CHAPTER 4: CONCRETE STAIRS

4.1 Precast and Cast in Situ Concrete Stairs

4.2 Types and Constructions

Prepared By: Ar. Upendra Subedi

CONCRETE STAIRS: Introduction
 Means of access between floors in buildings
 Should be constructed to provide:
 Easy circulation
 Comfortable and safe access
 Neither laborious nor difficult to climb within a
compact area so as not to take up excessive floor area
 Means of escape in case of fire

 R.C. Stairs are non-combustible, strong and hard

wearing
 Normally used because they can be molded in
any desired form to suit the requirements

 Extensive form work and weight of construction

is an important consideration in concrete stairs.
CONCRETE STAIRS: Terminologies
 Flight
 An uninterrupted series of steps
between floors or between floor and
landing, or between landing and
landing

 Should have no fewer than three and

nor more than sixteen risers

 The rise and going of each step should

be equal
 Steps
 Series of horizontal open treads with a
space between the treads or

 As enclosed steps with a vertical face

between the treads, called a riser
CONCRETE STAIRS: Terminologies
 Tread and Riser
 Horizontal surface of a step-Trade
 Vertical or near vertical face-Riser
 Rise and Going
 Rise: The distance measured vertically from the
surface of one trade to the surface of the next
or
 The distance from the bottom to the top of a
flight

 Going: The distance measured horizontally,

from the face of one riser to the face of the next
riser

 Rise and going determine whether a stair is

steep or shallow
CONCRETE STAIRS: Terminologies
 Pitch
 Inclination of stair from the horizontal
 Can be pitched from 15 to 55 degree

 Ramps: 15 degree
 Ladders: above 55 degree from horizontal

 Head room and clearance

 Between line of nosings of the stair and
the underside of the stairs, landings and
floors above the stair

 Minimum clearance of 1.5 meters

 For moving goods and furniture: min. 2m

CONCRETE STAIRS: Terminologies
 Riser height, width of tread and flight and handrail requirements will be based upon the
use and type of buildings.
Stair Rise (mm) Going (mm) Pitch Unobstructed width (mm)

Min. Optimum Max. Min. Opt. Max. Opt. Max. Min. Reduced min.
where stair has
limited use
Private 100 175 190 desirable 225 250 350 35° 40° desirable 800 600
stair* 220 absolute 42°
max. Absolute max.

Semi-public 100 165 190 250 275 350 31° 38° 1000 800
stair**
Public 100 150 180 280 300 350 27° 33° 1000
stair*** (hospitals
1200)

* Stair used by a lmimited number of people who are generally very familiar with the stair, e.g. the internal stair in a dwelling
** Stair used by larger numbers ofpeople, some of whom may be unfamiliar with the stai, e.g. in factories, offices, shops, common stair serving
more than one dwelling
*** Stair used by large numbers of people at one time, e.g. in places of public assembly. Stair used by people with ambulatory difficulties, e.g. in
hospitals, children’s homes
CONCRETE STAIRS: Terminologies
 Reinforced concrete stairs can be pre-cast or
cast-in –situ.
 To change their appearance, they are often
covered with thin slabs of stone, marble, tiles or
with terrazzo finish.
 In order to prevent the nosing of the step getting
cracked, it should preferably be protected by
metallic strips or angles.
CONCRETE STAIRS: Terminologies
 The arrangement of the flights of the steps
can be made same as in timber like;
a) Straight flight
b) Half turn or dog legged (with or without well)
c) Quarter turn
d) Geometrical stairs (spiral, circular, elliptical,
bifurcated etc)
 Among them, half turn or dog legged
concrete stair is commonly used.
CONCRETE STAIRS: Advantages of concrete stairs:
 They have fire resisting qualities to a great extent

 They are durable, strong, pleasing in appearance and can be easily

treated to make non-slippery
 They can be designed for greater widths and longer spans

