CVL244 Construction Practices

MINOR 2

February 12, 2019

Steps in construction

- Arranging temporary structure (supporting the concrete)

- Reinforcement and concreting
- De-shuttering operation (removing formwork after setting of concrete)

Fresh concrete

- Concrete is one of the most widely used structural material for civil and
infrastructure projects.
- To the designer, fresh concrete is the most critical task as it involves so many steps
of concrete operation

Stages of concreting operation

- Batching (measurement of amount of ingredients)

- Mixing
- Hauling (movement)
- Placing
- Compacting (consolidation)
- Curing
- Finishing

Batching of concrete

- The concrete should be easily mixed and transported, should have minimum
variability between batches and within a batch and should have adequate
workability.
- A batch is the amount of concrete that is produced in one mixing operation
- Most concrete batches, although designed on the basis of volume are ultimately
controlled during the batching on the basis of weight.
- Two types of batching plants: (i) manual control (ii) automatic control
- Two types of mixing process: (i) batch mixing (ii) flow type mixing (fast pace work,
continuous mixing, like in dam construction)
- Flow type mixers
o Freefall mixer
o Power mixer
o Pan mixer
o Reversible mixers

Mixing operation
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- Ready Mix Concrete (RMC)

o Also called truck mixed concrete
o Here the concrete is completely mixed in a truck mixer with 70-100
revolutions to mix completely
- Characteristics of RMC
o RMC must be available within a reasonable distance from the site
o ASTM also allows addition of water at the job site to restore the slump
followed by re-mixing
o ASTM also allows a maximum of one and a half hour or the drum has
revolved 300 revolutions, whichever comes earlier
o ACI recommends some of the water be withheld until the mixer arrive at the
site so that the remaining water be added and an addition of 30 revolutions
for mixing. To maintain the w/c ratio in this case, the truck mixers should be
equipped with water tanks and water meters.

February 13, 2019

Types of ordering in RMC

- Recipe batch
o Purchaser assumes responsibility for proportioning the concrete mix
including the cement content, the maximum allowable water content,
admixtures, etc.
o Sometimes even the type of coarse aggregate and fine aggregate and the
origin of the aggregates are also decided.
o The purchaser here assumers the full responsibility for the resulting strength
and the durability of concrete.
- Performance batch
o Here the purchaser specifies the requirements for the strength and the
slump.
o Here the manufacturer assumes full responsibility for the proportions of the
concrete materials that go into the batch as well as for the resulting strength
and durability of the concrete.
- Part-performance and part-recipe batch (most preferred)
o Here the purchaser specifies a minimum cement content, required
admixtures, etc.
o The manufacturer assumes full responsibility for the resulting strength and
durability of the concrete.

Central mix plants

- Here the concrete is mixed completely in a stationary mixture and transported to the
project.
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Mobile compact plants

- Here the concrete is produced at the construction site itself.

- These plants serve as an ideal solution for remotely located projects, for projects
requiring large amount of concrete and for projects located in busy heavy trafficked
areas.
- Modern mobile compact plants are highly automated which can be operated by one
or two workers.

Placing of concrete

- Water pans
- Chutes and drop pipes
o Often used to transfer concrete from a higher elevation to a lower elevation.
o Drop pipes are used when the concrete is placed in a wall or a column.
o Tremie operation occurs when a drop pipe is used to place concrete under
water. The lower end of the pipe is generally kept continuously immersed in
fresh concrete.
- Buggies (four wheels, long distance) and wheel barrows (one-wheel, short distance)
o Suitable as sole or main concrete placing equipment for smaller works or it
can be a complimentary means of projects utilizing cranes or pumps.
o Require smooth and accessible road for movement.
o Power buggies can cover 2.5 m in a single stretch.
- Belt conveyors
o Are suitable for rapid movement of rush concrete but the belts must have
proper belt size and speed to achieve the desired rate of transportation.
- Buckets
o Properly designed buckets commonly handled by cranes enable concrete
placement at the lowest possible slump.
o In buckets, the gates should be designed so that they can be opened and
closed at any time during discharge of concrete.
o Generally, it comes with cranes.
- Pumps

January 19, 2019

Pumps

- Pumping of concrete is not new in construction industry and is fairly a simple

process.
- By applying pressure to a column of concrete in a pipe the concrete is moved
through the pipe.
- In pumping, it should be ensured that the concrete should have uniform workability
and consistency.
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- Three types of pumping

o Line pumps: pumping is done through a pipe line.
o Boom pumps: here pump is mounted on a truck and equipped with a
revolving boom through which pumping is done.
o Pumps with pipeline and tower mounted booms: This is a common solution
for high rise building structures that are beyond the reach of a boom pump.

