance to the applied external force is
called the stress . If the applied force is large, the internal resistance is large, and so is the stress. If
the applied force is small, the stress developed in the member is also small. If a member is unable to
develop any resistance to an applied force, the stress in the member is zero.
The stress can either be compressive or tensile, depending on the type of external force. If the
external force is compressive, the stress created in the member is compressive stress (or simply
compression ), and if the external force is tensile, the stress created in the member is tensile stress
(or simply tension). A column or wall in a typical building is in compression. In a simple truss made
of two rafters and a ceiling joist, the rafters are in compression and the ceiling joist is in tension.

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Stress is nearly always accompanied by deformation of the member. The deformation caused by a
compressive or a tensile stress is simply the change in the length of the member. Tensile stress
causes the member to elongate, and compressive stress causes it to shorten. We are interested in both
the absolute value of the change in length and its relative value. The relative change in length,
defined as the change in length divided by the original length, is called the strain.

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UNIT 4 FOUNDATIONS

TEXT 1

The structure system consists of a superstructure and a substructure. The portion

of a building that extends above the ground level outside it is called the superstructure.
The portion below the outside ground level is called the substructure. The part of the
substructure that distributes building loads to the ground is known as foundations. They
are usually made of reinforced concrete.
Two important parts of the foundation are the footings and the foundation walls. 5
The footing is the first part of the foundation to be laid. A footing is usually made of
concrete. It is placed below the foundation wall because it is wider than the wall. It helps
distribute the weight of the structure over a wider area. The foundation walls are built on
top of the footings. They spread the weight of the superstructure to the footings. If the
building has a basement, the foundation walls are the basement walls. 0
Some foundation walls are made from poured concrete. In this process forms
(molds) for them are placed on top of the footings. Sometimes steel rods are added to
give the walls strength. Then concrete is poured down a chute from a truck into the form.
After a couple of days, the concrete is hard and the forms are removed. 5
Concrete blocks can also be used to make foundation walls. This type of wall is
built by masons, or bricklayers. The blocks are held together by mortar, a type of concrete
paste. Block foundations are less costly than poured foundations.
All foundation walls should be waterproofed. This prevents damage from rain,
especially in basements. 20
There are two basic types of foundations, shallow and deep. Also, there are
several varieties of each type. Shallow foundations include spread continuous and
strapped footing, mats, or, compensated rafts. The footing under a wall is called a
continuous spread footing. A slender structural member, such as a column, is usually
seated on an individual spread footing. When the soil is too weak, however, the spread
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footings for columns become very large; it is often economical to combine the footings
into a single footing under the whole building. Such a footing is called raft, or mat footing
or a floating foundation.
Deep foundations include drilled caissons, or piers, and many varieties of driven
and cast-in-place concrete piles. When the surface soil stratum is too weak to support the
structure, piles and piers may be used to transfer the weight to stronger substrata. 30
Concrete piles are either pre-cast or cast in situ. The pre-cast type is formed of steel bars
set in concrete, which is then driven into the soil.
To construct the cast in situ type, a hole is first drilled into the soil at the desired
location and then filled with concrete. It may or may not be reinforced. This type is often
preferred because it takes less time and requires no molding. 35

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TEXT 2
FOUNDATIONS

When a structure is to be erected, a foundation is needed to carry the weight of the structure to the
stratum of soil on which it rests, called the foundation bed. Depending on the locality, one of the
several types of foundation beds may be used. Although any kind of foundation bed will settle
somewhat, rock is usually preferred because it will support bearing pressures up to 15 tones per
square foot. Gravel will support loads of 4 tons per square foot. Sand will support an equal weight if
the lateral pressure can be held back. Clay, if it can be kept dry, will support 2 tons per square foot.

The foundation itself, which is usually made of reinforced concrete, may be a single unit or separate
units. A mat, or a raft, which is a single slab over the entire foundation bed, is often used. A bearing
wall around the outer limits of the structure is supported by a continuous footing. Separate footings
may be used to support columns.

When the surface soil stratum is too weak to support the structure, piles and piers may be used to

transfer the weight to stronger sub-strata. Concrete piles are either pre-cast or cast-in-situ. The pre-

cast type is formed of steel bars set in concrete, which is then driven into the soil. To construct the

cast-in-situ, a hole is first drilled into the soil at the desired location and then filled with concrete. It

may or may not be reinforced. This type is often preferred because it takes less time and requires no

molding.

TEXT 3

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 FOUNDATIONS

In modern building construction, foundations are usually of concrete, and must be carried down to a
layer of earth or rock strong enough to bear the weight of the building and its contents and to
withstand the force of the wind blowing on surfaces of the building. The nature of the ground has to
be studied and the weight it can safely carry has to be calculated most carefully, because if a very
great load is applied, the ground will sink, or “settle”, causing the building to crack. In some
countries, the special stresses caused by earthquakes must also be allowed for. Rock, coarse sand,
and gravels normally provide good support, but finer soils, such as clays, may present considerable
problems. The clay subsoil of London, for example, is one of the factors that limits the height and
size of buildings there; whereas in NewYork, where the ground consists of solid rock, skyscrapers
can be built.