 They can be easily installed and moulded

 Economical, universal, and maintenance cost is almost nil

 They are very much suitable for R.C.C. framed structures

 The design options are extensive including highly elegant and
classical designs
CONCRETE STAIRS: Requirements
 Concrete mix usually is specified as M15
concrete(1:2:4) with 20mm aggregate
 Minimum cover is required 15mm or bar
diameter whichever is the greater to give
a 1 hour fire resistance

 Waist thickness is usually placed between

100 to 250mm depending upon the stair
type
 Mild steel, tor-steel or high yield steel
bars are used as reinforcement

 Continuous handrails at height of 840–

915mm above the pitch line are required
to all stairs.
CONCRETE STAIRS: Requirements
CONCRETE STAIRS: Requirements
Cast In Situ Concrete Stairs: TYPES
 Cast in situ concrete stairs are designed as
slabs in the following types;

1. Single straight flight stair

2. Inclined stair with half space landing
3. String beam stair
4. Cranked slab stair
5. Cantilever stair
6. Spiral stair
Cast In Situ Concrete Stairs: 1. Single Straight Flight Stair:
 It is simple in design and construction but is not
common because of the horizontal space it
occupies.
 In this stair arrangement, the flight behaves as a
simply supported slab spanning from landing to
landing.
 The effective span or total horizontal going is
taken from landing edge beam to next landing
edge beam
Cast In Situ Concrete Stairs: 1. Single Straight Flight Stair:
Cast In Situ Concrete Stairs: 1. Single Straight Flight Stair:
Cast In Situ Concrete Stairs: 2. Inclined Stair With Half Space Landing:
 These stairs have more compact
plan layout and better circulation
than the single straight flight stairs.

 Half space or 180°turn landing is

usually introduced at mid point of
the rise making equal flight steps
for reducing the effective span as
well as the bending moment.

 In most cases, the landings span

crosswise on to load bearing wall
or beam and the flights span from
landing to landing
Cast In Situ Concrete Stairs: 2. Inclined Stair With Half Space Landing:
The point of intersection of the soffits of the
flights with the landing
soffits(undersurface) can be detailed as;

Intersection or change of direction is in a

straight line:
 This gives a better visual appearance
from the underside but the riser lines of
the first and last steps in consecutive
flights are offset in plan.

Intersections are out of line:

 Flights and landing soffit intersections
can be made out of line on the underside
by keeping the first and last risers in
consecutive flights in one line on plan.
Cast In Situ Concrete Stairs: 2. Inclined Stair With Half Space Landing:
 The tension lap is required at the
top and bottom of each flight
Cast In Situ Concrete Stairs: 2. Inclined Stair With Half Space Landing:
Cast In Situ Concrete Stairs: 3. String Beam Stair:
 These stairs are alternative to inclined
stair with half space landing.

 A string or edge beam is used to span

from landing to landing and this results;

 In using thinner waist dimension and saving

the overall volume of the concrete required

 But the extra formwork costs required

usually balance this saving in material

 The string beams can be either upstand

or down stand and can be used at both
sides if the stairs are free standing.
Cast In Situ Concrete Stairs: 3. String Beam Stair:
Cast In Situ Concrete Stairs: 4. Cranked slab stair:
 They are used as very special feature since
the half space landing has no support.

 Bending, buckling and torsion stresses are

induced in such stairs and thus require
reinforcement to both faces of the landing
and the waist slab
Cast In Situ Concrete Stairs: 4. Cranked slab stair:
 Intersection line between flight and landing soffits can be done different as in
inclined stair with half space landing.
 Cranked slab stair is also called; i) Continuous stair ii)Scissor stair
Cast In Situ Concrete Stairs: 5. Cantilever stair:
 Also called spine(backbone)wall stair, which
consists of a central vertical wall from which the
flights and half space landings are cantilevered
 Thus the reinforcement is placed in the top of the
flight slab and in the upper surface of the landing to
counteract the induced negative bending moment.
Cast In Situ Concrete Stairs: 5. Cantilever stair:
 The wall provides some degree of fire
resistance between the flights and thus mainly
used for fire escape stair.
 The plan arrangement can be either single
straight flight or two equal flights with
intermediate half space landing.
Cast In Situ Concrete Stairs: 6. Spiral stair:
 It is mainly used in the foyers of prestigious
buildings such as theatres, banks and
bungalow etc.

