Wollo University KIOT

Department of civil Engineering

Building Materials
And
Construction I
(ARCH 1161)

Lecture 1

Instructor: Fiker M.
Course Objective:-
 This course introduces students to the basic
principles and practices of building with solid
constructions.
 It provides an understanding of the material's
properties, production processes and how
various building elements are planned, joined
and executed in solid construction systems.
 Cont’d…
 It raises awareness for the interrelation of
materials, construction and design.
 Students will be enabled to assess the
appropriate use of materials and select
construction methods according to the
technical requirements.
 They will also be able to produce working
drawings for different components and
construction methods.
Course Description:-
Chapter One: Building Materials
1.1) Natural stone
1.2) earth/Clay
1.3) Cement, Lime, Concrete
1.4) Masonry construction
1.5) Finishing Materials
 Cont’d…

Chapter Two: Building Elements

2.1) Foundation
2.2) Floor
2.3) Doors
2.4) Windows
2.5) Roof
 Cont’d…
Chapter Three: Building Circulation
3.1) Stairs
3.2) Ramps
Chapter Four: Dampness
4.1) Cause of Dampness
4.2) Effect of Dampness
4.3) Prevention of Dampness
 Cont’d…

Chapter Five: Working Drawing

5.1) Instruments
5.2) Types of working Drawing
5.3) Symbols and Abbreviations
5.4) Dimensions
5.5) Small scale working drawing
References:
 Victoria Ballard Bell and Patrick Rand, Materials for
Architectural Design, Laurence King Publishing, London, 2006
 Lyons, Arthur, Materials for architects and builders: an
introduction, Architectural Press, Oxford, 2003
 Kind-Barkauskas, Concrete construction manual , Birkhäuser,
Basel, 2002
 Bennett, David, Innovations in concrete, Thomas Telford,
London, 2002
 Everett, Alan, Materials, Longman Scientific & Technical, Harlow,
1994
 Liebing, Architectural Working Drawings, Wiley, New York,1999
Introduction
• All The engineering Structures are made
from some materials.
• These materials are know as engineering
materials; building materials or materials
of Construction .
• An engineer has to be aware of with the
properties of most of them .
 Cont’d…
• stone, bricks, timber, steel, lime, cement, and
metals are some commonly used materials by
a civil engineer .
• In order to carry out safe constructions ,
some standards for the materials to be used
are fixed.
Stone:
Rock and stone:
• Rock is the term used to name a solid portion of
the earth's crust.
• It has no definite shape and chemical
composition .
• It is generally very big in site .
• The rocks have one or more than one
materials .
 Cont’d…
Stone:
• a natural, hard substance formed from
minerals and earth material which
are present in rocks.
• The rock quarried from quarries is called
stone .
• Quarried stone may be in form of stone
blocks, Stone aggregate , stone slabs,
stone lintels , Stone flags ,etc .
 Classification of rocks
1.Geological classification

