Heavy Reinforced Concrete, Pre-Stressed Concrete, and Steel Construction Review

This set of flashcards covers vocabulary and technical terminology for heavy construction systems, foundations, reinforced concrete members, wall types, and building protection methods based on the lecture transcript.

Foundation System

A structural system that transfers lateral loads from the superstructure to the ground, primarily through soil friction and passive soil pressure.

Shallow Foundations

Also called spread foundations, these are employed when stable soil of adequate bearing capacity occurs near the ground surface and transfer loads by vertical pressure.

Individual or isolated footings

Spread footings that support free-standing columns and piers, often classified as block, stepped, or slope/pyramidal footings.

Strip footings

Continuous spread footings specifically used for foundation walls.

Combined footings

A type of footing supporting two or more columns, used when a footing cannot be centered beneath a column, such as near a property line.

Cantilevered footings

Footings where an exterior and interior column are connected by a tie-beam or strap to support the exterior column near property boundaries.

Mat or Raft Foundations

Foundations used on soil with low bearing power to prevent unequal settlement; all parts are tied together to act as a single unit.

Steel Grillage Foundation

A foundation utilizing steel rails or beams to provide a high moment of resistance with minimum depth, avoiding deep excavation for masonry footings.

Deep Foundations

Foundations used when underlying soil is unstable, extending down to a bearing stratum of rock or dense sand/gravel well below the superstructure.

Pile Foundation

A system of end-bearing or friction piles, pile caps, and tie beams used to transfer loads to a suitable bearing stratum.

Pile Cap

A slab or connecting beam that covers the heads of a group of piles, tying them together so they distribute the structural load as a single unit.

End bearing piles

Piles that depend principally on the bearing resistance of the soil or rock beneath their feet for support.

Friction piles

Piles that depend on the frictional resistance (skin friction) of the surrounding earth mass for support.

Pile Ring

Also known as a drive band; a steel band that encircles the head of a timber pile to prevent splitting during driving.

Driftbolt

A short rod or square bar, varying from $1$ to $2\text{ ft}$ ($300$ to $600\text{ mm}$) in length, used to attach adjacent timber sticks or piles.

Concrete Piles

Piles that can be molded in place or pre-molded before driving; they are advantageous in locations where wooden piles would rot.

Cast-in-place Piles

Concrete piles constructed in the ground at their final position, such as McArthur, Raymond, Simplex, or Pedestal piles.

Composite Piles

Piles composed of combination materials, such as timber with concrete coatings or steel and concrete.

Caisson Foundations

Cast-in-place concrete piers formed by boring or excavating a shaft to a bearing stratum; also referred to as drilled piles or piers.

Short columns

Reinforced concrete columns where the unsupported height is not greater than $10$ times the shortest lateral dimension of the cross section.

Long columns

Reinforced concrete columns where the unsupported height is more than $10$ times the shortest lateral dimension of the cross section.

Tied Columns

Columns reinforced with longitudinal bars and lateral ties, with a vertical reinforcement ratio between $1\text{\%}$ and $8\text{\%}$.

Spiral Columns

Columns reinforced with longitudinal bars and closely spaced continuous spiral hooping held by at least three vertical spacer bars.

Lally Columns

Fabricated steel pipes provided with flat steel plates that are filled with grout or concrete to prevent corrosion.

Dowel bars

Short bars used to transfer stress from the bottom of columns to the footings; must extend at least $40$ diameters for deformed bars.

One-way Solid Slab

A slab supported by two parallel beams where reinforcement runs in one direction only, economical for spans of $6$ to $12\text{ ft}$.

Ribbed slab

A one-way joist slab consisting of small adjacent $T$-beams with open spaces filled with clay tile, gypsum tile, or steel forms.

Two-way slab

A floor panel where reinforcements are placed in two directions at right angles to transfer loads to four supporting beams or walls.

Waffle slab

A two-way concrete slab reinforced by ribs in two directions, capable of carrying heavier loads and longer spans than flat slabs.

Flat plate

A concrete slab of uniform thickness supported directly by columns without beams or girders, practical for apartment construction.

Flat slab

A flat plate thickened at its column supports with drop panels and column capitals to increase shear strength and moment capacity.

Beam

A structural member resting on supports that supports transverse loads and primarily experiences bending rather than elongation.

Girder

A major structural beam that supports one or more smaller beams as concentrated loads.

Point of Inflection

The section of a beam where the bending moment changes from positive to negative, often considered at $\frac{1}{5}$ the clear span.

Stirrups

Bent reinforcing bars, typically $U$-shaped or $W$-shaped, used to resist diagonal tension stresses in beams.

T-beam

A reinforced concrete beam cast monolithically with the slab, allowing part of the slab to act in compression with the beam.

Double reinforced beams

Beams with reinforcement on both the compression and tension sides, used when beam dimensions are limited.

Corbels

Also called beam brackets; these are short beam extensions from columns used to support rafters or trusses.

Bearing wall

A structural wall on which either floor or roof construction rests.

Curtain wall

An exterior non-load bearing enclosing wall that is supported by the building's framework.

Retaining wall

A wall designed to resist the lateral thrust of a bank of earth or other deposited material.

Gravity wall

A type of retaining wall where the weight of the wall alone resists the earth's thrust.

Counterfort wall

A reinforced concrete retaining wall where the vertical wall is tied to the base at intervals with triangular-shaped walls called counterforts.

Pre-stressed concrete

Concrete designed so that bending stresses are entirely compressive, achieved by applying forces before the member is loaded.

Pre-tensioning

A method where reinforcing steel is stressed before the concrete is poured; the steel is released after the concrete hardens to create compression.

Post-tensioning

A method where steel reinforcement is inserted into tubes in cured concrete, stretched with hydraulic jacks, and then anchored.

Waterproofing

A method of making building surfaces impervious to water, often classified as integral, membrane, fluid, or cementitious types.

Damp-proofing

The application of water-impervious material or vapor barriers to prevent moisture penetration or condensate formation.

Vapor Barrier

A layer of material, such as Barrafilm, used to reduce the flow of water vapor into roofing or insulation systems.

Fire proofing

The application of cover materials (like Monokote MK-6 or Flameshield) to structural components to increase fire resistance.

Batt Insulation

A flexible blanket-type thermal insulation made from fibrous materials like mineral wool or glass fibers, used between studs or joists.