LOAD BEARING MASONRY CONSTRUCTION - Load bearing masonry construction was the most widely used form of construction for large buildings from the 1700s to the mid-1900s. It is very rarely used today for large buildings, but smaller residential-scale structures are being built. It essentially consists of thick, heavy masonry walls of brick or stone that support the entire structure, including the horizontal floor slabs, which could be made of reinforced concrete, wood, or steel members. Most construction today is not load-bearing masonry but frame structures of light but strong materials, that support floor slabs and have very thin and light internal and external walls. The key idea with this construction is that every wall acts as a load carrying element. In a load bearing structure, you cannot punch holes in a wall to connect two rooms - you would damage the structure if you did so. The immense weight of the walls actually helps to hold the building together and stabilise it against external forces such as wind and earthquake. The floor slabs were made of horizontal wooden beams, joists, and planks. A joist is a smaller wooden beam that rests on two larger beams. The buildings were covered with sloping wooden roofs, that could be finished with clay tile, wood or stone shingles, or metal plating such as thin sheets of copper. Every wall had a simple continuous strip foundation below it. Most classic buildings in Europe are built with load bearing masonry construction.

...................................................................................................................................................

Load Bearing Masonry Construction

understandconstruction.com

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.

Load bearing masonry construction was the most widely used form of construction for large buildings from the 1700s to the mid-1900s.

It is very rarely used today for large buildings, but smaller residential-scale structures are being built.

It essentially consists of thick, heavy masonry walls of brick or stone that support the entire structure, including the horizontal floor slabs, which could be made of reinforced concrete, wood, or steel members.

In contrast, most construction today is not load-bearing masonry but frame structures of light but strong materials, that support floor slabs and have very thin and light internal and external walls.

The key idea with this construction is that every wall acts as a load carrying element.

In a load bearing structure, you cannot punch holes in a wall to connect two rooms - you would damage the structure if you did so.

The immense weight of the walls actually helps to hold the building together and stabilise it against external forces such as wind and earthquake.

In traditional European loadbearing masonry structures, the floor slabs were made of horizontal wooden beams, joists, and planks.

A joist is a smaller wooden beam that rests on two larger beams.

The buildings were covered with sloping wooden roofs, that could be finished with clay tile, wood or stone shingles, or metal plating such as thin sheets of copper.

Other such buildings had flat terraces, that were built by pouring a concrete layer over a wooden floor, and then finishing with some form of tile or stone to provide a strong, waterproof finish.

Every wall had a simple continuous strip foundation below it.

Most classic buildings in Europe are built with load bearing masonry construction.

The American architect Louis Kahn famously used load bearing construction for the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

His structures clearly express the construction system rather than conceal it under decorative skins.

In this structure, concrete is used exclusively for members in tension, which are ties that tie together the two ends of the brick arches.

WHY IS LOAD BEARING WALL CONSTRUCTION NOT USED TODAY?

IIM Ahmedabad, India, by architect Louis Kahn

Load bearing masonry construction is not used today for a number of reasons:

It does not perform very well in earthquakes.

Most deaths in earthquakes around the world have occurred in load bearing masonry buildings.

Earthquakes love heavy buildings, because that is where they can wreak the greatest havoc.

It is extremely labor-intensive, as it is built mainly of masonry, which is made by hand.

Humans have still not developed a machine that produces masonry!

This also makes for very slow construction speeds in comparision with modern methods that are far more mechanised.

It is extremely material-intensive. These buildings consume a lot of bricks, and are very heavy.

This means that they are not green, as all this material has to be trucked around from where it is produced to the site.

THE HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT

OF LOAD BEARING MASONRY BUILDINGS

Load Bearing Structures

Load bearing construction has a very long, bright and interesting 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-Iraq-Turkey-Syria) and was then picked up by the Romans.

Load Bearing Buildings

Taj is an example of load bearing construction

In India, builders started using horizontal slabs of stone to construct floor plates. This is called trabeate construction.

The Taj is built of red sandstone masonry walls faced with white marble. Its walls are 6ft (1.8m) thick in some places.

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.

Load Bearing Wall Construction

High-rise load bearing masonry construction.

And then, the Americans came in and super-sized things.

At left is the Mondadnock Tower, a 16-storey 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. It still exists - you can rent an office space in it by clicking here.