2. Physical classification

3. Chemical classification

4.Classification based on stone hardness

 1. Geological classification
• Igneous rock

• Metamorphic rocks

• Sedimentary rock
Igneous rock:
• Igneous rocks are the product of heat and
pressure, such as that caused by volcanic
activity and pressure exerted by the shifting of
the earth’s surface.
 Cont’d…
• At great depth inside the earth the temperature
often reaches such a high degree that silicates
(quartz), feldspar and other constituents of the
earth melt.
• The molten mass, which is known as magma, is
at times forced up due to pressure build-up and
solidification into rocks.
• If the solidification takes place near or at the
surface of the earth, the magma forms trap rocks
that include the imperfectly crystallized basalt
and the usually completely crystallized trachyte.
 Cont’d…
• If, however, the magma solidifies at greater
depth after forcing its way into existing strata
(hence its name of intrusive rock) it forms a
solid crystalline rock known as granite.
• Depending on the rate of cooling of the
magma, these igneous rocks could be coarse
or fine grained.
• The more rapid the cooling, the smaller the
crystals formed.
Sedimentary rocks:
• Sedimentary rocks are formed as a result of
sedimentation by glacial action either from the
disintegration products derived from decayed rocks or
from accumulations of organic origin.
• are also known as aqueous or stratified rocks.
Metamorphic rocks:
• Metamorphic rocks are formed by the gradual
change in the character and structure of
igneous and sedimentary rocks due to heat &
pressure.
Examples of Transformation of Rocks
 2. Physical classification
• (i) Stratified Rocks: These rocks are having layered
structure. They possess planes of stratification or
cleavage. They can be easily split along these planes.
E.G. Sand stones, lime stones, etc.
• (ii) Unstratified Rocks: These rocks are not stratified.
They possess crystalline and compact grains. They
cannot be split in to thin slab. E.G. Granite, marble
etc. are
• (iii) Foliated Rocks: These rocks have a tendency to
split along a definite direction only. The direction
need not be parallel to each other as in case of
stratified rocks.
3. Chemical Classification
 Chemically, rocks are classified on the basis of
their major constituent mineral.
• Argillaceous rocks are composed primarily of
alumina (Al2O3)
• Calcareous rocks are those where the
constituent is lime (CaCO3)
• Silicious rocks are composed primarily of silica
(SiO2)
 4.Classification based on stone
hardness
• According to this classification stone may be
classified As soft, medium, hard and very hard.
• Very hard rocks as Granite.
• Hard rocks as Granite, Basalt, Gravel and
Quartzite.
• Medium rocks as Dolomite and Lime Stone.
• Soft rocks as Gypsum and Sand stone.
 Properties of Different Stones
Igneous rock stones:
1. Granite: igneous origin, hard, strong,
durable and capable of taking high pressure
polish.
• It contains silica.
• These crystals often result in very attractive
coloring blue, green, red, black or white.
 Cont’d…
Used for:
• flooring
• wall paneling
• Column
• stair threads
• flagstone
Cont’d…

Polished Surface

Rough Texture
 Cont’d…
2. Basalt: It is generally fine
grained rock is mostly black or
very dark in color.
• It is a very hard stone and a
useful material for construction.
 Cont’d…
3. Trachyte:
• Trachyte varies from dark to light gray in color.
It is usually coarse grained and contains large
crystals of feldspar.
• It could give medium to high strength and is a
useful material for construction.
• While trachyte could give high to medium
strength, both basalt and granite are very hard
stones; hence all the three are useful materials
for construction.
 Cont’d…
4. Pumice and Scoria:
• Pumice is formed as a result of steam or gas bubbling
out of molten lava leaving behind empty pockets that
give the solidified lava spongy appearance.
• It has a granular texture and is very light to the
extent it can float on water.
• It is usually white-gray to yellow in color, but may be
red, brown or sometimes black, according to the
oxides, or impurities it contains.
• Scoria or volcanic ash (red ash), has generally a
porous rough surface, and is usually red to black in
color.
 Sedimentary rock stones
1. Sandstones: are solid and generally
coherent rocks that consist of grains of sand
cemented together by natural cementing
agents such as clay, iron oxide, lime carbonate
or silica.
• They are the result of the solidification of sand
beds that contained the cementing substances.
 Cont’d…
2. Limestone: is sedimentary rock that
contains carbonate of lime (CaCo3), &
dolomite (CaCO3 (+MgCO3)) and the
remains of shells, or the skeletons of
prehistoric animals, and certain other
essential elements.
 Cont’d…

Limestone with Granite

 Metamorphic Rock stone
1. Marble: A recrystallized limestone
that formed when the limestone
softened from heat and pressure and
recrystallized into marble where
mineral changes occurred.
 The main consistency is calcium and
dolomite.
Cont’d…
 Cont’d…

