Terminologies in Civil Engineering Page 3
Dado Joint
The joint is made by cutting a groove or dado into one piece of wood to allow another piece of wood to fit into it. This very strong joint is normally used in cabinet making. There is a straight dado joint that has a groove cut from edge to edge of the piece of wood. In the other type, the wood stops short of the edge so that the joint is not visible from the face of the piece.
Dampproofing
A process used on concrete, masonry, or stone surfaces to repel water, the main purpose of which is to prevent the coated surface from absorbing rainwater while still permitting moisture vapor to escape from the structure. (Moisture vapor readily penetrates coatings of this type.) “Dampproofing” generally applies to surfaces above grade; „waterproofing” generally applies to surfaces below grade.
Datum Plane
A real or assumed thing, used as a basis for calculations or measurements, as a level from which elevations and depths are measured in surveying.
DeadBolt
A lock that requires a key to open from the outside and a turn bolt from the inside, which slides into a receptacle in the door jamb. It is also called a deadbolt lock or a deadlock.
DeadLock
A lock that requires a key to open from the outside and a turn bolt from the inside, which slides into a receptacle in the door jamb. It is also called a deadbolt or a deadbolt lock.
Deck Bridge
A bridge in which the supporting members are all beneath the roadway
Deformed Bars
Concrete reinforcement consisting of steel bars with projections or indentations to increase the mechanical bond between the steel and concrete.
Diagonal Bracing
Boards that are installed diagonally across the wall studs to keep the walls from cracking or going out of square and to add strength to the structure. Each stud is cut where the bracing board will fit so that it is flush with the studs on the surface.
Diaphragm Wall
A wall built transversely to the longitudinal centerline of a spandrel arch serving to tie together and reinforced the spandrel walls, together with providing support for the floor system in conjunction with the spandrel walls; also known as the cross wall.
Differential Settlement
Uneven settlement of individual or independent elements of a substructure.
Dike
An earthen embankment constructed to retain floodwater; when used in conjunction with a bridge, it prevents stream erosion and localized scour and/or so directs the stream current such that debris does not accumulate; also known as dyke.
Dolphin
A group of piles driven close together and placed to protect portions of abridging exposed to possible damage by collision with river or marine traffic.
Dolphin
A group of piles driven close together and placed to protect portions of abridging exposed to possible damage by collision with river or marine traffic.
Double Brick Wall
A type of brick wall where the exterior walls consist of two separate courses of brick that have been tied together by turning a course of bricks 90 degrees to the wall every so often. This type of wall often is load-bearing, as opposed to Brick Veneer construction where the exterior brick is decorative and non-load bearing.
Double Movable Bridge
A bridge in which the clear span for navigation is produced by joining the arms of two adjacent swing spans or the leaves of two adjacent bascule spans at or near the center of the navigable channel.
Douglas Fir
A yellow to pale reddish softwood. The leading wood is primarily converted into plywood and widely used in building and construction. Lumber is used in general construction. Lumber is used in general construction. Douglas Fir Mill products are also used for sash, flooring, and doors.
Eaves
The underside of a sloping roof projecting beyond the wall of a building.
Effective Height
The height of a member to be assumed for calculating the slenderness ration.
Elastomer
Normally used in items as seals for both washers, gaskets, and hoses, the elastomer is either a natural or synthetic elastic material. When parts are not perfectly fitted, elastomer gaskets guarantee a tight fit. • Flue Lining Fire clay or terra-cotta pipe, round or square, usually made in all ordinary flue sizes and 2-foot lengths, used for the inner lining of chimneys with the brick or masonry work around the outside. Flue lining in chimney runs from about a foot below the flue connection to the top of the chimney.
Elbow
Plumbing fitting, shaped like an elbow, which allows water to flow in a curve. Also referred to as an ell, it is designed to use with pipe, tubing, conduit, or duct and is available in 90 to 45 degrees.
Epoxy Binder
Binder is made of resin with polyamide hardener to create a chemical reaction when combined with epoxy paints, which allows the mixture to harden as it dries.
Escalator
A power-driven, inclined continuous stairway used for raising or lowering passengers.
Escutcheon
Door hardware that accommodates the knob and keyhole.
Extrados
The curve defining the exterior surface of an arch; also known as back.
Facade
Front or principal face of a building; any side of a building that faces a street or other open space.
Face shell Bedding
In concrete block masonry construction-application of mortar to all vertical and horizontal edges of the face shells of hollow masonry units.
Fatigue
The tendency of a member to fail at lower stress when subjected to cyclical loading than when subjected to static loading.
Fender
A structure that acts as a buffer to protect the portions of a bridge exposed to floating debris and waterborne traffic from collision damage; sometimes called an ice guard in regions with ice flaws.