The main types of concrete foundations are independent, strip, raft and pile. Independent foundations
are used to support columns or piers which are unevenly spaced and unequally loaded. A pad of
concrete, plain or reinforced, is placed under each column or pier, the base of the pad extending far
enough in all directions to spread the loads evenly over the ground. Strip foundations are used when
a row of columns is so closely spaced that independent foundations would nearly meet. When the
columns are both near together and regularly spaced, and carry nearly equal loads, raft (sometimes
called “slab”) foundations extending the whole length and breadth of a building, are used instead of
strip foundations. The raft may be a thick slab of mass concrete, or a thin slab of reinforced concrete,
laid between lines of concrete beams joining the feet of the columns. A raft foundation is suitable in
very soft ground, for it enables the building to float as a whole, where separate, independent
foundation might sink by unequal amounts. Piles are used to take the weight of the building when it
is impossible to dig down to the solid layer of earth, either because the ground is water-logged or
because there is a very great depth of poorsoil. Piles are solid lengths of timber, steel, or reinforced
concrete, usually from 20 to 80 feet long, driven into the ground by heavy steam hammer.
Sometimes, hollow steel tubes are used, being driven into the ground in the same way as solid piles
and afterwards filled with concrete. Before the concrete hardens, the tubes are withdrawn and can be
used again.

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UNIT 5 STRUCTURES

TEXT 1
In any structure the main loads are carried by the walls or by the steel or reinforced concrete
framework of columns and beams. In frame construction, which is usually more economical for
buildings of over three floors, the walls support only their own weight or are simply attached to the
framework.
A steel framework can be put up more quickly than a concrete one because the concrete for one floor
must be allowed to harden before the weight of the next is placed upon it: concrete, however, has
higher resistance than steel to fire, water, and corrosion by the atmosphere. Steel is generally
favoured in cities and towns, where land is expensive and owners want their buildings in use
quickly. Steel may also be chosen for workshops and factories for it is much easier to fix machinery,
cranes, and all kinds of fixtures to steel columns than to concrete ones. On the other hand, for some
structures, such as hotels and schools, especially if they are in the country, it may be cheaper and
better to build in concrete.

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The function of the walls of the frame building is only to keep out the rain and wind, to keep in heat
and to provide privacy. They may be of brick, often in two thicknesses with an air space between for
insulation; of factory-made wooden panels, with a weather-proof outer skin, a decorative inner
surface, and a layer of insulating material between; of aluminum; or even of glass. There must, of
course, be glass windows to admit light.
Load-bearing walls are generally of brick, stone, or concrete, and are usually of the “cavity” type,
with a space between the outer and inner surface to keep out damp and cold. The openings for doors
and windows in load-bearing walls have to be carefully constructed so that the walls are not
weakened, and are now usually made by spanning the opening with a steel or reinforced concrete
beam, which has enough strength to carry the weight of the wall above.// The openings can be
formed by arches. In these, wedge-shaped stones or bricks are arranged in that way so that the
weight of the wall above is directed downwards and outwards, to the sides of the arch. The keystone
in the center of the arch locks the wedge-shaped stones together so that the more pressure they have
to bear, the more strongly they are wedged together.

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TEXT 2

STRUCTURAL STEEL SYSTEMS

Steel construction may be classified into three broad categories: wall-bearing, skeleton, and long-
span framing. Depending on the needs of the building, one or more of these categories may be
incorporated.
1. Wall-bearing framing – the oldest and commonest type of framing – //occurs whenever a wall
of a building, interior or exterior, //is used to support ends of main structural elements carrying roof
or floor loads. The walls must be strong enough to carry the reaction from the supported members
and thick enough to ensure stability against any horizontal forces that may be imposed. Such
construction is often limited to relatively low structures, because load-bearing walls become
massive in tall structures. Nevertheless, a wall-bearing system may be advantageous for tall
buildings when designed with reinforcing steel.
A common application of wall-bearing construction may be found in many one-family
homes. A steel beam, usually 8 or 10 in deep, is used to carry the interior walls and floor loads
across the basement with no intermediate supports, the ends of the beam being supported on the
foundation walls.
2. In skeleton framing all the gravity loadings of the structure, including the walls, are supported
by the steel framework. Such walls are termed nonbearing or curtain walls. This system made the
skyscraper possible. Steel, being so much stronger than all forms of masonry, is capable of
sustaining far greater load in a given space, thus obstructing less of the floor area in performing its
function.
3. Large industrial buildings, auditoriums, gymnasiums, theaters, hangars, and exposition buildings
require much greater clear distance between supports than can be supplied by beam and column
framing. They are long-span framing. When the clear distance is greater than can be spanned with
rolled beam, several alternatives are available. These may be classified as girders, simple trusses,
arches, rigid frames, cantilever-suspension spans, and various types of space frames, such as folded
plates, curvilinear grids, thin-shell domes, two-way trusses, and cable networks.//
4. Composite framing of reinforced concrete and structural steel is another type of framing
system. Composite construction actually occurs whenever concrete is made to assist steel framing
in carrying loads. The term composite, however, is often used for specific cases in which concrete
slabs act together with flexural members.

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 Reinforced-concrete columns of conventional materials when employed in tall buildings and for
large spans become excessively large. One method of avoiding this objectionable condition is to use
high–strength concrete and high–strength reinforcing bars. Another is to use a structural-steel
column core. In principle, the column load is carried by both the steel column and the concrete that
surrounds the steel shape. Building codes usually contain an appropriate formula for this condition.
A number of systems employ a combination of concrete and steel in various ways. One method
features steel columns supporting a concrete floor system by means of a steel shear-head connected
to the columns at each floor level. The shallow grillage is embedded in the floor slab, thus
obtaining a smooth ceiling without drops or capitals.

Another combination system is the lift-slab method. In this system, the floor slabs are cast one
on top of another at ground level. Jacks, placed on the permanent steel columns, raise the slabs,
one by one, to their final elevation, where they are made secure to the columns. When fireproofing
is required, the columns may be boxed in with any one of many noncombustible materials available
for that purpose. The merit of this system is the elimination of formwork and shoring that are
essential in conventional reinforced-concrete construction. For high-rise buildings, structural-steel
framing is often used around a central, load bearing, concrete core which contains elevators,
stairways, and services.
This high-rise apartment is framed with concrete.

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