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Acheson & Glover - Construction terms Category: Architecture and Buildings Date & country: 03/12/2007, UK Words: 98

Abrams Law
For a concrete mixture of workable consistency the strength of concrete can be directly determined by the ratio of water to cement.

Abrasion Resistance
The ability of a product to resist deterioration caused by surface abrasion

Absorption Coefficient
The amount of absorption a product will provide

Acoustics
Acoustics is the branch of physics which studies sound generally. Architectural acoustics is primarily the use of science in controlling sound quality within buildings.

Affordable Housing
As only 3,500 homes are expected to be completed this year under the various affordable housing schemes, therefore, the need to provide cheaper housing has never been more urgent.

Aggregate
Broken stone, slag, gravel, sand and the like which when held together by binding agents, forms a substantial part of such material as concrete, asphalt, coated macadam etc. Aggregates are described as 'coarse' or 'fine' according to whether they are retained on or passed by a sieve of a specified aperture size. Unfortunately, the separating sieve …

aggregate blocks
Building blocks for housing made from crushed rock, sand, cement and water.

all-in ballast
A loose term given to material containing a proportion of all sizes as obtained direct from the pit, or sea river (maximum size approximately 300mm, more usually 50-75mm down.) Sometimes sold as fill; from pits will sometimes meet the grading specification for Type 2 GSB with no further treatment. A term also applied to crushed rock.

allowance
An allowance is an amount of money set aside in a construction contract for items which have not been specified explicitly in the original contract.

arris
Part of a paving flag where the two faces meet. It can be bevelled, rounded, chamfered, radiussed or splayed.

asphalt
With the advent of European specifications there will be some new definitions. The most important of these is the use of the term ASPHALT as a generic description of all types of bituminous mixtures, i.e. both coated macadam and rolled asphalt. All of the European Standards will refer to asphalt in those instances when British Standards would refer…

asphaltic concrete
A dense continuously graded macadam type bituminous material used for airfield construction in the UK but widely throughout the rest of the world for road construction also. Much of the stability and strength is derived from the use of a continuous grading and mechanical interlock of crushed and therefore angular coarse aggregate. Binder (often 100…

Atterberg limits
A test that measures the shrinkage limit, plastic limit and the liquid limit of a fine-grained soil.

Batter
The facing angle created by segmental retaining wall unit setback, measured from a vertical line drawn from the toe of the wall, expressed in degrees.

BBA
British Board of Agrement. The British Board of Agrement is an organisation partnered with Government Board includes representation on behalf of The Department for communities and local government. The BBA is the UK member of the European Union of Agrement (UEAtc), represents the UK in the European Organisation for Technical Approvals, and is respo…

bitumen
A viscous liquid or solid material black or dark brown in colour, having adhesive properties, consisting essentially of hydrocarbons, derived from petroleum for occurring in natural asphalt and soluble in carbon disulphide. Straight run bitumen - obtained after the final stage of distillation of crude oil of a suitable type. Normal grades used - 50…

Blinding
Fine stone and dust mixture.

block
An individual unit of material. May be concrete or masonry.

Bulging
Bulging - in respect of a segmental retaining wall face, occurs when a segmental retaining wall unit does not maintain its relative position with respect to the units above and below it.

capping
A material used as part of the earthworks at below sub-base level in road construction. The intent is to utilise cheap locally available material to reduce the use of more expensive sub-base material. Department of Transport (DoT) Specification for Highway Works specifies a coarse (6.F.1) and fine grade (6.F.2) Clause 613). Crushed top rock, scalpi…

CBM 1 (Clause 1036)
This is normally only permitted for sub-base layers. Virtually any type of aggregate can be used because only a coarse limit is specified for grading. Hence, very fine sands/silt may be used providing the strength requirements are met. Mix-in-place methods are permitted, but not commonly used because of the difficulties of achieving homogeneity. To…

CBM 2 (Clause 1037)
Very similar to CBM1 except that a fine grading limit is introduced. Hence the very fine sands and silts are excluded. Because the concrete strength requirement is slightly higher than for CBM1, weaker aggregates are excluded by the introduction of a 10% Fines Value.