Pumping constants

- Successful pumping requires good planning and quality concrete.

- Pumping should be planned wherein concrete is the primary material of
construction.
- Pumping can be used with sights that have accessibility limitations.
- Pumping can be chosen where there are large structural elements.
- Use 5-inch pipe minimum, as desirable (concrete comes out as a cylinder).
- Always lubricate the lines with cement paste or mortar beginning with the pumping
operation.
- Never use aluminum lines for pumping (after 3-4 hours continuous pumping,
aluminum reacts with concrete).

Consolidation

- Concrete when placed onto the reinforcement generally contains voids, the purpose
of consolidation or compaction is to remove the entrapped air voids (when
workability is not reasonable) and to ensure complete filling up of the forms.
- Entrapped air can be reduced by using adequate water or by consolidating the
concrete.
- Types of vibrators based on the mode of use:
o Internal vibrators (columns and walls)
o Surface vibrators (slabs)
o Form vibrators
- Precautions during vibration
o Over-vibration: When the bubbles cease during vibration, then the vibrator
should be withdrawn. Over-vibration can cause aggregates to separate from
concrete mix.
o Re-vibration: re-vibration is done when the earlier vibration has not achieved
the desired consolidation.
o Vibrating the reinforcing steel: It improves the bond between the reinforcing
steel and concrete and is desirable. The undesirable side effects may include
possible movement of the steel from the desired position or sometimes
damage to the vibrators.

Finishing of concrete
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- Finishing process provide the desired final concrete surface.

- Screeding
o It is the process of shaping the concrete surface to the correct elevation by
striking off the excess concrete.
- Floating
o to create a smooth concrete surface and is generally worked with wood or
aluminum floats.
- Troweling
o It is working the surface after floating, preferably with steel trowel to create
a smoother finish.
o It improves the density of upper concrete and seals any visible cracks that
developed in the face of the concrete at the time of placing the concrete.
o This process is generally repeated several times to get the desired finish.
They are not suitable for room corners because of the round shape.
- Stamping

February 27, 2019

Fabrication in steel

- Structural steel fabrication can be carried out either in shops or in the construction
sites.
- Sequence steps for fabrication
o Surface cleaning
§ Blast cleaning is the accepted way of carrying out surface preparation.
§ Other than sand (sand blasting), people also used slag grits.
§ By this blasting mechanism, surface oxides are removed, and a rough
surface is obtained in order to have a better bonding with the
concrete.
§ Depending on the quality of cleaned surface, the steels are graded as
Sa2, Sa2.5 and Sa3.
§ There are other methods in surface cleaning such as flame cleaning
(hot air), laser cleaning, etc.
o Cutting and machining
§ The sections have to be cut to the desired length or width using
shearing mechanism.
§ Recently flame cutting and burning is also used.
o Punching and drilling
§ Most fabrication shops have a range of machines which can form
different sizes of holes for connections in steel work.
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§ The traditional mechanism for drilling is called a radial drill and for
large fabrications fully automatic NC (numerical controlled) tools are
available.
o Straightening, bending and rolling
§ Rolled steel may get distorted due to cooling process.
§ During transportation or handling operations, the steel may bend or
even undergo distortion. This can also happen during punching
operation. Therefore, the steel must be straightened.
o Fitting and reaming
§ Before final assembly, the steel parts are fitted up temporarily using
bolts, rivets or small amounts of welds.
o Finishing
§ The strength of entire steel structure depends upon the proper use of
fastening methods.
§ Nowadays, welding is the most common method of shop fabrication
of steel structures.
o Surface treatment
§ Metal coats: this is a commonly used method of applying metal
coating to steel surfaces. Hot dip galvanizing (most preferred), metal
spraying, electroplating, etc. are some of the common methods.
§ Painting coats: It is a conventional method of protecting steel form
corrosion.

March 1, 2019

Gas cutting

- Gas cutting and gas welding of mild steel plates and sections are usually done by
oxy-acetylene flame at 3000 degree Celsius.
- Acetylene gas cylinders should be stored separately from oxygen cylinders.
- Gas cylinders should be preferably carried from store to the place of work using
trolleys.
- Operators should note that all apparatus have their proper distinction marks: red for
acetylene, black or green for oxygen.
- Ensure no leakage!

