1.

Earthwork
Earthworks are engineering works created through the moving or processing of parts of the
earth's surface involving quantities of soil or unformed rock. The earth may be moved to
another location and formed into a desired shape for a purpose. Much of earthworks involves
machine excavation and fill or backfill .
Typical earthworks include roads, railway beds, causeways, dams, levees, canals, and berms.
Other common earthworks are land grading to reconfigure the topography of a site, or to
stabilize slopes.
Equipment
Heavy construction equipment is usually used due to the amounts of material to be moved
up to millions of cubic metres. Earthwork construction was revolutionised by the
development

of

the

(Fresno) scraper and

other earth-moving

machines such

as

the loader, production trucks, the grader, the bulldozer, the backhoe, and the dragline
excavator.
Mass haul planning
Engineers need to concern themselves with issues of geotechnical engineering (such as soil
density and strength) and with quantity estimation to ensure that soil volumes in
the cuts match those of the fills, while minimizing the distance of movement. In the past,
these calculations were done by hand using a slide rule and with methods such as Simpson's
rule. Earthworks cost is a function of hauled amount x hauled distance. The goal of mass haul
planning is to determine these amounts and the goal of mass haul optimization is to minimize
either or both.
Now they can be performed with a computer and specialized software, including optimisation
on haul cost and not haul distance (as haul cost is not proportional to haul distance).

2. Concrete in practice

Concrete is made by mixing: Cement, water, course fine aggregates and admixtures (if
required). The aim is to mix these materials in measured amounts to make concrete that is
easy to: Transport, place, compact, finish and which will set, and harden, to give a strong and

durable product. The amount of each material (ie cement, water and aggregates) affects the
properties of hardened concrete.
Concrete is a composite with properties that change with time. During service, the quality of
concrete provided by initial curing can be improved by subsequent wetting as in the cases of
foundations or water retaining structures. However, concrete can also deteriorate with time
due to physical and chemical attacks. Structures are often removed when they become unsafe
or uneconomical. Lack of durability has become a major concern in construction for the past
20 to 30 years.
In some developed countries, it is not uncommon to find large amount of resources, such as
30 to 50% of total infrastructure budget, applied to repair and maintenance of existing
structures. As a result, many government and private developers are looking into lifecycle
costs rather than first cost of construction. Durability of concrete depends on many factors
including its physical and chemical properties, the service environment and design life. As
such, durability is not a fundamental property.
One concrete that performs satisfactory in a severe environment may deteriorate prematurely
in another situation where it is consider as moderate. This is mainly due to the differences in
the failure mechanism from various exposure conditions. Physical properties of concrete are
often discussed in term of permeation the movement of aggressive agents into and out of
concrete.
Chemical properties refer to the quantity and type of hydration products, mainly
calcium silicate hydrate, calcium aluminate hydrate, and calcium hydroxide of
the set cement. Reactions of penetrating agents with these hydrates produce products

that can be inert, highly soluble, or expansive. It is the nature of these reaction products that
control the severity of chemical attack. Physical damage to concrete can occur due to
expansion or contraction under loading
Proportionating and mixing concrete
A concrete mix is designed to produce concrete that can be easily placed at the lowest cost.
The concrete must be workable and cohesive when plastic, then set and harden to give strong
and durable concrete. The mix design must consider the environment that the concrete will be
in; ie exposure to sea water, trucks, cars, forklifts, foot traffic or extremes of hot and cold.
PROPORTIONING Concrete is a mixture of Cement, Water, Coarse and Fine Aggregates and
Admixtures. The proportions of each material in the mixture affects the properties of the final
hardened concrete. These proportions are best measured by weight. Measurement by volume
is not as accurate, but is suitable for minor projects.

