Construction site establishment

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Footing system is typically the launching pad for the building construction process which commences after site establishment activities are completed. It is the fundamental basis for the structure that establishes a safe and strong deck to support all other building works on top of it. The structural and geotechnical engineers must make analysis on the ground soils, settlement and building load before they decide whichever footing is required. The importance of this process is very often understated. If footings are not installed properly, then a crooked stick will end up with a crooked shadow.

The type and size of the footing is dependent on the area of the building site and the type of structure placed upon which could vary from place to place. These footings serve as a fulcrum to balance and transfer the weight of the structure through the weaker layers of soil to the stronger layers of subsoil in order to achieve a greater stability. For the Grocon’s 480 Queen Street project, engineers has decided and agreed upon to use bored piers and capping beams.

While site works need to be processed for the footing installation, it is essential to consider the planning and design of the footings. The essential first step is to dial before you dig to have all the underground utilities located so that directional drilling will not pierce through the subterranean pipes and cables. Secondly, a soil investigation report is required for engineers to classify the underlying foundation with different characteristic and quality in order to design footings that suits particular types of soils. Furthermore, consider the building loads that will impart from the columns, cranes or heavy storage loads to the footings, and design it to withstand thes...

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...olves digging up a trench to a depth that equates to the pilings cut off level, and the width of the trench should be excavated to suit the beams width. Then the capping beam is entrenched and laid on top of the piers which work to transfer the load from columns or walls to the evenly spaced piers.

Capping beams should be designed to have a proper measure of strength and rigidity in order to balance moments and rotational deflection caused by columns it served upon. It is a rigid element that aims to contemplate differential moments, vertical loads and horizontal loads coming to the pier systems without problematic effects of shearing and bending caused by horizontal moment and forces. On procession of this, the faces of the trench will be covered and protected by sheets of plywood, and leanmix concrete are placed between precast units to embrace them in position.

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