Hazards: Impalement (piercing of reinforcement into body) and abrasion

Reinforcement caps: mushroom head caps (prevent abrasion) and flat head capes (prevent
impalement)

Defects in weld

- Ideal weld
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- Cracks
- Porosity
- Overlap
- Incomplete penetration
- Incomplete fusion
- Undercut
- Slag inclusion

SOPs (Safety operation procedures): for non-routine and hazardous work procedures.

Safety in reinforcement works

- Workers are often injured due to wrong handling of reinforcement rods.

- Flying rods from shear cutting machines are the main sources of safety hazards.
- Placing of full-length reinforcements for construction work requires extreme caution
to avoid hitting with overhead electrical cables, adjacent structures, nearby
equipment, etc.
- Sufficient amount of vertical and horizontal clearance must be maintained for all the
concreting equipment starting from shuttering till de-shuttering.
- In case of shear cutting the reinforcements (after pre-stressing or post-tensioning),
the broken parts fly at terrific speed and can even pierce through any person
standing in its travel path. Provide proper jacks and hold the ends of the steel while
cutting.

Erection

- Erection of steel structure is the process by which the fabricated steel structures are
assembled together in the structure as per the drawing.
- The erection process requires considerable planning in terms of handling, assembly
and the final connections.
- Erection of steel work can be made safe using temporary supports or equipment
used for erection.

March 12, 2019

Excavation

- Earthwork activities include excavation, filling and dumping of the earth at required
premises.
- For any construction work, at least surface excavation has to be carried out as the
top soil is unsuitable for supporting foundations or substructures as it comprises of
organic matter and water, etc.
- A civil construction work generally starts with excavation which involves the
following steps
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o Earth-cutting
o Shoring of sides if there is a possible collapse (trench box for short caves,
sheet piles for bulk sites)
o Dewatering from the excavated trench or pit
o Maintaining the stability of the sites till foundation work is completed
o Backfilling of the trench pit after the foundation work
o Disposal of surplus earth to the specified locations
- Types of excavation
o Confined excavation
§ It is an excavation carried out for construction of individual
foundations and trenches.
o Sloped excavation (also stepped excavation)
§ It is involved in the case of relatively deeper excavation where the
sides of excavated pit have to be in slopes to be stable.
§ No requirement of trench boxes.
o Bulk excavation
§ It can be carried out where the quantum of excavation is voluminous.
§ Big, versatile construction equipment can be deployed in such cases.
o Rock excavation
§ Common earth moving equipment is possible to excavate if the rock is
weak like silt-stone or mud-stone.
§ Relatively hard rocks like slate and sandstone can be excavated using
rippers.
§ Very hard rocks like granite or limestone have to be blasted.
o Temporary (foundations, followed by backfilling) and permanent excavation
(canals, tunnels, etc. no backfilling)
o As per SP62, soils are classified as follows:
§ Soft/loose soil
§ Hard/dense soil
§ Ordinary rock (not requiring blasting, wedging or similar means)
§ Hard rock (requiring blasting)
§ Hard rock (blasting prohibited)
o As per SP62, excavation is classified as follows:
§ Surface excavation: Excavation exceeding 1.5 m width and 10 m2 on
plan but not exceeding 30 cm in depth shall be called ‘surface
excavation’.
§ Rough excavation: Excavation not requiring dressing of sides and
bottom to exact levels, such as winning earth from borrow pits, hill
side cutting, etc. shall be described as rough excavation.
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- Never dig in unmarked grounds, there are color codes for marking underground
utility lines (flags or spray paint signs) given by American Public Works Association
(APWA)

Trench foundation (15 feet wide or less)

- Timber has been traditionally used for shoring.
- Aluminium shores using hydraulic jacks are widely used these days; they are
economical, light weight, can be installed and dismantled easily, have a longer life
and are more safe than timber.
- Trenches with improper slopes or no trench walls can cause most cave in fatalities.
- Recognition of when shoring is required is not most often understood by the
contractors.
- Recommendations for preventing cave-in collapses
o Adequately slope the trench walls.
o Use trench boxes properly (not too high, not too low, not obstruct the
working person, etc.)
o Shoring of the trenches (using braces).
o The workers should be able to escape in event of any mishaps, hence it is
recommended to have proper means of egress (for example, placing ladders
at regular intervals of trench).
- Factors leading to cave-in
o Previously disturbed soil
o Piling up the cut earth nearby
o Equipment passing nearby causing vibrations
o Site close to a busy street