CBR
California Bearing Ratio

cement
A compound of lime ground to powder which when mixed with water hardens rapidly. Used for binding together aggregates in concrete and sand in mortar.

Complementary Fitting
Unit, sometimes a part of a flag, which is used to infill and enable an area to be completely surfaced.

Concrete paving flag
Precast concrete unit used as a surfacing material that satisfies the following conditions: - Its overall length does not exceed 1m; Its overall length divided by its thickness is greater than four. NB. These two conditions are not applicable to complementary fittings.

Connection strength test
Testing that establishes the relationship between a specific segmental retainining wall unit and a specific type of geo-synthetic reinforcement. Only limited testing facilities are available and testing is expensive.

Cope
Brick that is laid sideways at the top of a wall. Also known as a header.

Coulomb theory
This theory provides a method of analysis that gives the resultant horizontal force on a retaining wall system for any batter of wall, wall friction and slope of backfill provided. This theory is based on the assumption that soil shear resistance develops along the wall and failure plane. The application of Coulomb active wedge theory and a calcula…

Creep
The long-term movement which occurs in cohesive soils or geo-synthetic reinforcement when subjected to loads.

Crusher Run
Course Stone generally for backfill

Dead Load
A load that can not be moved.

Dogleg
Brick or block made to go around a set angle in one piece

DOT
Department of Transport

DPC
Damp proof course

DPM
Damp proof membrane

Drain rock - aggregate
Drainage fill (typically Pea Gravel or 20mm No Fines) placed within and immediately behind the segmental retaining wall units and in other areas for drainage.

Durability
The ability of the block or reinforcement to withstand long-term environmental degradation.

Efflorescence
Soluble Salt / Lime Bloom

Expansion joints
An expansion joint is used to separate brick masonry into segments to prevent cracking due to changes in temperature, moisture expansion, elastic deformation due to loads, and creep. Expansion joints may be horizontal or vertical. The joints are formed of highly elastic materials placed in a continuous, unobstructed opening through the brick wythe.…

Facia
Plastic or Timber fixed along ends of rafters to which gutter is fixed

Facing Brick
Coloured / Decorative brick used for the exterior of buildings to give an attractive finish.

Facing connection
In relation to retaining walls, each connection between the geo-synthetic reinforcement and segmental retaining wall unit must have sufficient strength. Strength is defined by performing a connection strength test.

facing layer
Layer of concrete on the upper face of a flag of different material and/or properties to the main body or backing layer of a flag

Facing overturning
This is toppling that can occur in the non-reinforced portion of the wall or in a gravity wall application.

Facing stability
An analysis performed to ensure that the segmental retaining wall units remain intact and do not fall in connection, do not bulge or overturn.

Factor of safety
A ratio between the driving forces and resisting forces

falsework
Refers to temporary structures used in the construction to support arched structures and concrete forms (moulds) in order to hold the component in place until its construction is sufficiently far advanced to support itself.

fin joists
Also known as I-Beams. I-beams are beams with an I- or H-shaped cross-section. The Euler-Bernoulli beam equation shows that this is a very efficient form for carrying bending and in the plane of the web, as well as shear.

Foundation soil
The soil which supports the levelling pad and the reinforced soil zone of a segmental retaining wall system.

Furring
In light-frame construction, furring strips are long thin strips of wood used to make backing surfaces to support the finished surfaces in a room. Furring refers to the backing surface, the process of installing it, and may also refer to the strips themselves.

gable
The generally triangular section of wall at the end of a pitched roof, occupying the space between the two slopes of the roof.

Gravity Wall
Gravity walls rely on their own mass and geometry to resist the pressure of the forces acting upon them. If a wall doesn`t require reinforcement from geo-textile layers or landscape fabric they are gravity walls. Acheson & Glover Anchor Windsor blocks are gravity walls, Anchor Bayfield can also be used as a gravity wall as well as working well as a…

green field
Greenfield land is a term used to describe a piece of undeveloped land, either currently used for agriculture or just left to nature.

herringbone strutting
This timber used as bracing between studs.

ICE
The Institute of Civil Engineers (ICE) is a charity that exists to promote and progress civil engineering. A qualifying body, a centre for the exchange of specialist knowledge, and a provider of resources to encourage innovation and excellence in the profession.

