| |
Civil Engineering Topics - Abacus
- The uppermost part of a colurnn capital or pilaster, on which the architrave rests. Also, a bead frame used as an arithmetic calculating aid.
- Abamurus
- A supporting wall or buttress, built to add strength to another wall.
- Abram′s Law
- A rule that the ratio of water to cement for chemical action to impart strength to concrete is 0.85:1.
- Absorption Tower
- A tower or column, which effects contact between a rising gas and a falling liquid, so that part of the gas may be taken up by the liquid.
- Activated Carbon
- Also known as Activated Charcoal.
- Air Conditioning
- The process of treating air to simultaneously control its temperature, humidity, cleanliness, and distribution to meet the requirements of the conditioned space.
- Air Conditioning Load
- The amount of heat per unit time imposed on a refrigeration system or the required rate of heat removal.
- Air Exchange Rate
- The rate at which outside air replaces indoor air in a given space.
- Air Handling Unit
- Equipment that includes a fan or blower, heating and/or cooling coils, regulator controls, condensate drain pans, and air filters.
- Air Set Cement
- A cement that sets through loss of water.
- Anchorage
- A secure fixing.
- Aqueduct
- A channel designed to transport water from a remote source, usually by gravity.
- Arch
- A curved structural member that spans an opening and is generally composed of wedge-shaped blocks that transmit the downward pressure out laterally.
- Arch Bridge
- A curved structure that converts the downward force of its own weight, and of any weight pressing down on top of it, into an outward force along its sides and base.
- Arch Dam
- A dam with an arched shape that resists the force of water pressure; requires less material than a gravity dam for the same distance.
- Architect
- A person who designs all kinds of structures.
- Architectural Coatings
- Coverings such as paint and roof tar that are used on exteriors of buildings.
- Ashlar Masonry
- Uniform, rectangular blocks of stone with parallel faces, as used in the construction of classical Greek and Roman buildings.
- Balanced Construction
- A method of constructing manufactured wood products so that moisture content changes will be uniformly distributed and therefore will not cause warping.
- Balconet
- A false balcony constructed with a low railing outside a window.
- Balcony
- A projection from an upper story window or door surrounded by railing.
- Balusters
- Small turned, square, or flat column that supports a rail; also used to form chair backs.
- Balustrade
- A series of balusters supporting the railing of a stairs or balcony.
- Bannister
- A handrail with supporting posts on a stairway.
- Bargeboard
- The finish board covering the projecting portion of a gable roof.
- Bascule Bridge
- The deck is raised with counterweights like a drawbridge.
- Batten
- The narrow strips of wood nailed vertically over the joints of boards to form board-and-batten siding.
- Batter
- An inclined face of wall; hence battered.
- Batter Boards
- Horizontal boards at exact elevations nailed to posts just outside the corners of a proposed building.
- Bay
- A subdivision of the interior space of a building.
- Bay Window
- A window placed in a projection of an exterior wall of a building is called a bay window when the wall projection extends all the way down to a corresponding projection of the foundation.
- Beam Bridge
- A simple type of bridge, composed of horizontal beams supported by vertical posts.
- Bearing Partition
- A partition that supports any vertical load in addition to its own weight.
- Bearing Plate
- A metal plate that provides support for a structural member.
- Bearing Wall
- A wall that supports a weight above in additional to its own weight.
- Bed Moulding
- A moulding in an angle, as between the overhanging cornice, or eaves, of a building and the sidewalls.
- Bedrock
- A general term for solid rock that lies beneath soil, sediments, or other unconsolidated material.
- Belt Course
- A horizontal board carried at the same level across or around a building. It is usually made of a flat member and a moulding.
- Box-Wood
- Very compact hard wood suitable for machining small parts from.
- Bracket
- A horizontally projecting support.
- Bratice
- A timber tower, or projecting wooden gallery.
- Brick
- A shaped and burnt block of clay.
- Bricklayer Hammer
- A special hammer for chipping cement blocks and bricks.
- Bridge
- A structure built to span an obstacle - such as a river.
- Brunel, Isambard Kingdom
- Creator of the Great Western Railway, bridge builder and revolutionary naval architect.
