Structural building engineering

Structural building engineering includes all structural engineering related to the design of buildings. It is the branch of structural engineering that is close to architecture. Structural building engineering is primarily driven by the creative manipulation of materials and forms and the underlying mathematical and scientific ideas to achieve an end which fulfills its functional requirements and is structurally safe when subjected to all the loads it could reasonably be expected to experience. This is subtly different from architectural design, which is driven by the creative manipulation of materials and forms, mass, space, texture and light to achieve an end which is aesthetic, functional and often artistic.

338 Английский язык для студентов строительных специальностей

TAPESCRIPTS 339

 

The structural design for a building must ensure that the building is able to stand up safely, able to function without deflections or movements which may cause fatigue of structural elements, cracking or failure of fixtures, fittings or partitions, or discomfort for occupants. It must account for movements and forces due to temperature, creep, cracking and imposed loads. It must also ensure that the design is practically buildable within acceptable manufacturing tolerances of the materials. It must allow the architecture to work, and the building services to fit within the building and function (air conditioning, ventilation, electrics, etc). The structural design of a modem building can be extremely complex, and often requires a large team to complete.

• TAPESCRIPT 8B

STRUCTURAL ENGINEER

Structural engineers analyse, design, plan, and research structural components and structural systems to achieve design goals and ensure the safety and comfort of users or occupants. Their work takes account of safety, technical, economic and environmental concerns, but they may also consider aesthetic and social factors.

Typical structures designed by a structural engineer include buildings, towers and bridges. Other structures such as oil rigs, space satellites, aircraft and ships may also be designed by a structural engineer. Most structural engineers are employed in the construction industry, however there are also structural engineers in the aerospace, automobile and shipbuilding industries. In the construction industry, they work closely with architects, civil engineers, mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, surveyors, and construction managers.

Structural engineers ensure that buildings and bridges are built to be strong enough and stable enough to resist all appropriate structural loads in order to prevent or reduce loss of life or injury. They also design structures to be stiff enough to not deflect or vibrate beyond acceptable limits. Fatigue maybe an important consideration for bridges and for aircraft design, or for other structures which

experience a large number of stress cycles over their lifetime. Consideration is also given to durability of materials against possible deterioration which may impair performance over the design lifetime.

• TAPESCRIPT 9A

SURVEYING AS A CAREER

The basic principles of surveying have changed little over the ages, but the tools used by surveyors have evolved tremendously. Engineering, especially civil engineering, depends heavily on surveyors.

Whenever there are roads, railways, reservoir, dams, retaining walls, bridges or residential areas to be built, surveyors are involved. They establish the boundaries of legal descriptions and the boundaries of various lines of political divisions. They also provide advice and data for geographical information systems, computer databases that contain data on land features and boundaries.

Surveyors must have a thorough knowledge of algebra, basic calculus, geometry, and trigonometry. They must also know the laws that deal with surveys, property, and contracts. In addition, they must be able to use delicate instruments with accuracy and precision. In the United States, surveyors and civil engineers use units of feet wherein a survey foot is broken down into lOths and lOOths.

In most states of the U.S., surveying is recognized as a distinct profession apart from engineering. Licensing requirements vary by state, however these requirements generally all have a component of education, experience and examinations. In the past, experience gained through an apprenticeship, together with passing a series of state-administered examinations, was required to attain licensure. Nowadays, most states insist upon basic qualification of a degree in surveying in addition to experience and examination requirements.

340 I Англ ийский языкдля студентов строительных специальностей

• TAPESCRIPT 9B

MODERN THEODOLITES

In today's theodolites, the reading out of the horizontal and vertical circles is usually done electronically. The readout is done by a rotary encoder, which can be absolute, e.g. using Gray codes, or incremental, using equidistant light and dark radial bands. In the latter case the circles spin rapidly, reducing angle measurement to electronic measurement of time differences. Additionally, lately computer-controlled display sensors have been added to the focal plane of the telescope allowing both auto-targeting and the automated measurement of residual target offset. All this is implemented in embedded software.

