The purpose of providing a lintel is just the same as that of an arch. Lintels take the load of the wall above the opening and transfer to the walls. The effective load causing on a lintel is shown in Fig. 19.7.
The lintels are easy and simple in construction and do not need special form work. The ends of lintels are built into the masonry and thus the load carried by lintel is transferred to the masonry in jambs. The bearing of lintel should be either 10 cm or 40 cm for every 30 cm of span, whichever is greater. As a general rule, the depth of the lintel can be adopted as 1/12th of the span or 15 cm, whichever is greater.
Figure 19.7 Effective load acting on lintel
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