Beams, Joists, Girders and Floors

Beam

It is a rigid structural member designed to carry and transfer traverse loads across space to support elements such as columns and posts.

Joists

It is any of a series of small parallel beams for supporting floors, ceilings or flat floors.

Girder

It is a large, principal beam designed to support loads at isolating points along its length.

Floor

It is the level, base surface of a room or hall upon which one stands or walks.

Simple Beams

It is the beam having a single span with a support at each end there being no restraint at the supports.

Cantilever Beams

It is the beam that is supported at one end only, or may be that portion of the beam projecting beyond its supports.

Continuous Beams

It refers to a beam having two spans with little or no restraint at the two extreme ends of the beam.

Point of Inflection

It is the section of a beam at which the bending moment changes from positive to negative.

T-Beams

It is the type of reinforced concrete beam where a reinforced concrete floor slab and its supporting beam (or girder) are built at the same time and roughly tied together

Double Reinforced Beams

It is the beam with reinforcement in compression as well as the tension side of the beam. It requires no bent up bars and used when the cross-sectional dimensions of the beam are limited by architectural or structural conditions so there is an insufficient concrete area for the compressive stresses.

Hollow Box Girders

It is the double reinforced beams used for long spans. Hollowed in the center of the section to reduce dead load. Diaphragms are provided at intervals throughout the length of the beam.

Beam Bracket

It is another term for Corbels. It is the short beam extensions from columns used to support rafters or trusses.

Castellated Beam

It is fabricated by dividing the web of a wide-flange section with a lengthwise zigzag cut, then welding both halves together at the peaks, this increases its depth without increasing its weight.

Plate Girder

It is the type of steel girder composed of a wide plate at the top and bottom of which are riveted angles and plates.

Box Girder

It is a built up beam with more than one web plate.

Open Web Steel Joists

It is the lightweight, shop fabricated steel members having a trussed web in standard lengths, depths and load carrying capacities for relatively lightweight construction. It permits the passage of mechanical services such as pipes and ducts.

Light Gauge Steel Joists

It is manufactured from cold formed sheets or strip steel forming an economical floor system that is lightweight, non-combustible and damp proof. Joists are laid out in a manner similar to wood joist floor systems.

Floor Joists

It is one of a series of parallel beams of timber, reinforced concrete or steel used to support floor and ceiling loads, and supported in turn by larger beams, girders or bearing walls.

Common Joists

It is also known as a bridging joists. It is a joist on which floor boards are laid

Binding Joists

It is a beam which supports the common joists of a wood floor above and the ceiling joists below commonly joins two vertical posts.

Bridging

It is a brace, or a system of braces placed between joints to stiffen them, to hold them in place and to help distribute the load. It makes the floor joists more rigid.

Bridging Floor

It is a floor supported by common joists without girders

Sleeper Joist

It is any joists resting directly on sleepers.

Sleeper

It is any of a number of wooden strips laid upon a concrete slab to provide a means of attaching a subfloor or flooring.

Ledger

It is also termed as ribbon or ribband. It is a horizontal member which is housed in the studs of a balloon framing and carries joists.

Ledger Strip

It is also termed as ribbons trip. It is on a beam which carries joists flush with the upper edge of the beam forming a seat for the joists and helping to support them.

Sill

It is a horizontal member at the bottom of the frame of a wood structure which rests on the foundation.

One Way Solid Slab & Beam

It is a most commonly used type of reinforced concrete construction. It consists of a solid slab supported by two parallel beams with the reinforcement running in one direction only. It is economical for medium to heavy live loads for comparatively short spans of 6-12 feet.

Ribbed Slab

Also known as the one way joist slab. It is an economical type of floor construction for medium span lengths with light to medium live loads. It consists of relatively small adjacent T-beams.

Two Way Solid Slab & Beam

It is most efficient when spanning square floor panels and suitable for carrying intermediate to heavy loads.

Two Way Flat Plate

It is a concrete slab of uniform thickness reinforced in two or more directions and supported directly by columns without beams or girders. It provides simplicity of forming, lower floor-to-floor heights and some flexibility in column placement. It is practical for apartment and hotel consturction

Two Way Flat Slab

It is a flat plate thickened at its column supports increasing its shear strength and moment-resisting capacity. It is commonly reinforced with bars running in two directions.

Drop Panel

It is the increased thicknesses in the column supports of a two way flat flab.

Concrete Slab on Grade

It is the concrete slab placed over a dense or compacted base and supported directly by the ground.