Imposed Load
A load that can be move like boxs or vehicals.

Infill
Soil located behind the segmental retaining wall units and drainage fill. May be reinforced with soil reinforcement

Internal sliding
The lateral movement of the reinforced soil mass along or between layers of geo-synthetic reinforcement.

Internal Stability
An analysis performed to determine the effectiveness of the geo-synthetic reinforcement in holding the reinforced soil mass together

Isotropic
Exhibiting similar stress-strain properties in all directions or, in practical terms, not reinforced.

Ledger Board
A structural member attached to vertical framing to support joists or other horizontal framing. Also called a ribbon board or strip.

Ledger Strip
A strip of lumber, plywood or fiberboard to add support to a shelf, top or bottom in a set of cabinets.

Levelling pad
The level surface (gravel or concrete) used to distribute the weight of the dry stacked column of segmental retaining wall units over a wider foundation area and to provide a working surface during construction. The pad is typically constructed with free draining granular soil to facilitate compaction and drainage.

Liquid limit
The liquid limit of a soil is that water content at which the soil passes from a plastic to a liquid state.

Load, dead
A permanent surcharge on a wall that can provide lateral pressure against the wall as well as vertical force downward on the wall mass.

Load, live
A transient surcharge that can vary during the life of the structure. A live load is assumed to provide lateral pressure but not vertical pressure.

lynchpin
A linchpin (occasionally lynchpin) is a metal part used in mechanical engineering to prevent a wheel or other rotating part from sliding off the axle it is riding on.

Mechanically stabilized earth
Structures that are made using steel or geosynthetic soil reinforcements which are placed in layers in soil to create a coherent gravity mass.

Modern Method of Construction
Refers to a variety of innovative build approaches including offsite construction.

Modular block
The wall units

Modular Building
Building Constructed from units of a similar size, which can be often be used offsite.

NCMA
The National Concrete Masonry Association. NCMA online

Overturning
An external stability failure mechanism of a segmental retaining wall wherby lateral external forces cause the entire reinforced soil mass or gravity wall to rotate about the base

Parapet
Wall which projects above the roof

Permeable
The characteristic of a soil that permits water to move through it at an appreciable rate

Permeable paving flag
Flag intended, by its structure, to allow the passage of water through the flag

Plasticity index (PI)
The plasticity index of a soil is the numerical difference between its liquid limit and its plastic limit. The liquid limit and plastic limit are both expressed as a percentage of moisture content.

Proctor test (density)
A method for determining the moisture-density relationship in soils subjected to compaction.

Queen post
A roof truss having two vertical posts between the rafters and the tie beam; the upper ends of the vertical posts are connected by a straining piece (such as a tie rod or cable).

Quoin
Quoins or Cornerstones are the corner stones positioned at the edge of a building wall.

raft foundation
A continuous footing that supports an entire structure, such as a retaining wall. Also known as foundation mat or a leveling pad.

Rainscreen
External Skin which allows the building to breath but protects it from the weather

rfi
RFI is a request for information

RIBA
The Royal Institute of British Architects. The RIBA is a member organisation, with 30,000 members, a HQ in central London and a dozen regional offices. The RIBA is a registered charity.

Rigid Bed
Bedded in concrete

Rigid Joint
Bedded in Mortar

Single Skin Construction
A single skin construction has no cavity wall.

Spacer Nibs
Small protruding profiles on a side face of a flag

Squint Block
Angled block (45 degree angle) made in one unit to make it easy to build conservatories etc.

SRW
Segmental Retaining Wall

Stack Bond
Brick / Block built so that all the horizontal and vertical joints line up

substantial completion
when a project is over 98% complete

SUDS
Sustainable Urban Drainage System

Surcharge
An external load that is usually located at the top of a retaining wall. Surcharge can be the result of a “dead� load, such as a building foundation or a “live� load, which could be the result of heavy construction equipment or automobiles.

trowel
This trowel is used to force material into tile joints, remove excess grout and form a smooth grout finish.

wythe
A wythe is a vertical tier of bricks, each single wythe being 1 brick wide.

zoning
Zoning is the way the governments control the physical development of land.