Civil Engineer Scope

Stones, bricks, cement, lime and timber are the traditional materials used for civil engineering constructions for several centuries. In this chapter types, properties, tests and uses of these materials is explained. 1.3 LIME It is an important binding material used in building construction. Lime has been used as the material of construction from ancient time. When it is mixed with sand it provides lime mortar and when mixed with sand and coarse aggregate, it forms lime concrete. 1.3.1 Types of Limes and their Properties The limes are classified as fat lime, hydraulic lime and poor lime: ( i ) Fat lime: It is composed of 95 percentage of calcium oxide. When water is added, it slakes vigorously and its volume increases to 2 to 2,5 times. It is white in colour. Its properties are: ( a ) hardens slowly ( b ) has high degree of plasticity ( c ) sets slowly in the presence of air ( d ) white in colour ( e ) slakes vigorously. ( ii ) Hydraulic lime: It contains...

Stones, bricks, cement, lime and timber are the traditional materials used for civil engineering constructions for several centuries. In this chapter types, properties, tests and uses of these materials is explained. 1.2 BRICKS Brick is obtained by moulding good clay into a block, which is dried and then burnt. This is the oldest building block to replace stone. Manufacture of brick started with hand moulding, sun drying and burning in clamps. A considerable amount of technological development has taken place with better knowledge about to properties of raw materials, better machinaries and improved techniques of moulding drying and burning. The size of the bricks are of 90 mm × 90 mm × 90 mm and 190 mm × 90 mm × 40 mm. With mortar joints, the size of these bricks are taken as 200 mm × 100 mm × 100 mm and 200 mm × 100 mm × 50 mm. 1.2.1 Types of Bricks Bricks may be broadly classified as: ( i ) Building bricks ( ii ) Paving bricks ( iii ) Fire bricks ( iv ) Specia...