Isolation Joint

It is a type of concrete slab on grade joint often called as expansion joints. It allowed movement to occur between concrete slabs and adjoining columns and walls of a building

Construction Joint

It is a type of concrete slab on grade joint that provides a place for construction to stop and then continue at a later time. It can be keyed or dowelled to prevent vertical differential movement of adjoining slab sections.

Giya

It is the vernacular term for guide wire.

Form Decking

It is a type of metal decking serving as a permanent for work for a reinforced concrete slab until the slab can support itself and its live load.

Composite Decking

It is a type of metal decking that serves as a tensile reinforcement for the concrete slab to which it is bonded with an embossed rib pattern.

Cellular Decking

It is a type of metal decking that is manufactured by welding a corrugated sheet to a flat steel sheet, forming a series of spaces or raceways for electrical and communications wiring. This decking may serve as an acoustical ceiling when the perforated cells are filled with glass fiber.

Pre-case Concrete

It is the concrete member or products cast in a place other than where it is to be installed in a structure. Products resulting from this method of manufacturing are typically one-way spanning units.

Pre-tensioning

It is a prestressing technique accomplished in a precasting plant. It prestresses a concrete member by stretching the reinforced tendons before the concrete is cast.

Post-tensioning

It is a prestressing technique performed at the building site, especially when the structural units are too large to transport from factory to site. It prestresses the concrete member by tensioning the reinforcing tendons after the concrete has set.

Finish Floor

It is the wearing surface of a floor, usually laid over a subfloor.

Floor Framing

It is the act, process, or manner of constructing the structural frame of a floor.

Header

It is a framing member crossing and supporting the ends of joists, studs or rafters, so as to transfer the weight to parallel joists, studs or rafters.

Trimmer

It is a beam, joist or rafter supporting one end of a header at the edge of an opening in a floor or roof frame.

Tailpiece

It is also known as a stringer. It is a relatively short beam, joist or rafter supported by a wall at one end and by a header at the other.

Rim Joists

It is also known as a header. It is a joist set on top of the sill and forming the perimeter of a wood-frame floor

Bridging

It is an arrangement of braces or blocking between joists or rafters to prevent their rotation or lateral displacement especially when their depth to weight ratio exceeds.

Solid Bridging

It is the bridging consisting of short boards fixed vertically between floor or roof joists

Crossbridging

It is the bridging composed of diagonal braces set in pairs between floor or roof joists.

Deck

It is the structural surface to which flooring or roofing is applied.

Decking

It is the self-supporting units of wood, metal or concrete capable of spanning beams, joists, rafters or purlins and serving as a base for flooring or roofing.

Metal Decking

It is the sheet steel strengthened for use as floor or roof decking by cold-rolling a series of ribs or flutes into it, and usually galvanised for corrosion resistance.

Shear Stud

It is a steel pin welded to the top flange of a steel beam or girder and embedded in a concrete slab.

Access Flooring System

It is commonly known as raised flooring system. It is a system of removable and interchangeable floor panels supported on adjustable pedestals or stringers to allow freee access to the space beneath.

Strip Floor

It is the flooring composed of long, narrow wood strips, usually side- and end-matched.

Plank Flooring

It is the flooring composed of boards wider than a strip flooring, usually side- and end-matched.

Top Bars

Longitudinal bars serving as tension reinforcement in the section of a concrete beam subject to the upward bending of a negative moment. It may also be required when beam depths is limited and there is insufficient concrete area to handle the compressive stresses.

Bottom Bars

Longitudinal bars serving as tension reinforcement in the section of a concrete beam subject to positive moment

Truss Bars

Longitudinal Bars bent up or down at points of moment reversal in a concrete beam.

Bent Bars

Longitudinal Bars bent to an angle of 30 degrees or more with the axis of concrete beam, perpendicular to and intersecting the cracking that could occur from diagonal tension.

Stirrups

Any of the U-shaped or closed-loop bars placed perpendicular to the longitudinal reinforcement of a concrete beam to resist the vertical component of diagonal tension.

Concrete Slabs

Plate structures that are reinforced to span either one or both directions of a structural bay.

Shoring

A system of shores for bracing or supporting a wall or other structure

Shore

It is a temporary supporting strut, especially one placed obliquely against the side of an excavation, formwork or structure.

Wood Joist Floors

It is essentially the subsystem of wood light-frame construction. The dimension lumber used for this is easily worked and can be quickly assembled on site with simple tools. Together with wood panel sheathing or subflooring, it forms a level working platform for construction.

Subflooring

It is the structural material that spans across floor joists, serves as a working platform during construction, and provides a base for the finish flooring. It can be used as a structural diaphragm to transfer lateral forces to shear walls if constructed according to approved standards.