UNDERSTANDING LOAD BEARING CONSTRUCTION
HISTORY
To start with, masonry structures were large and solid, like the pyramids. With the development of the arch, openings were created in these structures,
and large structures like the colosseum in Rome were built. The arch was first developed in Mesopotamia (modern-day Iran-IraqTurkey-Syria) and was then picked up by the Romans.
HISTORY • The development of the flying buttress in Gothic architecture allowed structures to maintain an open interior space, transferring more weight to the buttresses instead of to central bearing walls.
For example, The Notre Dame Cathedral has a load-bearing wall structure with flying buttresses
HISTORY
In India, builders started using horizontal slabs of stone to
construct floor plates. This is called trabeate/corbelled construction. Trabeate is a style of architecture in which there is a horizontal beam across two vertical columns. The Taj is built of red standstone masonry walls faced with white marble. Its walls are 6ft (1.8m) thick in some places.
HISTORY Europeans built fine stone walled buildings with floor slabs made of wood beams and planks. The buildings had elaborate arched openings and very finely crafted domes. These buildings have lasted hundreds of years, with limited repair in many cases, testifying to the quality of the craftsmanship and the brilliance of the design
And then, the Americans came in and super sized things. At left is the Mondadnock Tower, a 16storey office building built in 1893 in Chicago. It was made of brick walls 6 feet thick at the base and about 18" thick at the top.
DIFFERENT BETWEEN LOAD BEARING AND NON LOAD BEARING 6
There are two types of walls in a house, non-load bearing wall and load bearing wall. Non-load bearing walls divide the interior space into rooms but support no weight. Load bearing walls function as dividers, but they also hold up part of the house.
DIFFERENT BETWEEN LOAD BEARING AND NON LOAD BEARING LOAD BEARING Load bearing walls transfer the weight of the roof and upper floors to the foundation ( Exterior walls) It also support the floor above and the attic weight ( Interior wall )
NON - LOAD BEARING A non-load bearing wall is a wall that does not support any gravity loads from the building, hence doesn’t bear any weight besides its own
All exterior walls are bearing walls
wall that divides an interior space but is not needed to support any part of the structure above it
They support the roof at the ends of the joists
Most of interior walls are non-load bearing walls
04/18/20
DIFFERENT BETWEEN LOAD BEARING AND NON LOAD BEARING
You can easily remove a non-bearing wall without much of a problem, but removing or modifying a bearing wall could be very difficult or impossible without causing a collapse.
04/18/20
04/18/20
LOAD BEARING FUNCTION AND ADVANTAGES To support the load of
suspended floor To support roofs
THE ADVANTAGES OF LOAD BEARING
Load bearing masonry is solid and durable. It is fire resistant. There are several colors and textures available. The tools and implements used are simple and low-tech. Does not require a great deal of preparation or fabrication
in advance. Load bearing masonry has high compressive strength. Aesthetically attractive.
04/18/20
TYPES OF LOAD BEARING WALL 14
Single Load Bearing Wall
Description of the Single-Wall System:
The single-wall form of construction is well described by Martin explains the core concept of the single-wall method, “Whereas a frame house is supported by a skeletal structure independent of the wall coverings, a ‘box’ house (the regional name for a board and batten single-wall structure) is not.
If the wall coverings of a frame house, both interior and exterior, are torn down, the house will continue to stand. In box structures, the walls are the critical components; if they are removed, the structure will collapse.
The single wall was often the product of manufactured components; milled one by twelve wall boards, milled one by three battens, two by six joists, and a few factory sash windows and doors.
04/18/20
TYPES OF LOAD BEARING WALL Cavity Load Bearing Wall
Description of the Cavity Wall System: A cavity wall is two wythes of masonry, separated by a cavity of varying dimension. The
masonry wythes may consist of solid brick, structural clay tile, or concrete masonry units and are bonded together with masonry ties.
Cavity walls are constructed of a facing and backing wythes of either solid or hollow
masonry units, completely seperated by a continous air space and bonded with metal wall ties or horizontal joint reinforcement.
Advantages of cavity wall
- The cavity enhances the thermal insulation value of the wall and permits the installation of additional thermal insulation material. - The air spaces acts as a barrier againts water penetration if the cavity is kept clear, and if adequate weep holes and flashing are provided.
Base flashing for reinforced cavity wall
04/18/20
04/18/20
REQUIREMENTS FOR LOAD BEARING WALL The materials most often used to construct load-
bearing walls in large buildings are concrete, block, or brick. Strength and Stability Weather Protection Good Thermal Protection Fire Protection Durability
HOW TO BUILD LOAD BEARING WALL
STEP 1 Mark your placement of the brick using spirit level ( tempat air balance )
STEP 2 ď‚—
Build the both end together with the height 3 or 4 layer of bricks
STEP 3 ď‚—
Test your vertical balance with spirit level
STEP 4 ď‚—
Build wall in between of both end until it is same ( selaras ) with the both end .
HOW TO RECOGNIZE LOAD BEARING WALL? ď‚— Start at the Foundation In a house that has an unfinished basement or easily accessible wall, finding the beams (typically a metal I-beam or a multi-board wood beam). It is a good indication of where the weight of the house is resting. A wall directly above those beams (and any walls directly above those walls) are probably load-bearing.
Metal I Beam
Multi-Board Wood Beam
STEP 5 ď‚— Test the wall using string to make sure it is straight
and neatly done
STEP 5 ď‚— Test the wall using string to make sure it is straight
and neatly done
HOW TO RECOGNIZE LOAD BEARING WALL? ď‚— Look at the Floor Joists A load-bearing wall will often be perpendicular to floor joists. If a wall that appears to be holding up an intersection of joists at any point, that wall is likely load-bearing as well. (Not all walls that are perpendicular to floor joists are load-bearing, and a load-bearing wall may occur at a place where there is not an intersection of joists as well)
HOW TO RECOGNIZE LOAD BEARING WALL? ď‚— Follow internal walls up through your structure. Locate internal walls which are the walls inside your external walls. Locate exactly where a wall is on a lower floor, then go to the floor above that spot to see whether the wall stretches through two floors. If there is another wall, a floor with perpendicular joists, or other heavy construction above it, it is probably a load bearing wall.
WHY LOAD BEARING IS NOT USED TODAY?
ï‚—
Does not perform well in earthquake. Most death in earthquake around the world have occur in load bearing masonry buildings. Earthquake love heavy building, because there is where they can wreak the greatest havoc.
WHY LOAD BEARING IS NOT USED TODAY?
ď‚—
Extremely labor-intensive, as it built mainly on masonry which is made by hand. Human have stills not develop a machine that produces masonry. This makes very slow construction speed in compare with modern method that far more mechanised.
WHY LOAD BEARING IS NOT USED TODAY?
ď‚—
Extremely material intensive. This buildings consume a lot of bricks and are very heavy. This means that they are not green, as all this materials has to be trucked around where it is produced to the site
EXAMPLES OF LOAD BEARING BUILDINGS
A modern example of load bearing masonry construction for a residential building. Note the absence of concrete columns and beams. The walls are the main load carrying elements.
• The american architect Louis Kahn famously used load bearing construction for the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. • In this structure, concrete is used exclusively for members in tension, which are ties that tie together the two ends of the brick arches.
IIM, Ahmedabad, India, by architect Louis Khan
• Notre Dame De Paris has a loadbearing wall structure with flying buttresses. • Load-bearing walls are one of the earliest forms of construction.
• Burj Khalifa
• Due to the immense weight of skyscrapers, the base and walls of the lower floors must be incredibly strong. • Uses specially treated and mixed reinforced concrete.