Also, many modern theodolites, costing up to $10,000 apiece, are equipped with integrated electro-optical distance measuring devices, generally infrared based, allowing the measurement in one go of complete three-dimensional vectors which can then be transformed to a pre-existing co-ordinate system in the area by means of a sufficient number of control points. This technique is called a resection solution or free station position surveying and is widely used in mapping surveying. The instruments, "intelligent" theodolites called self-registering tacheometers or "total stations", perform the necessary operations, saving data into internal registering units, or into external data storage devices. Typically, ruggedized laptops are used as data collectors for this purpose.

• TAPESCRIPT 10A

FOUNDATIONS OF LOW-RISE BUILDINGS

All foundations must transmit the building loads to a stable stratum of earth. There are two criteria for stability: first, the soil under the foundations should be able to receive the imposed load without more than about 2.5 centimetres of settlement and, second, the settlement should be uniform under the entire building. It is also important that the bottom of the foundation be below the maximum winter frost level. Wet soil expands as it freezes, and repeated

TAPESCRIPTS 341

freeze-thaw cycles can move the building up and down, leading to possible displacement and damage. Maximum frost depth varies with climate and topography. It can be as deep as 1.5 metres in cold continental climates and is zero in tropical and some subtropical areas.

The foundation systems for low-rise residential buildings are suitable for their light loads; nearly all are supported on spread footings, which are of two types — continuous footings that support walls and isolated pad footings that support concentrated loads. The footings themselves are usually made of concrete poured directly on undisturbed soil to a minimum depth of about 30 centimetres.

Foundation walls can be built of reinforced concrete or masonry, particularly concrete block. Concrete blocks are of a standard size larger than bricks and are hollow, forming a grid of vertical planes. They are the least expensive form of masonry — using cheap but strong material - and their large size economizes on the labour required to lay them. Their appearance and weathering properties are inferior to those of fired masonry, but they are satisfactory for foundation walls, in some places timber foundation walls and spread footings are used. Excavation for foundations is the most highly mechanized operation in this building type; it is done almost entirely with bulldozers and backhoes.

• TAPESCRIPT 10B

PIPE PILES

Pipe piles are a type of steel driven pile foundation and are a good candidate for battered piles. Pipe piles can be driven either open end or closed end. When driven open end, soil is allowed to enter the bottom of the pipe or tube. If an empty pipe is required, a jet of water or an auger can be used to remove the soil inside following driving. Closed end pipe piles are constructed by covering the bottom of the pile with a steel plate or cast steel shoe. In some cases, pipe piles are filled with concrete to provide additional moment capacity or corrosion resistance.

Английский язык для студентов строительных специальностей

SUPPLEMENTARY READING | 345

 

nailed to light timber or metal frameworks. The joints between the panels are filled with a hard-setting resin compound, giving a smooth seamless surface that has considerable fire resistance. Gypsum board forms the substrate to which a number of other materials, including thin wood-veneered plywood and vinyl fabrics, can be applied with adhesives. In wet areas such as kitchens and bathrooms, water-resistant gypsum board is used, sometimes with the addition of adhesive-applied ceramic tile.

Doors in residential buildings are usually of the hollow, core type, with thin veneers of wood glued over a honey-comb paper core and solid wood edge strips: door frames are typically made of machined timber shapes. Plastic laminates bonded to particleboard are extensively used for built-in cabinets and countertops. The most common floor finish is carpeting, most of which is now made of synthetic fibres, displacing the traditional wool and cotton. It can be easily maintained and its soft visual and tactile texture as well as its sound-absorbing qualities make it attractive for residential use. Hardwoods — primarily oak, birch, and maple — are also used for floors, both in the traditional narrow planks nailed to plywood decks and as prefabricated parquet elements which are applied with adhesives. In wet or hard-use areas vinyl-composition tiles or ceramic tiles are used.

as it were, with plaster dowels. Where very great strength is required the work may be reinforced by small iron rods through the slabs. This forms a very strong and rigid partition which is at the same time fire-resisting and of lightweight, and when finished measures only from two to four inches (102 mm) thick.

The slabs may be obtained either with a keyed surface, which requires finishing with a setting coat when the partition or ceiling is in position, or a smooth finished face, which may be papered or painted immediately the joints have been carefully made. Partitions are also formed with one or other of the forms of metal lathing fixed to iron uprights and plastered on both sides. So strong is the result that partitions of this class only two or three inches (76 mm) thick were used for temporary cells for prisoners at Newgate Gaol during the rebuilding of the new sessions house in the Old Bailey in London.