It was built to be the world's largest office building at the time by architects Burnham & Root.

They said their design was inspired by an Egyptian pylon, which is a kind of monumental gateway to a temple, built with massive sloping masonry walls.

This is a site that explains the art and science of building construction in great clarity and detail.  Our goal is to make you understand concepts in building construction.
Written by architects and engineers, the content on the site is actually a result of accumulated years of work experience at building construction sites and design offices.  This expert knowledge of building construction is not available in textbooks!
We also take great pains to ensure that our quality of writing is of a high standard.  We aim to take complicated situations and make them simple and clear, as well as to provide content that is interesting to industry experts and newcomers alike.  Do let us know where we succeed - and where we fail - in this task.

http://www.understandconstruction.com/load-bearing-masonry-construction.html

ALL ABOUT ADOBE - Sustainable and Energy Efficient - Adobe is essentially a dried mud brick, combining the natural elements of earth, water, and sun. It is an ancient building material usually made with tightly compacted sand, clay, and straw or grass mixed with moisture, formed into bricks, and naturally dried or baked in the sun without an oven or kiln. In the United States adobe is most prevalent in the hot, arid Southwest. Although the word is often used to describe an architectural style — "adobe architecture" — adobe is actually a building material. Construction methods and the composition of adobe — the recipe — vary according to climate, local customs, and the historical era. Adobe's strength and resilience vary with its water content: too much water weakens the brick. Today's adobe is sometimes made with an asphalt emulsion added to help with waterproofing properties. A mixture of Portland cement and lime may also be added. In parts of Latin America, fermented cactus juice is used for waterproofing. Although the material itself is naturally unstable, an adobe wall can be load bearing, self-sustaining, and naturally energy efficient. Adobe walls are often thick, forming a natural insulation from the environmental heat that creates and sustains the material. Today's commercial adobe is sometimes kiln-dried, although purists may call these "clay bricks." Traditional adobe bricks need about a month of drying in the sun before they can be used.

..................................................................................................................................................................

All About Adobe

Sustainable and Energy Efficient

A Summary of Preservation Brief 5 and How to Save the Earth

By Jackie Craven

Adobe is essentially a dried mud brick, combining the natural elements of earth, water, and sun.

It is an ancient building material usually made with tightly compacted sand, clay, and straw or grass mixed with moisture, formed into bricks, and naturally dried or baked in the sun without an oven or kiln.

In the United States adobe is most prevalent in the hot, arid Southwest.

Although the word is often used to describe an architectural style — "adobe architecture" — adobe is actually a building material. 

Adobe bricks have been used around the world, including near the muddy river areas of ancient Egypt and the ancient architecture of the Middle East. 

It is used today but also found in primitive architecture: mud bricks were used even before the grand ancient stone temples of Greece and Rome.

Construction methods and the composition of adobe — the recipe — vary according to climate, local customs, and the historical era.

Adobe's strength and resilience vary with its water content: too much water weakens the brick.

Today's adobe is sometimes made with an asphalt emulsion added to help with waterproofing properties.

A mixture of Portland cement and lime may also be added.

In parts of Latin America, fermented cactus juice is used for waterproofing.

Although the material itself is naturally unstable, an adobe wall can be load bearing, self-sustaining, and naturally energy efficient.

Adobe walls are often thick, forming a natural insulation from the environmental heat that creates and sustains the material.

Today's commercial adobe is sometimes kiln-dried, although purists may call these "clay bricks."

Traditional adobe bricks need about a month of drying in the sun before they can be used.

If the brick is mechanically compressed, the adobe mixture needs less moisture and the bricks can be used almost immediately, although purists may call these "compressed earth bricks."

About the Word Adobe

In the United States, the word adobe is said with the accent on the second syllable and the last letter pronounced, as in "ah-DOE-bee."

Unlike many architecture words, adobe does not originate in Greece or Italy.

It is a Spanish word that does not originate in Spain.

Meaning "the brick," the phrase at-tuba comes from Arabic and Egyptian languages. 

As Muslims migrated across northern Africa and into the Iberian Peninsula, the phrase was transformed into a Spanish word after the eighth century CE.

The word entered our English language through the colonization of America by Spain after the 15th century.

The word is widely used in the southwestern United States and Spanish speaking countries.