Marble - Exterior Application

 Production of Stone
• The process of removing stone from its natural
bed is known as quarrying, and the method of
quarrying will depend to some extent on the
nature of the stone.
• Produced by blasting or cutting - Irregular-sized
stone is produced by blasting the rock, the
larger pieces are cut into smaller units for use as
an exterior finish, rest is crushed and sorted into
various sizes as aggregates .
 Cont’d…
• Some stone is stratified horizontally, and the
horizontal demarcations between the strata are
known as bedding planes.
• In other stone, the vertical separations are more
visible, and they are called joint planes.
• In some stone both are apparent, where both
bedding planes and joint planes are clearly visible.
• The ancient Egyptians drove wooden wedges into
natural faults of the stone and then poured water
onto them.
 Cont’d…
• The swelling of the wooden wedges split the rock
into sizes suitable for the mason to work into final
shape with a hand tools.
• In stratified rocks a series of holes is drilled
perpendicular to the stratification, and the material
between the holes is removed.
• Stones are then split from the quarry along the lines
of stratification.
• In rock that is not stratified, such as granite, holes
must be drilled both horizontally and vertically into
the bed.
 Building-Stone Requirements
• Despite the abundance of rock, relatively few
stones satisfy the requirements as building
stones.
• To qualify as a construction material, stone
should have the following qualities:
 Strength: Most types of stone have more
than adequate compressive strength. The
shear strength of stone, however, is usually
about 1/10 of its compressive strength
 Cont’d…
 Hardness: hardness is important when
stone is used for flooring, paving, and
stair treads.
• It is a resistance to scratching easily.
 Durability: Resistance to the weathering
effects of rain, wind, heat, and frost action
is necessary for exterior stonework.
• Workability: A stone’s hardness and grain
texture must allow it to be quarried, cut
and shaped.
 Cont’d…
 Density: A stone’s porosity affects its
ability to withstand frost action and
staining.
 Appearance: Appearance factors
include color, grain, and texture.
 Ease of quarrying and Accessibility: The
stone should be easily and
economically obtainable in bulk.
 Tests on Building Stone
 Building stones are required to be tested for
their different properties before they may be
recommended for any specific case.
1-Acid test:
2- Water absorption test .
3- Specific gravity
4- Impact test .
5- Crushing test .
6- Hardness test
 Cont’d…

Acid test: This test is carried out on sand stone .

• In this test , a sample of stone about 100gm is

taken and put in a solution having 1% strength
of hydrochloric acid for seven days . After this
the specimen is taken out and its surface
examined .
 Cont’d…
Absorption and bulk specific gravity:
• Specimens for these tests may be cubes,
prisms, cylinders, or any regular form with
least dimension not under 50mm and greatest
dimension not over 75mm, and the ratio of
volume to surface are not less than 0.3 nor
greater than 0.5.
• The percentage of absorption by weight of
specimen is calculated as follows:
 Cont’d…
 Absorption by weight:
Percentage = A X 100
B−A
Where
• A = Weight of specimen after oven drying at
105+ 2 oC for 24 hours.
• B = Weight of the surface dry specimen after
complete immersion in filtered or distilled
water at 20 + 2oC for 48 hours.
 Cont’d…
 Bulk specific gravity = A
B−C
Where
• A = Weight of the dried specimen at 105 + 2
oC for 24 hours
• B = Weight of the soaked and surface dried
specimen in air (soaking is done for 1 hour on
the specimen that has been oven dried for 24
hours)
• C= Weight of the soaked specimen in water.
 Stone Construction
Stone is used in construction in the following
forms:

• Rubble

• Dimension stone

• Flagstone

• Crushed stone
 Cont’d…
 Rubble - consists of rough fragments
of broken stone that have at least one
good face for exposure in a wall.
 Cont’d…
 Dimension stone - is quarried and squared
stone 2 or more in length and width and of
specified thickness, used commonly for wall
panels, cornices, copings, lintels and flooring.
 Cont’d…
 Flagstone - refers to flat stone slabs
used for flooring and horizontal
surfacing.
 Cont’d…
• Crushed stone - is used as aggregate in
concrete products.
 .

END