- Buckling Load
- The limit of force beyond which a structure will buckle.
- Building Acoustics
- Acoustics associated with the operation and use of a building.
- Buttress
- An exterior masonry structure that opposes the lateral thrust of an arch or a vault and adds extra support.
- Buttress Dam
- A gravity dam reinforced by structural supports.
- Cable
- Either a stranded conductor or a combination of conductors insulated from one another.
- Cable-Stayed Bridge
- A bridge in which the roadway deck is suspended from cables anchored to one or more towers.
- Caisson
- A watertight, dry chamber in which people can work underwater.
- Cantilever Beam
- A beam that is held in an encastre at one end whilst the other end is unsupported.
- Ceiling
- The overhead upper surface.
- Cement
- A substance that can be used to build together aggregates of sand or stone into a cohesive structure. May be a single compound or a mixture. May be hydraulic set, air set or chemical set.
- Chemical Set Cement
- A cement that sets through reaction or precipitation.
- Civil Engineer
- An engineer who plans, designs, and supervises the construction of facilities essential to modern life.
- Clapboard
- Thin, narrow boards of tapering cross-section applied horizontally as siding on wood-frame houses.
- Clay
- Finely suspended earth mineral sometimes found as an impurity in water.
- Coffer
- A sunken panel in a ceiling.
- Cofferdam
- A temporary dam built to divert a river around a construction site so the dam can be built on dry ground.
- Cogeneration
- A term used to describe the combination of different thermodynamic cycles for the purpose of increasing all-over cycle efficiency.
- Column
- A pillar, usually of round cross-section but sometimes square or octagonal, used to support the roof of a building, porch, or portico.
- Concrete
- Building material made from cement, sand, stone and water.
- Conservatory
- A greenhouse attached to a house.
- Construction Manager
- A person who coordinates the entire construction process, from initial planning and foundation work through the structure′s completion.
- Continuous Span Beam Bridge
- Simple bridge made by linking one beam bridge to another; some of the longest bridges in the world are continuous span beam bridges.
- Corbel
- A projecting wall member used as a support for some element of the superstructure.
- Corbelled Arch
- An arch constructed by successive layers of brick or stone projecting further towards each other from either side of the arch, until the gap is spanned.
- Cornice
- A cornice is an ornamental molding, or composition of two or more moldings, located at the exterior wall-roof junction of a building, beneath the eaves, or beneath the sloping ends of a gable roof.
- Course
- Level layer of stones or bricks.
- Crenelated
- Notched or indented, usually with respect to tops of walls, as in battlements.
- Crocket
- A projecting, foliate ornament of a capital, pinnacle, gable or buttress.
- Crosswall
- An interior dividing wall of a castle.
- Cupola
- A cupola is a short windowed tower, or dome, typically located in the center of a flat or low-slope roof.
- Curtain Wall
- A connecting wall hung between towers of a castle.
- Cut and Cover
- A method of tunnel construction that involves digging a trench, building a tunnel, and then covering it with fill.
- Dam
- Generally serves the purpose of retaining water.
- Deck
- Supported roadway on a bridge.
- Deck-Stiffened Arch
- An arch connected by vertical elements to a deck beam that stiffens the arch in such a way that the arch carries almost no bending moments and can therefore be thin.
- Dentils
- Tooth-like ornaments used in the cornice compositions of main and porch roofs and gables.
- Diaphram Arch
- A transverse, wall-bearing arch that divides a vault or a ceiling into compartments, providing a kind of firebreak.
- Diversion Channel
- A bypass created to divert water around a dam so that construction can take place.
- Dome
- A roof formed by a series of arches, roughly forming a semicircle.
- Donjon
- The principal tower of a castle.
- Door
- Opening to a room, compartment or system.
- Dormer Window
- A window housed in a gable or similar structure affixed to the sloping part of a roof, providing natural light and ventilation to the rooms beneath the roof.
- Double Hung Window
- Two sashes which, when both are closed, are positioned one immediately above the other.
- Downstream Face
- The side of the dam that is not against the water.
- Drawbridge
- The deck can be raised and lowered.
- Drum Tower
- A large, circular tower, usually low and squat.
- Drystone Wall
- Unmortared masonry wall.