Like the building material itself, the word is ancient, going back to the creation of language — derivations of the word have been seen in ancient hieroglyphics.

Materials Similar to Adobe

Compressed Earth Blocks (CEBs) resemble adobe, except they usually do not contain straw or asphalt, and they generally are more uniform in size and shape.

When adobe is NOT formed into bricks, it's called puddled adobe, and is used like the mud material in cob houses.

The material is mixed and then thrown in lumps to gradually create an earthen wall, where the mixture dries in place.

In the Natural Building Blog, Dr. Owen Geiger, Director of the Geiger Research Institute of Sustainable Building, contends that Native Americans used puddled adobe before the Spanish introduced adobe brick-making methods.

Preservation of Adobe

Adobe is resilient if well-maintained. One of the oldest known structures in the U.S. is made from adobe bricks, the San Miguel Mission in Santa Fe, New Mexico, built between 1610–1628.

Preservationists at the National Park Service of the U.S. Department of the Interior provide guidance on historic preservation, and their Preservation of Historic Adobe Buildings (Preservation Brief 5) published in August 1978 has been the gold standard for keeping this building material maintained.

Constant monitoring of deterioration sources, including the breakdown of mechanical systems like leaky plumbing, is the most important part of maintaining an adobe structure.

"It is the nature of adobe buildings to deteriorate," we are told in Preservation Brief 5, so careful observation of "subtle changes and performing maintenance on a regular basis is a policy which cannot be over emphasized."

Problems usually have more than one source, but the most common are

(1) poor building, design, and engineering techniques;

(2) too much rainwater, ground water, or watering of surrounding vegetation;

(3) wind erosion from windblown sand;

(4) plants taking root or birds and insects living within the adobe walls; and

(5) previous repairs with incompatible building materials.

Traditional Methods of Construction

To maintain historic and traditional adobe, its best to know traditional methods of construction so that repairs can be compatible.

For example, true adobe bricks must be assembled with a mud mortar of properties similar to the adobe.

You can't use cement mortar because it's too hard — that is, the mortars cannot be stronger than the adobe brick, according to preservationists.

Foundations are often constructed of masonry red brick or stone.

Adobe walls are load-bearing and thick, sometimes braced with buttresses.

Roofs are usually wooden and laid flat, with horizontal rafters covered with other materials.

The familiar vigas projecting through the adobe walls are really the timber parts of the roof.

Traditionally, the roof was used as additional living space, which is why wooden ladders are often propped up alongside an adobe home.

After the railroads enabled the transport of building materials to the American Southwest, other roof types (e.g., hipped roofs) began to appear atop adobe brick buildings.

Adobe brick walls, once in place, are usually protected by applying a variety of substances.

Before an exterior siding is applied, some contractors may spray on insulation for added thermal protection — a dubious practice in the long term if it allows the bricks to retain moisture.

Since adobe is an ancient building method, traditional surface coatings may include substances that seem odd to us today, such as fresh animal blood.

More common sidings include:

·         mud plaster, a mixture of elements the same as the adobe brick mixture

·         lime plaster, a mixture containing lime, which is harder than mud, but more prone to cracking

·         whitewash, a mixture preservationists describe as "ground gypsum rock, water, and clay"

·         stucco, a relatively "new" form of siding for naturally dried adobe bricks—cement stucco does not stick to traditional adobe bricks, so wire mesh must be used

Like all architecture, construction materials and methods of building have a shelf-life.

Eventually, adobe bricks, surface coverings, and/or roofing deteriorate and must be repaired. Preservationists recommend following these general rules:

1.    Unless you're a professional, don't try to fix it yourself. Patching and repairing adobe bricks, mortar, rotting or insect-ridden wood, roofs, and surfacing agents should be handled by seasoned professionals, who will know to use matching construction materials.

2.    Repair any problem sources before beginning anything else.

3.    For repairs, use the same materials and building methods that were used to build the original structure. "The problems created by introducing dissimilar replacement materials may cause problems far exceeding those which deteriorated the adobe in the first place," preservationists warn.

"Adobe is a formed-earth material, a little stronger perhaps than the soil itself, but a material whose nature is to deteriorate. The preservation of historic adobe buildings, then, is a broader and more complex problem than most people realize. The propensity of adobe to deteriorate is a natural, ongoing process....