• TAPESCRIPT 12B

PLASTER SLABS

For partitions and ceilings, plaster slabs are now in general use When work has to be finished quickly. For ceilings they require simply to be nailed to the joists, the joints being made with plaster, and the whole finished with a thin setting coat. In some cases, With fireproof floors, for instance, the slabs are hung up with wire hangers so as to allow a space of several inches between the soffit of the concrete floor and the ceiling. For partitions the slabs frequently have the edges tongued and grooved to form a better connection; often, too, they are holed through vertically, so that, when grouted in with semi-fluid plaster, the whole partition is bound together,

ЦМ7

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Пособие по английскому языку для инженерно-строи­тельных и архитектурных вузов / А.И. Бурлак [и др.]. — М: Высшая школа, 1975.

2. Пособие по английскому языку для студентов II—III кур­сов строительных вузов / Е.В. Горбунова [и др.]. — М.: Высшая школа, 1978.

3. Камминг Дж. Английский язык для студентов архитек­турных и строительных специальностей. — М: Астрель, ACT, 2004.

4. Поздняков А.А., Быков В.В. Англо-русский словарь по строительству и новым технологиям. — М.: Русский язык, 2003.

5. Английский язык для инженеров / Т.Ю. Полякова [и др.]. — М.: Высшая школа, 2007.

6. Турук И. Ф. Английский язык. Грамматические основы чтения специального текста. — М.: МГУЭСИ, 2006.

7. Bordman M. In the USA. — London: Chancerel, 1999.

8. Children's Britannica Encyclopaedia, 1996.

9. Hewitt К Understanding Britain. — Oxford: Perspective, 2000.

 

10. Kumar S. Building Construction. — Delhi: Standard, 1988.

11. Kurtz /. -P. Dictionary of Civil Engineering. — N.Y.: Plenum Publishers, 2004.

12. Longman Dictionary of English Language and Culture. — Harlow: Longman, 2005.

13. Murphy R. English Grammar in Use for Intermediate Students. - Cambridge: CUP, 2004.

14. New Civil Engineering International [Journal^ L, 2003 — 2010.

15. New Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2007.

16. Oxford Guide to British and American Culture for Learners of English // Edited by J. Crowther. — Oxford: OUP, 2005.

 

17. Reader's Digest: How Was It Done? The Story of Human Ingenuity through the Ages. — London: The Reader's Association, 2000.

18. Swan M., Walter С How English Works. A Grammar Practice Book. - Oxford: OUP, 2002.

19. Vaughan-Rees M. In Britain. — London: Chancerel, 1997.

 

20. White L. Engineering Workshop. - Oxford: OUP, 2003.

21. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia [Интернет-ресурс]. — Режим доступа: http://en.wikipedia.org.

Серия «Высшее образование»

CONTENTS

Предисловие.................................................................. 3

UNIT 1. BUILDING CONSTRUCTION.................................. 6

UNIT 2. GREAT CIVIL ENGINEERS.................................. 29

UNIT 3. JOBS IN CONSTRUCTION................................... 49

UNIT 4. A LIVING PLACE.................................................. 71

UNIT 5. BUILDING MATERIALS........................................ 93

UNIT 6. BUILDING SCIENCE.......................................... 119

UNIT 7. STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS................................ 143

UNIT 8. STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING.......................... 167

UNIT 9. SURVEYING...................................................... 189

UNIT 10. FOUNDATIONS OF BUILDINGS....................... 212

UNIT 11. BUILDING THE WALLS..................................... 233

UNIT 12. FINISHING THE INSIDE............................. 255

SUPPLEMENTARY READING........................................ 276

TAPESCRIPTS............................................................... 326

Bibliography.................................................................. 346

Гарагуля Сергеи Иванович

АНГЛИЙСКИЙ ЯЗЫК ДЛЯ СТУДЕНТОВ СТРОИТЕЛЬНЫХ СПЕЦИАЛЬНОСТЕЙ