- Dynamite
- A blasting explosive, based on nitroglycerine, but much safer to handle than nitroglycerine alone.
- Eave
- This is the part of a roof which overhangs the exterior walls.
- Elliptical Arch
- Many mediaeval stone bridges were built with elliptical arches spanning rivers.
- Embankment Dam
- A dam composed of a mound of earth and rock; the simplest type of gravity dam.
- Embrasure
- A splayed opening in a wall that enframes a doorway or a window.
- Engineering
- A profession in which a knowledge of math and natural science is applied to develop ways to utilize the materials and forces of nature for the benefit of all human beings.
- English Bond
- A particular arrangement of bricks.
- Environmental Engineer
- An engineer who designs and operates systems to provide safe drinking water and to prevent and control pollution in water, in the air, and on the land.
- Façade
- Any important face of a building, usually the principal front with the main entrance.
- Fire-Setting
- An ancient tunneling technique in which rock is heated with fire and then doused with cold water, causing the rock to fracture.
- Flat Wood Drill
- A wood drill that has a centre point to locate the drill and flats that bore the hole.
- Flemish Bond
- A particular arrangement of bricks.
- Floor
- The walking surface of a room or vehicle.
- Flying Buttress
- A structure that adds support to a high wall or arch from a lower wall or arch.
- Footers
- The stones at the base of a bridge structure that take the loads onto the foundations.
- Geodesic Dome
- A dome composed of short, straight pieces joined to form triangles; invented by Buckminster Fuller.
- Geotechnical Engineer
- An engineer who evaluates and stabilizes foundations for buildings, roads, and other structures.
- Girder
- A beam, usually made from concrete or steel, that is designed to strengthen another structural element.
- Gravity Dam
- A dam constructed so that its great weight resists the force of water pressure.
- Gunpowder
- Any of several low-explosive mixtures.
- Header Bond
- A particular arrangement of bricks.
- Hogging
- The upwards bending in a beam, usually over its piers, that is the counterbalance to sagging in other sections of the beam.
- Hydraulic Set Cement
- A cement that sets through reaction with water.
- Keystone
- The central stone in an arch, and begins the distribution of the vertical load forces down and around the arch.
- Killed Steel
- Steel treated with a strong deoxidizing agent.
- Lance-Wood
- An elastic wood suitable where some degree of bending is required.
- Lift Bridge
- The deck is raised vertically like a massive elevator.
- Lintel
- The horizontal beam placed over an opening.
- Load Bearing
- Supporting a superimposed weight or force.
- Masonry
- A building material such as stone, clay, brick, or concrete.
- Monolithic Dome
- A dome composed of a series of arches, joined together with a series of horizontal rings called parallels.
- Movable Bridge
- A bridge in which the deck moves to clear a navigation channel.
- Nonbearing
- Not carrying a load.
- Oriented Strand Board
- A building panel composed of long shreds of wood fibre oriented in specific directions and bonded together under pressure.
- Particle Board
- A building panel composed of small particles of wood and resins bonded together under pressure.
- Plane Wood
- A North American wood that resembles beech, durable in water but not in air.
- Plaster of Paris
- Partly dehydrated gypsum.
- Plasterboard
- A board used in large sheets as a backing or as a substitute for plaster in walls and consisting of fiberboard, paper, or felt, bonded to a hardened gypsum core.
- Plenum
- Air compartment connected to a duct or ducts.
- Plywood
- Thin sheets of wood glued together with the grains running in different directions to improve the strength of the resultant board.
- Pneumatic Form
- A concrete roof shape defined by inflating a bladder that gives a form defined by pressure loading.
- Pre-Stressed Concrete
- A method of construction whereby compression forces are applied to concrete elements with the goal of counteracting the tension that would otherwise occur due to loads.
- Radiant Heating
- Heating system in which warm or hot surfaces are used to radiate heat into the space to be conditioned.
- Rawlplug
- The inventer of the original wall plug was John Rawlings and he marketed the Rawlplug.
- Refrigerant
- The working fluid used in refrigerators.
- Reinforced Concrete
- Steel bars embedded in concrete and designed to take the tension that occurs on account of loads.
