‘Construction Techniques’ Tag

EFIS Installation

Photo Credit: Alex Mead

Seen above is a construction worker putting the finishing touches on the Exterior Insulating Finish System (EIFS) of a building. EIFS are composed of insulation panels that are connected to the building via mechanical fasteners or adhesive. These panels are then covered with synthetic coatings to provide both a visually appealing and weather proof finish. Many times EIFS is confused with stucco, however, technically they are different materials.

Mock-Up Wall

Photo Credit: Alex Mead

What is this random wall doing in a parking lot of job trailers? It is a mock up of the future building skin that will be built in this area. This allows the architect to see what the building will look like in the area before the entire building is completed. It also allows the finish contractor to gain valuable experience in what is to be expected from the architect in terms of finish detail quality.

Concrete Truck Traffic

Photo Credit: Alex Mead

Many times when using reinforced concrete in civil engineering applications thousands of cubic yards of it are needed. However, concrete usually isn’t made on site for a project, but at a local batch plant. This means it must all be trucked to the site using concrete mix trucks in approximately eight cubic yard batches. Seen here is a line of concrete mixer trucks from a local batch plant waiting to deliver their loads to a job. This pour was over 6 000 cubic yards of concrete and took place in one continuous operation lasting nearly 40 hours.

Large Conveyor into Building

Photo Credit: Alex Mead

Seen here is an elevator storage building. It was once used to store building materials, such as gravel, to ensure proper moisture content for making concrete was maintained in any weather conditions. On the right side of the building the conveyor belt used to lift the material into the silos can be seen quite clearly. Conveyer handling of materials is quite efficient and is still used today to load gravel, and other granular material like corn, into silos for storage.

Concrete Strip Foundation Placement

Photo Credit: Karl Jansen

This is a photo of some strip foundations being placed. Strip foundations are a type of shallow foundation, used when the soil the foundations are placed on is able to support the the loads that are placed on it. Strip foundations are used to support either a line load, such as that from a load-bearing wall, or a series of columns positioned in a line.

Course Aggregate Stockpile

Photo Credit: Alex Mead

This may look like a simple pile of gravel, but in reality it is a key ingredient in one of the most widely used building materials in the world; concrete. Concrete is a mixture of cement, water, and aggregate. Aggregate is a mixture of both sand and gravel, or fine and course aggregate respectively. Aggregate composition is very controlled in terms of the size and quantity of sand and gravel particles to be used. This gradation of aggregate particles ensures that a proper force transfer between particles and cement occurs to maintain strength of the overall concrete element in a structure.

Cofferdam

Photo Credit: Alex Mead

Featured in this photo is a temporary cofferdam made of sheet piles. This dam is used to keep the water from the Rouge River, the water on the far side of the dam, from flowing into the canal on the near side. Although it is difficult to tell, the water levels are actually quite different on each side of the cofferdam. By holding back the water from the Rouge River, construction crews can perform work on the banks of the canal in a dry environment instead of working beneath the surface of the water.

Excavator with Claw

Photo Credit: Alex Mead

Featured above is an excavator fitted with a claw for demolition. A machine with this type of configuration is very versatile for demolition purposes. The claw can be manipulated quite accurately for pulling pieces of a structure down or for sorting material on the ground into piles for easier disposal and recycling.

Rivets and Carnegie Steel

Photo Credit: Alex Mead

This is a regular steel member utilizing rivet construction on a bridge built in 1886. The cool trait about this member, however, is the maker’s mark on the middle. If you look closely you can see the name CARNEGIE raised. Carnegie was the owner of a steel company called Carnegie Steel Company that eventually was sold to help form the conglomerate U.S. Steel.