How Simple Earth Blocks can transform the building construction process to a new level

Pemba, a small Tanzanian island off of Africa‘s Eastern coast, is applying a useful construction material that can make a sea change in construction industry.

This newest construction material is used in constructing the new type of informal accommodation in the island.

In order to improve the durability & stability of the homes of the islanders, Canadian NGO Community Forests International is developing a solution that blends the economy and sustainability of wattle & daub with the strength of masonry: Interlocking Stabilized Compressed Earth Blocks (ISCEBs). This simple technology can provide great impact on the building construction methods.

The compressed earth blocks are formed by packing a manually operated machine involving clay, sand and some lime for stabilization and produce a quicker as well as highly robust construction as compared to conventional earth construction methods.

Besides, the machine that is utilized to make the compressed earth blocks, includes the option to place in hollow channels in the blocks for generating ventilation bricks to enhance the condition of living inside new buildings.

GTo be successful in their purposes, both in offering compressed earth blocks and all their other projects, Community Forests International is presently conducting an Indiegogo campaign. One can donate here, or follow their blog or facebook page for more information.

Image Courtesy: www.midwestearthbuilders.com

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Published By

Rajib Dey

www.quantity-takeoff.com

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Excel Spreadsheet Design for Engineering Calculations

This is some tips and tricks of Excel Spreadsheet; Sarah Outzen in San Francisco has projected this.

1. It is divided A, B, C, D to P and 1 to 39. Upper vertical column consists of Bridge variable, Joint XY, values, fx, fy, angle (rad).

The vertical column adjacent to number consists of Outer, Inner, Span and Load.

2. It is an additional credit assignment.

The real overthrow was "drawing" thebridge bind: both the bridge and the load "arrows" alter in shape. With bright use of an X-Y scatter plot and cell admission.

This sheet expresses compression and blending rafter. Then, it comes wooded information and ACD.

3. This was part of a multi-sheet project for the total design of an A-frame wood structure. The cells comprise NDS 2005 code calculations and specifications. The sheets represent length, width, tributary area.

4. This is the spreadsheet for seismic check of a 5-story moment frame building. This sheet is typically interior.

5. RBS (Reduced Beam Section) spreadsheet. This is basically concrete design calculator.

Ref: www.behance.net

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Published By

Rajib Dey

www.quantity-takeoff.com

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Some emerging construction management technology for AEC sectors in 2014

We have entered in a new era i.e year 2015. If you look back in 2014, you will find several advanced and emerging technologies which shape the architecture, engineering, and construction industry efficiently.

The following are some of the handy trends and latest technologies in the year 2014. Lots of new softwares emerge for survey professionals in 2014.

Leica Geosystem’s Pegasus: Two – It is a vehicle-mounted high-definition HDS scanning method that can enhance the speed of survey processing for large scale projects. With Pegasus Two, it becomes possible to execute 360-degree corridor surveys in excess of 50 miles per hour.

Drone Surveying. In 2014, lots of excellent drone technologies arrived with small, remotely operated multiple-rotor aircraft. The usability is found in diversified sectors like law enforcement to commerce as well as AEC industry. The drone technology is equipped with high-resolution digital cameras and highly developed software and can transform surveying process to the next level.

3D Concrete Printing. Concrete is considered as one of the most useful building materials for some of the best construction projects in the globe. Now 3D-printing technology is being incorporated with concrete to generate complicated building forms as well as minimize the time significantly necessary for generating such components through various orders of magnitude.

Smart Highways. In 2014, the Smart Highway project came into existence in the Netherlands. The traffic markings are created with a special new luminescent paint. Future motive of the project contains road paint to respond to temperature and sequentially offer weather warnings to drivers.

Kinetic Roads. In order to create a eco-friendly environment, several organizations are adopting ways for generating sustainable, ecologically friendly power. Recently, one Italian based company alias Underground Power has built up a way to capture the dissipated kinetic energy of braking automobiles to produce electric current. With these devices, it is possible to generate, an amount of power equal to that of 19 tons of oil annually.

Solar Roads. Scott and Julie Brusaw had developed a system of structurally engineered solar tiles for road use. These solar tiles have the ability to generate energy from sunlight as well as manage loads up to 125 tons. With this technology 31,250.86 square feet of roads, parking lots, driveways, playgrounds, bike paths, and sidewalks can be converted into the world’s biggest power network.

Evolution of BIM. Building Information Modeling (BIM) technology is becoming increasingly popular among architecture, engineering, and construction industries. Lots of inventive technologies which include some very handy software and hardware are contributing to stimulate the expansion of BIM.

Project Tango. Google’s Project Tango is an exclusive system compatible with handsets and tablets that can smoothly capture and evaluate spatial data recorded through device-mounted cameras. In 2014, Trimble announced conceptual applications to be utilized with these devices to leverage BIM data as well as pick up 3D models instantly which can be edited on the device.

BIM in the Cloud Computing. In 2014 big data and cloud computing start to feature themselves as a BIM tool. At this time this technology is facilitating global AEC professionals to work together in a specialized manner. It will result in speeding up design processes and at the same time minmizing errors and costs.

So we witnessed some latest and emerging technologies for AEC sectors in 2014 which range from smart roads to cloud computing and support the advancement in every phase of design and construction.

Image Courtesy & Ref: conjectblog.co.uk and lineshapespace.com

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Published By

Rajib Dey

www.quantity-takeoff.com

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Tips before constructing new house

Before building the sweet home of your choice, the owner and house builder needs to think quickly on some aspects.

