CTC-275 Construction

Methods
Intro & Earthwork

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 Many different ways to build same building

How many ways can you build a ham and cheese
sandwich?
Types of ham, bread, cheese, toppings

 Construction methods change when

Materials change
Why thatch roofs?
Why teepees and long houses?
How important where nails to building

Equipment changes
Horses to steam engines to today
Erie Canal was dug with shovels and rock sleds
Steam engines were stationary with belts going
from pulleys to the engine

House Construction
What materials can be used to build a house
and what equipment is required
Wood hammers, saws, drills, squares
Can also use engineered wood
What has happened to lumber in last 100 years?

Concrete either cast in place, precast, or shotcrete

Can be above ground or below

Steel
Stone
Brick
Adobe only need forms
Haybales

House Construction
Wooden houses can be constructed using
three methods
1. Balloon Framing
2. Platform Frame
3. Modular assembly line

Questions
What made skyscrapers possible?
How old is concrete and who first used it
How old are nails?

Construction Order
There is an order to all projects
What activities get done first
What activities need to be done in a specific
order
What activities can be done at any point in
time

Construction Order
Above ground Swimming pools
Remove topsoil & level area 3 larger that pool
diameter
Rake soil to remove rocks and roots
Layout bottom track
Dump sand inside pool area
Level track
Layout wall parts
Roll wall and put on J channel and top rail
Bolt wall, attach skimmer

Construction Order
Swimming pools

Spread sand inside pool wall rake & tamp

Attach wall uprights
Attach liner to J channel
Use vacuum to suck liner to wall
Plumb sand filter & pump together w/ skimmer &
return line
Attach top coping
Add water
Cut out skimmer and return

Construction Order
Buildings:

Clear site
Foundation work
Framing & Siding
Roofing
Windows and Doors
Siding
Electrical - rough
Plumbing - rough
Insulation
Wall finishes

Construction Order
Buildings:

Foundation slab
HVAC
Ceilings
Electrical finish
Plumbing finish
Paint/wall coverings
Flooring
Landscaping
Pavement

Construction Order
How far along do you need to be before
starting next activity?
On a house probably one at a time
On a 1 floor bldg probably 1 activity at a
time but depends on size
Skyscraper 1 activity per floor

Construction Order
Highways

Centerline survey
Clearing
Bridge work
Centerline survey
Earthwork to get to bottom of subbase elevation
Centerline survey
Subbase placement
Centerline survey
Base placement

Construction Order
Highways

Centerline survey
Drainage
Utilities (lights etc)
Pavement base course
Pavement wearing course
Side slope grading
Guard rail
Lights and signs
Pavement Markings

Construction Order
Move from one end of project to the other
with each activity
Have multiple activities happening at any
time
Surveying is a full time activity

Start at beginning
Earthwork
Moving rock or soil from one location to
another
Processing it to meet location, elevation,
density moisture content, etc
Efficient earthwork requires: accurate
estimating of work quantities and conditions,
proper equipment, competent job mangement

Equip Selection
Proper equipment has major impact on
efficiency and profitablility
Can equipment perform required work
Also look at profitablility, other uses for
equipment, return on investment,
availability of parts and services, effect of
downtime on other construction equip

Equipment planning
Need to plan to effectively use equipment
Production of equipment
Production = Volume per cycle/cycles per
hour
Cycles per hour is based on efficiency of
equip
Swing angle and elevation to truck bed
Soil hardness and Soil type
Room to manuever

Equipment planning
Cost per production unit = equip cost per
working hour/equip production per hour
Table 2-1 show efficiencies

Soil And Rock

General Soil Characteristics
Trafficability ability of soil to support weight of
vehicles under repeated traffic
Controls traffic on unimproved access roads
Also gives measure of how earthmoving equip will
operate
Primarily function of moisture conditions and soil type

Loadability how difficult to excavate and haul a

soil
Granular high
Compact cohesive - low

Soil And Rock

Unit Soil Weight
Pounds /cy
Depends on soil type, moisture content,
degree of compaction
Relation between soil weight and bearing
capacity
So soil weight is used as a measure of compaction
Soil weight is also a factor in hauling