- Reinforcing
- Where a structure such as a girder or a concrete slab has been strengthened or stiffened by extra material or by the addition of trusses.
- Rock Tunnel
- A passage constructed through solid rock.
- Sacrificial Anode
- Coupling of a more active metal to a structure resulting in a galvanic current flow through the corroding electrolyte.
- SAE Steel
- Steel manufactured under the specifications by the Society of Automotive Engineers.
- Sagging
- The tendency of a beam to bend downwards, when acted on by a load, including its own weight.
- Sand
- A term generally given to rock with a grain size between 1/16mm and 2mm.
- Sandblasting
- A process of blowing sand by compressed air with considerable force through a hose against an object.
- Shear Walls
- Solid concrete walls that resist shear forces; often used in buildings constructed in earthquake zones.
- Shingle
- A small thin piece of building material often with one end thicker than the other for lying in overlapping rows as a covering for the roof or sides of a building or structure.
- Silt
- Sediment particles ranging from 0.004 to 0.06 mm in diameter.
- Silver Sand
- A sand with a very low iron content.
- Skylight
- An opening in a roof to admit light.
- Soffit
- The undersurface of a horizontal element of a building, especially the undersides of a stair or roof overhang.
- Soft-Ground Tunnel
- A passage constructed through loose, unstable, or wet ground, requiring supports to keep the walls from collapsing.
- Spillway
- An overflow channel that allows dam operators to release lake water when it gets high enough to threaten the safety of a dam.
- Stainless Steel
- Any steel containing at least 10.5% Cr as the principal alloying element.
- Steel
- An iron-based alloy containing manganese, usually carbon, and other alloying elements.
- Stiffened Suspension Bridge
- A suspension bridge with a stiff horizontal deck.
- Story
- Floor of a skyscraper.
- Stretcher Bond
- A particular arrangement of bricks.
- Structural Engineer
- An engineer who investigates the behaviour and design of all kinds of structures.
- Stud
- A fastener which is threaded at both ends with an unthreaded shank in between.
- Subfloor
- Rough or structural floor placed directly on the floor joists or beams to which the finished floor is applied.
- Surveyor′s Wheel
- A device for measuring distance.
- Suspension Bridge
- A bridge in which the roadway deck is suspended from cables that pass over two towers.
- Swing Bridge
- The deck that rotates around a centre point.
- Tailings Dam
- A dam, usually made of earth and rock, used to contain mining waste.
- Tension Ring
- A support ring that resists the outward force pushing against the lower sides of a dome.
- Three-Hinged Arch
- A curved structure with hinges usually at each abutment and at the crown.
- Truss
- Structural framework of triangular units for supporting loads over long spans.
- Tuned Mass Damper
- Another name for a Dynamic Vibration Absorber.
- Tunnel
- An underground passageway.
- Tunnel Boring Machine
- A mechanical device that tunnels through the ground.
- Tunnel Shield
- A cylinder pushed ahead of tunneling equipment to provide advance support for the tunnel roof; used when tunneling in soft or unstable ground.
- Unstable
- Characteristic of a structure that collapses or deforms under a realistic load or a chemical that decomposes.
- Upstream Face
- The side of a dam that is against the water.
- Vault
- An arched brick or stone ceiling or roof.
- Vent
- An opening in a vessel or other enclosed space for the removal of gas or vapour.
- Viaduct
- A road or rail bridge of considerable length, usually carrying vehicles at an elevated height across a valley or round a mountain side, as opposed to simply across a specific obstacle.
- Voussoirs
- The trapezoidal stones that are often used to form a rounded arch.
- Water Hammer
- Banging of pipes caused by the shock of closing valves - eg taps.
- Well
- A pit or hole sunk into the earth to reach a supply of water.
- Wind Tunnel
- A tunnel with a large fan that is used by engineers to test the effects of high winds on a structure.
- Window
- A piece of glass with plane parallel sides which admits light into or through an optical system and excludes dirt and moisture.
- Wood
- A hard substance which forms the branches and trunks of trees and which can be used as a building material, for making things, or as a fuel.
- Wood Screws
- The diameter and pilot drill size versus wood screw gauge.
- Wooden Mallet
- A hammer with a wooden head.
 
| |