March 13, 2019

CVL244 Construction Practices
CVL244 Construction Practices

Mass Haul Diagram

- The mass haul diagram is a graphical representation of the amount of earthwork

involved in a highway.
- It shows accumulated volume at any point along the centerline.
- Series of lines that shows the net accumulation of cut or fill between any two
stations yields the mass haul diagram.
- Borrow: material taken from another location of the project site or from outside the
project site.
- Waste: excavated material which is no longer used for the project site.
- Free Haul Distance (FHD): it is the distance the earth is moved without additional
money.
- Over Haul Distance (OHD): it is the volume of material moved to the stations beyond
the free haul movement .

Soil volume change characteristics

- Materials in their natural state are normal state without disturbance are called bank
cubic yard/meter (BCY/BCM).
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- Material that has been excavated or loaded is called loose cubic yard/meter
(LCY/LCM).
- Material after compaction is identified as compacted cubic yard/meter (CCY/CCM).
- The increase in soil volume after excavation is called swell.
- When a soil is compacted, some of the air is forced out of the soil’s void spaces. As a
result, the soil will occupy less volume than in any of the other two sates and this
condition is called shrinkage.
- When planning and estimating the earthwork, it is necessary to determine the size of
the pile of the material that will be created by the material dumped which is called
spoil banks. They are characterized by triangular cross-section. Soil’s angle of repose
is the angle that the sides of a spoil bank or piles naturally forms with the horizontal
surface when the excavated soil is dumped into the pile

Excavating equipment

- Include earth cutting and earth moving equipment.

- Major types of excavators used in earth moving operations include hydraulic
excavators and cable operated crane family which includes shovels, draglines,
clamshells, backhoes, etc.
- Excavators and the crane families consist of three major assemblies
o A revolving superstructure containing power and control units
o A carrier of mounting unit, of three forms: truck, wheel and crawler
o Front-end assembly
Types of work Equipment applicable

Clearing and grubbing Bulldozer

Excavation Dragline, clamshell, bulldozer

Loading Dragline, clamshells

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Excavation and loading Backhoes, dragline, clamshell

Excavation and hauling Bulldozer, scrapper

Hauling Dump trucks, belt conveyers

Spreading and grading (levelling) Grader and bulldozer

Compaction Vibrators, compactors, sheep foot

rollers, bulldozer

March 19, 2019

Hydraulic excavators

- Backhoe
o It is an original and most common form of hydraulically operated excavator,
equipped with a hoe front end.
o This machine is also called hydraulic hoe or hydraulic backhoe.
o A backhoe is an excavator designed primarily for excavation below grade.

- Front shovel
o Front dump and bottom dump buckets are available for hydraulic shovels.
o In shovels, the bottom dump buckets are more versatile and can provide
greater reach with less spillage.
o It is the most efficient equipment for digging above track level.
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- Dragline
o They are used to excavate and load into hauling units such as trucks or spoil
banks.
o The dragline is a very versatile machine that has a longest reach for digging
and dumping among the crane family.
o It can dig from about the machine level in soft to medium or hard soils.
o It is generally designed to excavate below the level of the machine.
o It is also possible to use a dragline with a long boom to dispose off the earth
in one operation and thereby it eliminates the need for hauling units.

- Clamshell
o Clamshells are most commonly used for excavating vertical shafts and
footings.
o They are used to handle loose material such as sand, gravel, uncrushed
stones, etc.
o Clamshells are very suitable for lifting the materials in vertical direction.
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- Bulldozer
o These are essentially of two types: (i) crawler mounted (ii) wheel mounted.
o Dozer blades can be straight, angle, universal or cushion.
o The blades essentially perform tilting, pitching and angling operations.

Dozer

- It is an effective and versatile earth mover.

- Dozers are self-contained units that are designed for excavation work.
- Typical applications:
o Land clearing and grubbing
o Dozing (pushing materials)
o Ripping (cutting)
o Towing other piece of equipment
o Assisting scrapers in cut and fill operations

Dozer blades

- Bulldozer is a tractor unit which has a blade attached to its front. The blade is used
to push shear, cutting, roll materials ahead of tractor.
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- Dozers are mounted with blades that are perpendicular to the direction of travel.
- Basic earth moving blades are curved in the vertical plane in the shape of a ‘C’.
- Along the bottom length of the blade hand, steel plates are bolted which do the
cutting on the edge of the blade.
- Blade movements
o Tilting
§ The vertical movement of the blade is known a tilt.
o Pitch
§ The control which allows the operator to vary the angle of attack of
the blade cutting edge with the ground is called pitch.
§ This implies movement of the blade towards or away from the
tractor.
o Angling
§ Turning the blade so that it is not perpendicular to the direction of
tractor’s travel.