Soil And Rock

Moisture Content(%) = (moist wt dry
wt)/dry wt X 100
Soil sample 120#
Dry weight 100#
MC = (120-100)/100X100 = 20%

Soil ID

Boulders
Cobbles over 3 diameter
Gravel 1/4 3 diameter
Sand 0.7mm (200 sieve) diameter
Silt 0.002 0.7 mm
Clay less than 0.002mm
Organic Matter decaying organic matter
Soils classified using these types

Soil Classification Systems

Unified System
All material 3+ removed
Separates soils into two main groups- Fine grained
and coarse grained
Table 2-2, Figure 2-1

AASHTO System

7 classes of soil
Based on suitability of soil for subgrade
Table 2-3
Table 2-4

Soil Volume Change

Characteristics
Soil Conditions
Bank material in natural state before
disturbance Bank cubic yard
Loose material that has been excavated or
loaded loose cubic yard
Compacted material after compaction
compacted cubic yard

Soil Volume Change

Characteristics
Swell
Soil increases in volume when it is excavated
Soil grains are loosened and air fills voids
So 1 unit of soil in bank is smaller than the soil
once it is excavated
Swell(%) = ((weight/bank vol)/(weight/loose vol)1)X100
Soil wt = 2800#/cy in bank
Soil wt = 2000#/cy loose
Swell = ((2800/2000)-1)X100 = 40%

Soil Volume Change

Characteristics
Shrinkage
Soil decreases in volume when it is
compacted
Air is forced out of soil
So 1 unit of soil compacted is smaller than the soil
in the bank or once it is excavated
Shrinkage(%) = (1-(weight/bank vol)/
(weight/compacted vol))X100
Soil wt = 2800#/cy in bank
Soil wt = 3500#/cy compacted
Shrinkage = (1-(2800/3500))X100 = 20%

Soil Volume Change

Characteristics
Load and Shrinkage Factors
Need a common unit of measure for earthwork (get
rid of calculations )
Can use any of the three measures
Called pay measure in contract
Load factor = 1/(1+swell)
How many BCY can fit on a truck
LCY *Load Factor = BCY

Shrinkage factor = 1- shrinkage

How many BCY needed for CCY
BCY * Shrinkage factor = CCY

Soil Volume Change

Characteristics

How many 10cy truck loads of soil = 1000CCY ?

Swell = 30%
Shrinkage = 25%
BCY = CCY/(1-shrinkage)
LCY = BCY*(1+Swell)
LCY = CCY/(1-shrinkage)*(1+swell)
LCY = 1000/(0.75)*1.30 = 1735 LCY
Truck loads = LCY/10 = 174 truck loads

Spoil Banks
Material removed from excavation
Longer than wide spoil bank triangular x
section
Conical spoil pile
To determine the size of the bank or pile need
swell and angle of repose for soil
Angle of repose = angle that soil on side of
bank naturally form
Varies with moisture content and type
Table 2-6

Spoil Banks
Spoil bank
Vol = X sect area x length
B = (4V/(lx tan R))^1.2
H = (B x tan R)/2
B base width
H height
L length
R angle of repose
V volume

Spoil Banks
Spoil pile
Vol = 1/3 D/2)^2 X H
D = (7.64V/tan R)^1/3
H = D/2 x tan R
D diameter of base
H height
R angle of repose
V volume

 How long would a spoil bank for 40000 cy be

if it was 100 wide? Angle of repose = 30 deg
How high can a spoil pile 50 in diameter be if
the angle of repose = 35 deg?
How many cy can it hold?

Estimating earthwork
3 types of excavations
Small pit
Trench
Large areas

Roadways
Find cut and fill using cross sections
Mass diagram

Roadways

Estimating earthwork
Pit Excavations
Area X average depth
Depending on size and ground may break into
several geometric shapes to get volume
Give bank volume

Estimating earthwork
Trench Excavations
V = x sectional area X length
Take x sections every 50 feet and compute
volumes between x sections

When estimating dont forget the angle of

repose and OSHA

Estimating earthwork
Large Areas
Use a grid to find volume
V = A*(average depth)
For a rectangle
V = (LxW)(h1+h2+h3+h4)/4(1/27) cy

Estimating earthwork