“Competent preservation and maintenance of historic adobe buildings in the American Southwest must (1) accept the adobe material and its natural deterioration, (2) understand the building as a system, and (3) understand the forces of nature which seek to return the building to its original state." — National Park Service, Preservation Brief 5

Adobe Is Not Software

Since the first Earth Day, people from all walks of life have found a calling advocating for natural building methods that will help save the earth.

Earth-based products are naturally sustainable — you are building with the materials that surround you — and energy efficient.

The folks at Adobe is not Software are just one of many groups in the Southwest devoted to promoting the benefits of adobe construction through training.

They offer hands-on workshops on both making adobe and building with adobe. Adobe is more than software even in the high-tech world of southern California.

Most of the largest commercial manufacturers of adobe brick are in the American Southwest.

Both Arizona Adobe Company and the San Tan AdobeCompany are located in Arizona, a state rich in the raw materials needed to manufacture the building material. 

New Mexico Earth Adobes has been producing traditionally made bricks since 1972.

Shipping costs can be more than product costs, however, which is why architecture made with adobe is mostly found in this region.

It takes thousands of adobe bricks to construct a modest-sized home.

Although adobe is an ancient method of construction, most building codes tend to focus on post-industrial processes.

A traditional building method like building with adobe has become non-traditional in today's world. Some organizations are trying to change that. 

The Earthbuilders’ Guild, Adobe in Action, and the international conference called Earth USA help keep the mixtures baking in the heat of the sun and not in ovens run by fossil fuels.

Adobe in Architecture: Visual Elements

Pueblo Style and Pueblo Revival: Adobe construction is most closely associated with what is called Pueblo architecture. A pueblo is in fact a community of people, a Spanish word from the Latin word populus. The Spanish settlers combined their knowledge with the terraced communities occupied by the people already living in the area, the indigenous people of the Americas.

Monterey Style and Monterey Revival: When Monterey, California was an important seaport in the early 1800s, the population centers of the new country called the United States were in the East. When New Englanders like Thomas Oliver Larkin and John Rogers Cooper moved West, they took with them ideas of home and combined them with local customs of adobe construction. Larkin's 1835 home in Monterey, which set the standard for the Monterey Colonial Style, exemplifies this fact of architecture, that design is often a mixture of features from different places.

Mission and Mission Revival: When the Spanish colonized the Americas, they brought the Roman Catholic religion. The Catholic-built "missions" became symbols of a new way in a new world. Mission San Xavier Del Bac near Tucson, Arizona was built in the 18th century, when this territory was still part of the Spanish empire. Its original adobe brick has been repaired with low-fired clay brick.

Spanish Colonial and Spanish Colonial Revival: Spanish style homes in the New World are not necessarily constructed with adobe.

The only true Spanish colonial homes in the United States are the ones that were built during the long Spanish occupation from the 16th to 19th centuries.

Homes from the 20th and 21st centuries are said to "revive" the style of the Spanish homeland.

However, the traditional construction of a house in the medieval town of Calatañazor, Spain shows how this method of construction moved from Europe to America — the stone foundation, the overhanging roof, the timber beams for support, the adobe bricks, all ultimately hidden by a surface coating that defines the architectural style.

Jackie Craven

Jackie Craven, poet and writer

Jackie Craven, poet and writer. jackiecraven.com

Art and Architecture Expert

Education

Doctor of Arts, University of Albany, SUNY

M.S., Literacy Education, University of Albany, SUNY

B.A., English, Virginia Commonwealth University

Introduction

Over 20 years of experience writing about architecture and the arts

Author of two books on home decor and sustainable design

Author of Secret Formulas & Techniques of the Masters, a collection of art-themed poetry

Doctor of Arts from the University at Albany, SUNY

Experience

Jackie Craven is an arts writer and a poet. Her credits include books on interior design, columns for House & Garden magazine and Realtor.org, widely-published poetry and fiction, and travel features for the Providence Journal. She covered architecture, literature, and the visual arts for ThoughtCo for 20 years, beginning in January 1999.

Dr. Craven has taught literature and writing courses at several colleges and universities, including the University at Albany, SUNY. The New York Times called Dr. Craven "one of the Internet's reigning authorities on buildings and architecture."

