BUILDING CONSTRUCTION, ESTIMATION & PRINCIPLES OF ARCHITECTURE Practice questions

SECTION A

Question 01 The government is planning to start a Public servant housing programme in Homagama for middle income earners via National Housing Development Authority. This two storey housing project consists of a total number of 236 houses and some cost effective methods have to be adopted in the design stage. As a member of the design team you are asked to advice the construction company on the following. a) Load bearing brick work is going to be used for most of the walls. Explain a site test to check the compressive strength of bricks for single storey or two storey wall construction. [02 marks] What kind of brick defects can you recognize by visual inspection and other simple site tests? [03 marks] Draw a suitable bond pattern for the 225mm external walls and give advantages and disadvantages of using that specific pattern. [08 marks] d) Cracking is the most common and visible defect found in masonry. What are the reasons that give rise to development of cracks in masonry walls? [04 marks] e) Describe the measures that can be taken in wall construction to prevent cracking of masonry walls. [03 marks]

b)

c)

Question 02 A three storey house is required to be designed for a client in Moratuwa. The building consists of a reinforced concrete frame and masonry infill walls. The soil of the site was found to be good lateritic soil. Therefore it is recommended to use a rubble foundation with a plinth beam for the walls. a) What are the objectives of providing foundations to a structure? [03 marks] b) Draw a neat sketch of the rubble foundation with a plinth beam for 225mm thick walls naming all the important elements. [05 marks] c) Sketch a suitable foundation for the concrete columns. [05 marks] d) Name three different foundation types that can be used for this building if the soil type was a weak clayey soil and provide a neat sketch for one of them. [07 marks]

Question 03

The Figure Q3-1 shows a plan of a single storey house. The brick walls are 225mm thick roofing material used is asbestos.

a) Discuss advantages and disadvantages of different roof covering materials [05 marks] b) Select a suitable slope for the asbestos roof and determine the corresponding height to the ridge of the roof [02 marks] c) Sketch the roof details for this house indicating roof member sizes and spacing

[08 marks] d) Draw a suitable roof drainage system for the complex roof given in Figure Q3-2 and name all important elements [05 marks]

Question 04

A property developing company is planning to start a housing project in Horana which consists of 100 single storey houses. The company is keen to use environmentally friendly materials. Compressed stabilized earth blocks are used for wall construction and the client wants to use timber door, window frames and shutters.

a) Describe two methods of seasoning timber [03 marks] b) Discuss the main causes of timber deterioration and methods of deterioration prevention. [02 marks] c) What are the types of doors you would propose for this house? Your answer should cover the main door, bedroom doors and bathroom doors. [08 marks] d) Draw a suitable roof drainage system for the complex roof given in Figure Q3-2 and name all important elements [05 marks]

SECTION B Question 04 A by-road is being developed to connect two major roads in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. Soil samples were collected from the base course of the by-road and found that the mean values of the test samples with the following values.

 = 12.5% Gs = 2.75 site = 18.2 kN/m3. The specifications require that e 0.8 and 45% Sr 65%. Where, e = Void ratio and Sr = Degree of saturation. a) Check whether the contractor has satisfied the required specification or not. [10 marks] b) The base course is to be compacted at least 98% of the maximum Standard Procter unit weight of
dry

= 22.5 kN/m3 at an optimum moisture content of 16%. Has the contractor

achieve the required compaction? [05 marks] c) If the contractor has failed to satisfy the required specification, what are the recommendations you propose for improving this soil layer? [05 marks]

Question 05 It is proposed to rehabilitate a reservoir in Anuradapura area that was destroyed due to the heavy rainfall in the recent months. Two locations have been identified to obtain the soil sample for reconstructing the earth-dam. As the geotechnical engineer, you are asked to check the suitability of this soil type for the proposed dam rehabilitation.

a) Classify the soils using grain size distribution data (Table 5.1) and Atterberg test results (Table 5.2). [08 marks] b) Check the suitability of these soil types for dam construction. [06 marks] c) What are the suitable compaction machineries for this kind of construction? [03 marks] d) What are the in-situ density tests that can be used in the dam construction? [03 marks]

Table 5.1 Mass of soil retained (g) Opening size (mm) Location 01 Location 02

4.76 2 1.19 0.59 0.42 0.25 0.149 0.075 pan

10 30 52 80 142 96 105 85 50

5 20.5 40 100 113 75 52 24.5 65

Table 5.2

Table 6.2

Table 6.2 No. Location 01 01 02 02

Test Name Liquid limit Plastic limit Liquid limit Plastic limit

Result (%) 65.5 47 45 14

Question 06

A multistory shopping complex is being constructed in Colombo area. As the geotechnical engineer of this project, it is your responsibility to calculate the effective stresses in the soil layers. A generalized soil profile at this location is shown in Figure 6.1

Figure 6.1

a) Calculate the effective stresses of each layer at the midpoint and clearly indicate the assumptions used. Furthermore, plot the variations of , u and / with depth. Where, Total stress / - Effective stress u Pore water pressure [14 marks] b) How many meters must the ground water table rise to decrease the effective stress by 1kN/m2 at the bottom of the clay layer? [06 marks]

Question 07 A laboratory model has been developed to find out the equivalent horizontal permeability as shown in the Figure 7.1. After the equilibrium, water is flowing through three soil layers in the perpendicular direction to the soil layers as shown in the arrow head. The cross sectional area for the water flow is 100 cm2. Coefficients of permeability of soil types are provided in the Table 7.1.

40 cm

15cm Figure 7.1

15cm

15cm

Table 7.1 Soil Type A B C Coefficient of permeability 0.001 cm / s 0.003 cm / s 0.0004 cm / s

a) Determine the equivalent horizontal permeability of three soil layers. [10marks] b) Hence, find the seepage of water through soil layers.

[05marks] c) Compare and contrast the two types of permeability tests which are usually used in the laboratory to determine the coefficient of permeability. [05marks]

SCALE: 1cm: 100m

Figure 3.1