Land clearing applications

- Clearing operations are always preferable and usually necessary before earthmoving
works.
- Clearing land may involve the following operations:
o Removing all trees and stumps including roots.
o Removing all vegetation above the surface of the ground.
o Disposing and dumping of vegetation by stacking and burning.
o Knocking all vegetation down before the chopping or crushing it.
o Killing or retarding the growth of bush by cutting the roots below the surface
of grounds.
o Removing well founded roots primarily by using rakes.

Production of dozers

- The factors that control the dozer production rates are

o Blade type
o Type and condition of material
o Cycle time= push time + return time + waiting time
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- After finding the length of pile (L), width of the pile at inside the edge of each rack
(w), height of the pile at the inside edge of each rack (h), blade load = 0.0139WHL
(W,H,L in feet), Production capacity = (60 min x blade load)/(push time + return time
+ waiting time), 60 min can be replaced by 50 min as well.

March 20, 2019

Ground water control

- The soil is naturally full of water up to the water table. The soil above the water
table holds some water.
- Ground water control is the process of temporarily dealing with ground water to
allow excavations to be made in dry and stable conditions.
- The two main philosophies of ground water control: (i) exclusion (ii) pumping
- Two types of ground water control: (i) temporary exclusions (sump pump, well point
system, coffer dams) (ii) permanent exclusions (sand drains, diaphragm walls,
caissons, sheet piles-both temporary and permanent)

Temporary exclusion of water

- Sump pumps
o It is the simplest dewatering technique wherein the groundwater is allowed
to seep into the excavation and is then collected in sumps and pumped for
disposal.
o The sump is excavated at one or more corners of the excavated pit below the
required formation level so that the excavated pit remains free of water.
- Well point systems
o It is the most effective means of lowering the groundwater table to a point
below the required level of excavation by pumping out water through a
group of well points.
o Well points are small diameter pipes that are perforated at the water bearing
strata so that the water can be easily pumped out.
- Coffer dams
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o It is a water tight dam that is built for temporary exclusion of soil and/or
water so that construction both onshore and offshore can be carried out in
the dry water table.
o It is generally used for bridge piers or port construction.
o Types of coffer dams: (i) single skin (ii) double skin

Permanent exclusion of water

- Sand drains
o Drainage using sand is easy and inexpensive way of dewatering.
o This process of water exclusion from soil is generally used for road
construction.
- Diaphragm walls
o Construction of diaphragm walls is a bit costly proposition unless such walls
form part of the permanent structure.
o The five steps in diaphragm walls construction are
§ Guide walls, which are two parallel concrete constructed along the
side of the walls as a guide for the equipment to do the excavation.
§ Trench excavation, typically using clamp shells.
§ Reinforcements are inserted in gaps in the form of a steel cage.
§ Concreting, placing of the concrete is done using tremie pipes to
avoid the segregation of concrete.
§ Joining of the diaphragm wall panels, the diaphragm walls cannot be
constructed continuously for a very long section. The wall is usually
constructed in alternates sections in order to form a complete
continual diaphragm wall which is tightly joined by a semicircular
groove.

- Caissons
o These specialized foundations are most often used for bridges, piers, dams or
other structures that need underwater support.
o The caissons sink into the ground to the level of the base under its own
weight as soil excavation is continuing.
o A caisson consists of a hollow water tight chamber that is floated or hauled to
the job site.
o Here, the caisson itself remains as a part of the foundation, unlike coffer
dams.
o Types of caissons: (i) open (ii) box (ii) pneumatic
- Sheet piles
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o It is a very common water exclusion system as well as earth retaining process

during and after excavation as both temporary and permeant solution.
o Concrete, steel, timber or wood are commonly used. Steel sheet piles are
most often chosen as a measure.
o Steel sheet piles can serve as a very good permanent ground water control.
They are long structural sections with a vertical interlocking system that
creates a continuous wall.
o Concrete sheet piles, reinforced pre cast units are generally used as a
permanent exclusion of water.
o Timber sheet piles are used for temporary works.
o Plastic sheet piles are made of recycled PVC and recommended due to ease
of construction and maintenance free use.