 It is expensive to construct; normally at least

seven times the cost of normal stair.

 The plan shape is generally based on a circle

but it is also possible to design open spiral
stair with elliptical core.

 It can be formed around a central large

diameter circular column, like the cantilevered
stair
Cast In Situ Concrete Stairs: 6. Spiral stair:
 Torsion, tension and compressive stresses are
developed and thus require reinforcement to
both faces of the slab

 The formwork consists of a central vertical

core to which the soffit and riser boards are
set out and fixed
Cast In Situ Concrete Stairs: 6. Spiral stair:
Pre-Cast Concrete Stairs: Introduction
 Most of the cast in
situ concrete stairs
can be produced as
pre-cast concrete
components

Advantages:
 Better quality control of the finished product
 Saving in site space, since the space is not
required for formwork storage and fabrication

 The stairway enclosing shaft can be utilized as a

space for hoisting of lifting materials.
 Can usually be positioned and fixed by semi-
skilled labour
Pre-Cast Concrete Stairs: Introduction
 While using all precast concrete
components, the stairs must be
repetitive and in sufficient quantity.

They can be:

a. A Simple Straight Flight,
b. Cranked Slab,
c. Open rise,
d. Spiral and if required
e. Cantilevered from a structural wall.
Pre-Cast Concrete Stairs: 1. Single straight flight stair:
They can have
 Simple bearing or
 Leaving projecting reinforcement to
be grouted into slots in the landings
to give a degree of structural
continuity
Pre-Cast Concrete Stairs: 1. Single straight flight stair:
 Simple bearing requires only bottom
reinforcement to the slab and extra
reinforcement to strengthen the bearing rebate
or nib
 The bearing location is a rebate cast in the in
situ floor slab or landing leaving a tolerance
gap of 8-12 mm which is filled with a
compressible material to form a flexible joint.
Pre-Cast Concrete Stairs: 2. Cranked Slab Pre-Cast Concrete Stair:
 It is usually formed as an open well stair.
 The bearing for the pre-cast landings to the in situ floor or to structural frame is
in the form of simple bearing as described in straight flight stair.
Pre-Cast Concrete Stairs: 2. Cranked Slab Pre-Cast Concrete Stair:
 The infill between the two adjacent
flights can be of in situ concrete
with structural continuity provided
by reinforcements projecting from
the landings.
Pre-Cast Concrete Stairs: 3. Precast open rise stair:
 This form of stair can
be both economic and
attractive.
 It consists of a
central spine beam in
the form of a cut
string supporting
both side cantilever
treads of timber or
precast concrete.
 Anchor bolts or
cement in sockets
are cast into the
spine beam for fixing
the cantilever treads.
Pre-Cast Concrete Stairs: 3. Precast open rise stair:
 The bolt heads are recessed below the
upper tread surface and grouted as
required

 The supports for the balusters are located

in the holes formed at the ends of the
treads
Pre-Cast Concrete Stairs: 4. Spiral stair:
 Spiral stair is based upon the stone stairs
found in many historical buildings.

 It consists of the steps which have a

“keyhole” plan shape rotating round a
central core.

 It is usually open riser stair with a

reinforced concrete core or a concrete
filled steel tube core.

 Holes are formed at the extreme ends of

the treads to receive the balusters passes
through a tread and fixed to the underside
of the tread immediately below.
Pre-Cast Concrete Stairs: Finishes:
 The finishes can be applied as a concrete
floor

 The thickness of finish given to stairs is

generally less than the thickness of a
similar finish to the floors.

 To have equal height of risers throughout

the stair, it may be necessary to cast the
top and bottom risers of different heights.

 Plain concrete finish stairs need anti slip

surface on the treads with special nosing
covering.
Have a good day.