Education

Dr. Craven earned her Doctor of Arts from the University at Albany, SUNY. Her dissertation explored the role of the persona in nonfiction prose. She also received a Master's in Literacy Education from the University at Albany and a B.A. in English from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Awards and Publications

Secret Formulas & Techniques of the Masters (2018, Brick Road Poetry Press)

Pushcart Nominee (2018, Brick Road Poetry Press; 2017, Salamander Magazine)

Our Lives Became Unmanageable (2016, winner of the Omnidawn Fabulist Fiction Award)

The Stress Free Home: Beautiful Interiors for Serenity and Harmonious Living (2003, Quarry Books)

The Healthy Home: Beautiful Interiors That Enhance The Environment And Your Well-Being (2003, Quarry Books)

ThoughtCo and Dotdash

ThoughtCo is a premier reference site focusing on expert-created education content. We are one of the top-10 information sites in the world as rated by comScore, a leading Internet measurement company. Every month, more than 13 million readers seek answers to their questions on ThoughtCo.

For more than 20 years, Dotdash brands have been helping people find answers, solve problems, and get inspired. We are one of the top-20 largest content publishers on the Internet according to comScore, and reach more than 30% of the U.S. population monthly. Our brands collectively have won more than 20 industry awards in the last year alone, and recently Dotdash was named Publisher of the Year by Digiday, a leading industry publication.

https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-adobe-sustainable-energy-efficient-177943

REFRACTORIES - Bricks and shapes are the more traditional form of refractories. Refractories are produced from natural and synthetic materials, usually nonmetallic, or combinations of compounds and minerals such as alumina, fireclays, bauxite, chromite, dolomite, magnesite, silicon carbide, and zirconia. Refractories can withstand physical wear and corrosion caused by chemical agents. From the simple (e.g., fireplace brick linings) to the sophisticated (e.g., reentry heat shields for the space shuttle), refractories are used to contain heat and protect processing equipment from intense temperatures.

...................................................................................................................................................

Refractories

What Are Refractories?

The Refractories Institute

Refractories are ceramic materials designed to withstand the very high temperatures (in excess of 1,000°F [538°C]) encountered in modern manufacturing.

More heat-resistant than metals, they are used to line the hot surfaces found inside many industrial processes.

In addition to being resistant to thermal stress and other physical phenomena induced by heat, refractories can withstand physical wear and corrosion caused by chemical agents.

Thus, they are essential to the manufacture of petrochemical products and the refining of gasoline.

Refractory products generally fall into one of two broad categories: preformed shapes or unformed compositions, often called specialty or monolithic refractories.

Then, there are refractory ceramic fibers, which resemble residential insulation, but insulate at much higher temperatures.

Bricks and shapes are the more traditional form of refractories and historically have accounted for the majority of refractory production.

Refractories come in all shapes and sizes. They can be pressed or molded for use in floors and walls, produced in interlocking shapes and wedges, or curved to fit the insides of boilers and ladles.

Some refractory parts are small and possess a complex and delicate geometry; others, in the form of precast or fusion-cast blocks, are massive and may weigh several tons.

What Are Refractories Made Of?

Refractories are produced from natural and synthetic materials, usually nonmetallic, or combinations of compounds and minerals such as alumina, fireclays, bauxite, chromite, dolomite, magnesite, silicon carbide, and zirconia.

What Are Refractories Used For?

From the simple (e.g., fireplace brick linings) to the sophisticated (e.g., reentry heat shields for the space shuttle), refractories are used to contain heat and protect processing equipment from intense temperatures.

In industry, they are used to line boilers and furnaces of all types (reactors, ladles, stills, kilns, etc.).

It is a tribute to refractory engineers, scientists, technicians, and plant personnel that more than 5,000 brand name products in the United States are listed in the latest “Product Directory of the Refractories Industry.”

Established in 1951 and headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, The Refractories Institute (TRI) has a long tradition of providing support and services to manufacturers of refractory materials and products and suppliers of raw materials, equipment, and services to the refractories industry.

In 1995, membership eligibility was extended to refractories producers in Latin America. In 1996, the institute’s board of directors voted to open membership to contractors and installers of refractory products, recognizing the important role they play in ensuring the ultimate success of a product.

TRI currently is comprised of 48 member companies, 24 of which are manufacturers of refractory products.

https://www.refractoriesinstitute.org/tri-pages/tri-what-are-refractories.asp