Terminologies in Civil Engineering

Terminologies in Civil Engineering

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Terminologies in Civil Engineering Page 6

 

Scaffold
A temporary erection of timber or metalwork used in the construction, alteration or demolition of a building, to support or to allow the hoisting and lowering of workmen, their tools and materials.

Scaling
The gradual deterioration is of a concrete surface due to the failure of the cement paste caused by chemical attack or freeze/thaw cycles.

Scour
Erosion of a river bed area caused by streamflow. · Scour Protection Protection of submerged material by steel sheet piling, rip rap, a mattress, or a combination of such methods.

Sealant
An elastomeric material with adhesive qualities applied between components of a similar or dissimilar nature to provide an effective barrier against the passage of the elements.

Segregation
The tendency for the coarse particles to separate from the finer particles in handling. In concrete, the coarse aggregate and drier material remain behind and the mortar and wetter material flow ahead. This also occurs in a vertical direction when wet concrete is over vibrated or dropped vertically into the forms, the mortar and wetter material rising to the top. In aggregate, the coarse particles roll-to the outside edges of the stockpile.

Semi-Detached Housing
A dwelling that shares one sidewall with another dwelling.

Septic System
An on-site wastewater treatment system. It usually has a septic tank that promotes the biological digestion of the waste, and a drain field which is designed to let the leftover liquid soak into the ground. Septic systems and permits are usually sized by the number of bedrooms in a house.

Service Connection
The electric wires to the building from the outside power lines.

Service Panel
A separate or auxiliary breaker or fuse box separate from the main electrical service entrance. Its purpose is to tie all the electrical circuits of building into the main power line and allow each circuit to be protected by fuses or breakers to avoid overloading. Often referred to as the fuse box or distribution panel.

Setback
Distance from the property lines, front, side, and rear, to the face of the building; established by zoning ordinances.

Setting Time
The time required for a specimen of cement paste, mortar, or concrete, prepared and tested under standardized conditions to attain a specified degree of rigidity with particular reference to initial and final setting time.

Shear Stress
The sheer force per unit of cross-sectional area; also referred to as diagonal tensile stress.

Shear
The force tending to make two contacting parts slide upon each other in opposite directions parallel to their plane of contact.

Shearing Strength
The capacity of an object or soil to resist shearing stresses.

Shear-Walls
Solid concrete walls that resist shear forces; often used in buildings constructed in earthquake zones.

Shore
A strut or prop placed against or beneath a structure to restrain movement.

Shoring
Temporary support was erected in a trench or other excavation to support the walls from caving in.

Shrinkage Index
The numerical difference between the plastic and shrinkage limits. ASCE.

Side Sewer
The portion of the sanitary sewer which connects the interior waste water lines to the main sewer lines. The side sewer is usually buried in several feet of soil and runs from the house to the sewer line. It is usually ‘owned’ by the sewer utility, must be maintained by the owner, and may only be serviced by utility approved contractors.

Slab Bridge
A bridge having a superstructure composed of a reinforced concrete slab constructed either as a single unit or as a series of narrow slabs placed parallel with the roadway alignment and spanning the space between the supporting abutments.

Slenderness Ration
The ratio of the effective height of a member to its effective thickness.

Slurry
A mixture of water and such finely divided materials, such as portland cement, slag, or soil in suspension.

Soffit
The underside of an overhanging cornice of a building extending out from the plane of the building walls.

Spalling
The chipping or flaking of concrete, bricks, or another masonry where improper drainage or venting and freeze/thaw cycling exists.

Spalling
The chipping or flaking of concrete, bricks, or another masonry where improper drainage or venting and freeze/thaw cycling exists.

Spread Footing
A footing which is wide and usually made of reinforced concrete; ideally suited for foundation material with moderate bearing capacity.

Spur Dike
A projecting jetty-lime construction placed adjacent to an abutment to prevent stream scour and undermining of the abutment foundation and to reduce the accumulation of stream debris against the upstream side

Static Load
In roofing the total amount of permanent nonmoving weight that is applied to given surface areas.

Stay-In-Place Forms
A prefabricated metal concrete deck form that will remain in place after the concrete has set.

Steel Trowel
A tool used for non-porous smooth finishes of concrete. It is a flat steel tool used to spread and smooth plaster, mortar, or concrete. Pointing trowels are small enough to be used in places where larger trowels will not fit. The pointing trowel has a point. The common trowel has a rectangular blade attached to a handle. For a smooth finish, use a trowel when concrete begins to stiffen.

Stiffener
A small member attached to another member to transfer stress and to prevent bucking.

Stiffening Girder
A girder is incorporated in a suspension bridge to distribute the traffic loads uniformly among the suspenders and reduce local deflections.

Stiffening Truss
A truss is incorporated in a suspension bridge to distribute the traffic loads uniformly among the suspenders and reduce local deflections.

Swing Span Bridge
A movable bridge in which the span rotates in a horizontal plane on a pivot pier, to permit passage of marine traffic.

T M T bars
Thermomechanically treated bars used as reinforcement in R.C.C. have good fire resistance, greater ductility, and much greater resistance to corrosion. These are available in Fe 415, Fe 500 & Fe 550 grades.

Tapered Edge Strip
A tapered insulation strip is used to elevate the roofing at the perimeter and penetrations of the roof.

Taxiways
Pavements used for the powered ground movement of aircraft between runway systems and other airfield facilities.

Tensegrity
An array of tension cables and compression rods that supports a structure; invented by Buckminster Fuller student Kenneth Snelson.

Tensile Strength
(1) The maximum tensile stress per unit of original cross-sectional area applied during stretching of a specimen to break; units: SI-metric-Megapascal or kilopascal, customary-pound per square inch;
(2) The longitudinal pulling stress a material can bear without tearing apart; (3) The ratio of maximum load to the original cross-sectional area. Also called ultimate strength.

Tinted Glass
Glass with colorants added to the basic glass batch that gives the glass color as well as light and heat-reducing capabilities. The color extends throughout the thickness of the glass.

Ultrasonic Testing
Nondestructive testing of materials? integrity using sound waves.

Underpinning
A foundation replacement or reinforcement for temporary bracing supports.

Vermiculite An aggregate somewhat similar to perlite that is used as an aggregate in lightweight roof decks and deck fills. It is formed from mica, a hydrous silicate with the ability to expand on heating to form lightweight material with insulation equality. Used as bulk insulation and also as aggregate in insulating and acoustical plaster and insulating concrete.

Wagner Fineness
The fineness of materials such as Portland cement expressed as total surface area in centimeters per gram as determined by the Wagner turbidimeter apparatus and procedure.

Warren Truss
A triangular truss consisting of sloping members between the top and bottom chords and no verticals; members from the letter W

Zonolite
Used as both an aggregate in the making of insulating concrete and as loose-fill insulation, it‟s a lightweight insulating material.

 

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