Budget: Estimating the budget is one of the tough tasks for the house owner. The house owner can go for construction loan from the bank or mortgage personal assets.

Your plot & Location: Location is very important. Soil condition, drainage, zoning of the spot is significant before starting up theconstruction.

Designer & contractor: A good team of designers are required. An architect has to be engaged. A good builders needs to be contacted.

Arrange a Plan: Here architect needs to take a role. He will draw the plan. Discussion of the plan in the close family circuit is necessary before sending it for the approval.

Some necessary features: Plot plant consists of size and locations of arrangement of property. Floor plan includes size, door and window. Structural drawing must by submit with plan. There should be plumbing and electricity.

Agreement: The house builders now have to do the written contract agreement with contractors. The contractor will describe you the project detail.

Things to be care for:

• A permit fee has to be paid before a structure permit can be issued.
• It is not advisable to begin construction until the building permit has been issued.

Legal requirement should be clear.

Ultimately you will be accountable under the Building Act if your house does not get together the required standards, so make sure you utilize accomplished people who know all the structure controls and keep up-to-date with new principles and system.

Image Courtesy & Ref: myhouseconstruction.com

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Published By

Rajib Dey

www.quantity-takeoff.com

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Basics of Construction Engineering

Construction engineering is a significant sub-discipline. It is included in of civil engineering which has several applications. www.brighthubengineering.com has published this.

It has several applications and it is being applicable across the globe.

The construction activity is the main reflector of the country’s economy.

Construction Engineering

This profession engages several things:

• Construction
• Structure
• Transportation
• Environmental engineering

These all things are related to construction civil engineering and planning, execution as well as management.

Technique: The civil engineering techniques caught up in the construction sector engineering consists of survey, cost estimation and scheduling. The assurance to check the quality is also very important.

Applying modern method:-

• Brickwork is being slowly put back by concrete blocks,
• Porous real blocks are being used for pavements and landscaping.
• Ready mixed concrete is obtainable
• Padding Concrete Formwork is a current system in structure design
• With the rising cost of land, the obligation to construct buildings on utmost covered area on the same piece of land has become significant.

Design:- The importance of design in a building is utmost important. It is really a backbone. It looks after safety, cost and other important factor like environment.

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Published By

Rajib Dey

www.quantity-takeoff.com

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Brief overview of Reinforced concrete and its various advantages

Reinforced concrete alias RCC is recognized as the most useful construction materials amid AEC sectors. It contains steel at its base and is enclosed by concrete. By combining these two materials, it becomes very strong and durable.

Now-a-days most of the buildingstructures are constructed withreinforced concrete.

Why RCC is different as compared to other construction materials:-

• The strength & longevity of RCC is very good as it is formed with both steel and concrete.
• RCC is extremely fire resistant as compared to other building materials and it is superior in tension.
• RCC can be easily casted into any required shape by keeping the structural strength and stability intact.
• The yield strength of RCC surpasses 100 times as compared to its tensile strength that results in yielding yield rigid members by least deflection.
• A reinforced concrete structure with walls, dams, piers and footings can be managed easily.

A RCC building structure consists of reinforced concrete slab design, Reinforced Concrete Beam design as well as design of several other components like columns, frames, andfooting and RCC walls.

How reinforced concrete facilitates structural design: Once the architectural design is completed, a structural engineer starts his work for finding out the best fitting structural system to build up the structure on the basis of architectural design. After the erection of the building and setting up of other structural arrangements, there may exist various design issues which should be resolved through structural design capabilities.

Modeling and Detailing of Reinforced Concrete Structures: Some diversified toolset are applied for modeling and structural detailing of reinforced concrete. Various structural components are modeled which range from precast concrete, cast in place concrete and other special construction elements. By applying these tools, civil engineers and structural engineers get the ability to produce models with superior structural detailing and labeling.

The 3D models generated from structural detailing plans may involve interactive sections, smart symbols and marking as well as associative and dynamic dimension lines. As detailed information is embedded in the model, the engineers can test out clashes across the structural discipline inside and identify interdisciplinary clashes too.

Ref: archinect.com

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Published By

Rajib Dey

www.quantity-takeoff.com

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The new RFI features of PlanGrid can streamline the work of AEC processionals

PlanGrid, the most recognized CAD drawings viewer and cloud-collaboration tool in AEC, recently launched a dedicated all-in-one RFI solution that will provide immense benefits to the architecture,engineering and construction (AEC) industry.

The new RFI features of PlanGrid are very user-friendly and will save significant time and money for AEC professionals.

The new RFI solution is compatible with iOS and Android platforms as well as standard web browsers at the desktop. New RFI features are free and included with the accessible PlanGrid cloud-driven app.

The new RFI system is available under its own tab in the PlanGrid user interface at the dashboard level. The users can tailor RFI statuses according to their project requirements like Open, Draft, Submitted, etc and control RFI method in a better way.

The Users will be able to produce snapshots from blueprints, on all platforms, which automatically coordinate to the cloud for uncomplicated referencing. Users will get the ability to add associatedmaterials like photos and specification sheets from their PlanGrid.com accounts.

RFI PDF reports are also created for allocation to the team through email. The users can post RFI responses directly to drawings which then can be published to the whole team in seconds.

All the details are safely preserved and past decisions are evaluated as PlanGrid documents each edit to the RFI and all edits are examined in the RFI history.

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Published By

Rajib Dey

www.quantity-takeoff.com

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