3. Brick Work
Manufacture of bricks is mostly a village industry. Bricks have been produced
since the dawn of civilization in the sun dried form. The Great Wall of China
was made of both burnt and sun dried bricks. Bricks have been used all over the
world in every class and kind of building. In places where plenty of clay is
available, brickwork is cheaper. The cost of construction work is less with
bricks. Bricks resist fire and, hence, they do not easily disintegrate. The
atmospheric effects are resisted by bricks of good quality.
Brick quality:
Of course for making quality brick wall we have to choose quality bricks. See "how to
identify quality materials on site" for choosing quality bricks.
Soaking:
Make sure bricks are soaked for at least 12 hours in clean water to remove salt and other
chemicals from bricks.
Cement Mortar:
Make sure cement mortar is mixed properly in dry condition on a clean place.
Check mixing ratio is properly maintained.
Check clean drinking water is mixed.
Make sure the mixed mortar is used within one hour after adding water. If you want, you can
maintain register for tracking mixing time and ratio.
Wall:
Check wall is located as per drawing at the time of making brick layout.
Don't make wall above 5 feet in same day.

4. Wood work
With the advances in modern technology and the demands of industry, woodwork as a field
has changed. The development of Computer Numeric Controlled (CNC) Machines, for
example, has made us able to mass-produce and reproduce products, faster, with less waste,

and often more complex in design than ever before. Skilled fine woodworking, however,
remains a craft pursued by many. There remains demand for hand crafted work such as
furniture and arts, however with rate and cost of production, the cost for consumers is much
higher.

Historically, woodworkers relied upon the woods native to their region, until transportation
and trade innovations made more exotic woods available to the craftsman. Woods are
typically sorted into three basic types: hardwoods typified by tight grain and derived
from broadleaf trees, softwoodsfrom coniferous trees,

and

man-made

materials

such

as plywood and MDF.

Typically furniture such as tables and chairs is made using solid stock, and cabinet/fixture
makers employ the use of plywood and other man made panel products.

5. Steel Work
Metals are the backbone of all engineering projects and products. Various metals are used in
one form or the other. Metals are found as compounds like oxides, sulphates, carbonates,
phosphates etching nature
Steel has the stress strain ratio that matches well with concrete, which means that if you strain
any RCC member, both steel and concrete will move approximately parallel to each other.
Which is not possible in other highly ductile materials.
It is used in steel construction because:
Strength is really good. And the ductility of the material is high. You can stretch steel upto 5
to 7% percentage of it's original length. Well, it can absorb a lot amount of energy before
failing.
.The availability of material is in abundance. You can get it almost everywhere.
All the other materials are sensitive to one thing or the other while steel performs good in
almost all the cases.
The cost of steel is not too high.

6. Flooring

Purpose of flooring is to get a good hard, level and beautiful surface for living. The floors
directly resting on the ground are known as ground floors while the floors of each storey are
known as upper floors.
Floors are provided to divide a building into different levels for creating more
accommodation one above the other within a certain limited space. The bottom floor near the
ground is known as the ground floor and the other floors above it are termed as upper floors,
like first floor and second floor. If there is any accommodation constructed below the natural
ground level, it is known as basement and the floor provided in it is known as the basement
floor.
A floor may consist of two main components:
1. A sub-floor that provides proper support to the floor covering and the superimposed
loads carried on it.
2. A floor covering which provides a smooth, clean, impervious and durable surface.
Apart from giving good finished surface, these floors should have good damp resistance. The
ground surface is rammed well and a layer of red earth or sand is placed which is compacted.
A layer of broken bricks, stones etc. is provided up to 150 mm below floor finish level and
rammed. While ramming the surface is kept moist to get good compaction. Then 1 : 4 : 8
concrete of 100 to 150 mm thickness is provided as base course. Over this bed floor finish is
laid.

7. Plastering
Plastering is the process of covering rough walls and uneven surfaces in the construction of
houses and other structures with a plastic material, called plaster, which is a mixture of lime
or cement concrete and sand along with the required quantity of water.
REQUIREMENTS OF GOOD PLASTER
1. It should adhere to the background and should remain adhered during all climatic
changes.
2. It should be cheap and economical.
3. It should be hard and durable.

4. It should be possible to apply it during all weather conditions.

5. It should effectively check the entry or penetration of moisture from the surfaces.
6. It should possess good workability.