Fenestration
The arrangement of windows in a building to provide interior light; also used as decorative elements in a façade.
Fish Belly
A term applied to a girder or a truss having its bottom flange or its bottom chord constructed either haunched or bow-shaped with the convexity downward.
Fixed Bridge
A bridge having its superstructure spans fixed in position except that provision may be made in their construction for expansion and contraction movements resulting from temperature changes, loadings, or other forces.
Flexural Strength
A property of a solid that indicates its ability to withstand bending.
Floor Area Ratio (FAR)
A comparison of the total area of the floor of a building with the total area of the land upon which it stands. Maximum or minimum FARs may be established by local zoning rules. Footbridge A bridge is designed and constructed to provide means of traverse for pedestrian traffic only; also known as a pedestrian bridge.
Forms
The constructions that hold the concrete in place while it is hardening; also known as formwork, shuttering.
Foundation Grillage
A construction consisting of steel, timber, or concrete members placed in layers; each layer is normal to those above and below it and the members within a layer are generally parallel, producing a crib or grid-like effect. Grillages are usually placed under very heavy concentrated loads.
Gap-Graded Aggregate
Aggregate containing particles of both large and small sizes, in which particles of certain intermediate sizes are wholly or substantially absent.
Girder
A flexural member which is the main or primary support for the structure, and which usually receives loads from floor beams and stringers; any large beam, especially if built up.
Glass Fiber Reinforced Concrete (GFRC)
Concrete panels, usually architectural designs, reinforced with high zirconia (16% minimum), alkali-resistant glass fiber. The optimum glass fiber content of 5% by weight. Lower fiber content results in lower early ultimate strengths, higher fiber content can produce composite compaction and consolidation difficulties.
Gravel fill
A bed of course gravel that is laid atop the existing soil before pouring the concrete slab. The gravel serves a dual purpose of breaking surface tension on the concrete slab and providing a layer that interrupts the capillary action of subsurface moisture from reaching the concrete slab. Typically, a polyethylene sheeting will be installed between the gravel fill and the concrete slab for further moisture-proofing.
Gravity Abutment
A heavy abutment which resists horizontal earth pressure through its dead weight.
Grillage
A platform-like construction is used to ensure the distribution of loads upon unconsolidated soil material.
Hawk
A flat wood or metal tool 10 inches to 14 inches square with a handle used by plasterers to carry plaster mortar or mud.
Headloss
The loss of energy between two points along the path of a flowing fluid due to fluid friction reported in feet of head.
Hinged Joint
A joint constructed with a pin, cylinder segment, spherical segment, or other device permitting movement by rotation.
Hip Rafter
The rafter which forms the hip of the roof. It is usually made from a board that is the next size larger in width than the common rafters (for example, if the common rafters are 2×6’s, the hip rafter is a 2×8).
Hip Roof
A roof that rises by inclined planes from all four sides on the building. The line where two adjacent sloping sides of a roof meet is called the Hip. • Hip Vertical The vertically placed tension member engaging the hip joint of a truss and supporting the first-panel floor beam in a through truss span, or instead, only the bottom chord is a deck truss span.
Hollow Core Door
A door whose faces are composed of sheets of thin material with a hollow core that has been filled with a stiffening material. As opposed to a solid core door that is made of a solid material throughout.
Hopper Window
Any single pieced window that is hinged at the bottom edge and swings down when opened.
House Drain
A horizontal sewer piping within a building, which receives waste from the soil stacks.
House Sewer
The watertight soil pipe extending from the exterior of the foundation wall to the public sewer.
Humidifier
A device designed to increase the humidity within a room or a house using the discharge of water vapor. They may consist of individual room size units or larger units attached to the heating plant to condition the entire house.
Humidistat
A controlling device to regulate or maintain the desired degree of humidity in a house.
Hybrid System
A solar system that combines both active and passive elements, for example, a passive system that contains fans or blowers to aid heat circulation.
Hydrogenases
Another term for condensation. The term is especially applied to the base and soil substrates under highway pavements where the barometric pump causes the inhalation of humid air, which then condenses in those structures, causing an ever-increasing moisture content and sometimes instability.
Hydrologic Cycle
The Hydrologic Cycle consists of the evaporation of water from oceans and other bodies of open water; condensation to produce cloud formations; precipitation of rain, snow, sleet, or hail upon land surfaces; dissipation of rain or melted solids by direct run-off into lakes and by seepage into the soil. Thereby producing a continuing endless source of water in the sub-grade.
Hydrology
The science of water-related to its properties and distribution in the atmosphere, on the land surface, and beneath the surface of the land.
Hygroscopic
Attracting, absorbing, and retaining atmospheric moisture.
Please visit the next/previous page to continue reading terminologies in Civil Engineering