Author: haroonkhan

Here the reinforcement may be iron base or expanded metal mash provided at every third or fourth course. Flat bars of section about 25 mm × 2 mm may be used as hoop iron reinforcement for walls. They are hooked at corners and junctions. In order to increase the resistance against rusting, the bars are…

Ordinary brick masonry can not take tensile stresses as the mortar joints separate out and the bricks pulled out. In order to increase the load-carrying capacity, in particular tensile stresses, of ordinary brick masonry steel reinforcement is introduced in between mortar joints. This type of construction can withstand tensile and shear stresses for moderate loading.…

Compound walls are nowadays preferred to be of unplastered concrete blockwork. The construction is cheap and no maintenance is needed. There are many variations in the construction of these walls. The convenient method is to install under-reamed or cast-in-situ piles at stipulated intervals (of 3–4 m) with grade beam on top of the piles and…

The important features to be incorporated, compared to regular brick masonry, are control joints, band beams and joint reinforcements. These factors are to be provided failing which the block masonry is bound to result in random cracking due to shrinkage and moisture movements. These factors are discussed below. 1. Control Joints Concrete has higher coefficient…

In the conventional hollow block masonry, the vertical holes may be made to accommodate steel reinforcement and can thus be made of reinforced concrete construction. Similarly special concrete blocks can be made to accommodate horizontal reinforcements. Such a horizontally reinforced hollow block can be used as lintels and horizontally strengthened reinforced concrete bonds can be…

Concrete hollow blocks constructed with two through holes to form continuous vertical hole are ideal for concrete filling. These holes can be completely or partly filled with concrete during the process of construction itself. For this purpose, mixes with large size aggregates may be used. This provision will add greater strength to walls. It has…

Different types of basic hollow blocks used in construction are discussed in Section 9.6.1. Additional hollow block units are given in Fig. 16.9 Now the construction features are explained. 1. Construction of Walls A mortar bed is spread on the foundation concrete and levelled to have a uniform thickness everywhere. The corner block is first…

Following are the uses of concrete blocks for masonry construction:

Cement concrete hollow blocks have been in use for several masonry constructions. Several advantages have given room for rapid development and use of the same in place of traditional construction materials like stones and bricks. Typical concrete masonry units are shown in Fig. 16.9 (Sharma, 1988), in addition to the concrete hollow blocks referred to…

Brick masonry and stone masonry are compared in Table 16.4. Table 16.4 Comparison of brick and stone masonry