8. Roofing
A roof is the uppermost part of a building whose main function is to enclose the space and to
protect the same from the effects of weather elements such as rain, wind, sun, heat and snow.
A good roof is just as essential as a safe foundation. As a well-designed foundation secures
the building against destruction starting at the bottom, similarly a good roof affords
protection for the building itself and what the building contains and prevents deterioration
starting from the top. To fulfil this main function efficiently, the roof should satisfy the
following functional requirements in its design and construction.
Roof is the upper most portion of the building which protects the building from rain, wind
and
sun.
Various types of roofs used may be divided broadly into three types:
3. Flat roofs 2. Pitched roofs
4. 3. Shells and folded plates.
Flat roofs are used in plains where rainfall is less and climate is moderate. Pitched roofs are
preferred wherever rainfall is more. Shells and folded plate roofs are used to cover large
column free areas required for auditoriums, factories etc.

Angle of internal friction

Angle of internal friction for a given soil is the angle on the graph (Mohr's Circle) of the
shear stress and normal effective stresses at which shear failure occurs.
Angle of Internal Friction, , can be determined in the laboratory by the Direct Shear Test or
the Triaxial Stress Test.

Typical relationships for estimating the angle of internal friction, , are as follows:
Empirical values for , of granular soils based on the standard penetration number, (from
Bowels,Foundation Analysis).
SPT Penetration, NValue (blows/ foot)

(degrees)

25 - 30

27 - 32

10

30 - 35

30

35 - 40

50

38 - 43

Relationship between , and standard penetration number for sands, (from Peck
1974, Foundation Engineering Handbook).
SPT
Penetration, NValue(blows/ Density of
foot)
Sand

(degrees)

<4

Very loose

<29

4 - 10

Loose

29 - 30

10 - 30

Medium

30 - 36

30 - 50

Dense

36 - 41

>50

Very dense

>41

Relationship between , and standard penetration number for sands, (from Meyerhof
1956,Foundation Engineering Handbook).
SPT
Penetration, NValue(blows/ Density of
foot)
Sand

(degrees)

<4

Very loose

<30

4 - 10

Loose

30 - 35

10 - 30

Medium

35 - 40

30 - 50

Dense

40 - 45

>50

Very dense

>45

Cohesion of Soils
Cohesion is the component of shear strength of a rock or soil that is independent of
interparticle friction. In soils, true cohesion is caused by following: Electrostatic forces in
stiff overconsolidated clays (which may be lost through weathering)
T he cohesion is a term used in describing the shear strength soils. Its definition is mainly
derived from the Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion and it is used to describe the non-frictional
part of the shear resitance which is independent of the normal stress. In the stress plane of
Shear stress-effective normal stress, the soil cohesion is the intercept on the shear axis of the
Mohr-Coulomb shear resistance line
Typical values of soil cohesion for different soils
Some typical values of soil cohesion are given below for different soil types. The soil
cohesion depends strongly on the consistence, packing, and saturation condition.
The values given below correspond to normally consolidated condition unless
otherwise stated. These values should be used only as guidline for geotechnical

problems; however, specific conition of each engineering problem often needs to be

considered for an appropriate choice of geotechnical parameters.
Cohesion [kPa]
Description
Well graded gravel, sandy gravel, with little

USCS

min max

Specific Reference
value

GW

[1],[2],[3],

GP

[1],[2], [3],

Silty gravels, silty sandy gravels

GM

[1],

Clayey gravels, clayey sandy gravels

GC

20

[1],

SW

[1],[2], [3],

SP

[1],[2], [3],

Silty sands

SM

22

[1],

Silty sands - Saturated compacted

SM

50

[3],

Silty sands - Compacted

SM

20

[3],

Clayey sands

SC

[1],

Clayey sands - Compacted

SC

74

[3],

Clayey sands -Saturated compacted

SC

11

[3],

50

75

[2],

10

20

[2],

50

[3],

14

[3],

[1],

or no fines
Poorly graded gravel, sandy gravel, with
little or no fines

Well graded sands, gravelly sands, with

little or no fines
Poorly graded sands, gravelly sands, with
little or no fines

Loamy sand, sandy clay Loam - compacted

Loamy sand, sandy clay Loam - saturated

SM,
SC
SM,
SC

Sand silt clay with slightly plastic fines - SM,

compacted

SC

Sand silt clay with slightly plastic fines - SM,

saturated compacted
Inorganic silts, silty or clayey fine sands,
with slight plasticity

SC
ML

Inorganic silts and clayey silts - compacted ML

Inorganic silts and clayey silts - saturated
compacted

ML

67

[3],

[3],