What are the Requirements of Partition Walls in Buildings

There are several requirements that a partition wall need to meet otherwise its purpose will be compromised.

So, it is necessary to understand partition wall requirements in order to build it with high quality and provide satisfactory performance.

This article will shed light on the partition wall requirements briefly.

Partition wall requirements are as follows:

• It shall have small thickness (thin). Thus, largest possible floor area is being used.
• Partition wall need to provide sufficient privacy in rooms in such away that occupants feel comfortable in terms of both sound and sight.
• It needs to be adequately rigid so as to be able to withstand vibrations caused by loads.
• Materials used for the construction of partition wall shall be fairly light in weight, uniform, sound, durable, and sound insulator. Fig.1 shows a soundproof partition wall.
• The partition wall materials need to have fire resistance properties so that the wall does not catch fire due to sudden short circuit or any other factors that may cause fire. Fig.2 shows fire resistant partition wall.
• The wall shall withstand heat, dampness, and fungus.
• ease of construction is another partition wall requirements.
• Partition walls are required to carry sanitary fittings and heavy fixtures for example a piece of equipment or furniture that is fixed in position.
• It should be economical.
• Finally, the partition wall need to cohere the structural wall properly.

Fig.1: Sound Proof partition wall; it withstand fire for an hour

Fig.2: Fire resistant partition wall

What is Ferrocement? Applications and Advantages of Ferrocement in Construction

What is Ferrocement?

Ferrocement is a construction material consisting of wire meshes and cement mortar. Applications of ferrocement in construction is vast due to the low self weight, lack of skilled workers, no need of framework etc.

It was developed by P.L.Nervi, an Italian architect in 1940. Quality of ferrocement works are assured because the components are manufactured on machinery set up and execution time at work site is less. Cost of maintenance is low. This material has come into widespread use only in construction in the last two decades.

Properties of Ferrocement

• Highly versatile form of reinforced concrete.
• It’s a type of thin reinforced concrete construction, in which large amount of small diameter wire meshes uniformly throughout the cross section.
• Mesh may be metal or suitable material.
• Instead of concrete Portland cement mortar is used.
• Strength depends on two factors quality of sand/cement mortar mix and quantity of reinforcing materials used.

Fig: Typical cross section of ferrocement structure.

Constituent Materials for Ferrocement

1. Cement
2. Fine Aggregate
3. Water
4. Admixture
5. Mortar Mix
6. Reinforcing mesh
7. Skeletal Steel
8. Coating

Fig: Reinforcing Mesh

Advantages and Disadvantages of Ferrocement

Advantages

• Basic raw materials are readily available in most countries.
• Fabricated into any desired shape.
• Low labour skill required.
• Ease of construction, low weight and long lifetime.
• Low construction material cost.
• Better resistance against earthquake.

Disadvantages

• Structures made of it can be punctured by collision with pointed objects.
• Corrosion of the reinforcing materials due to the incomplete coverage of metal by mortar.
• It is difficult to fasten to Ferrocement with bolts, screws, welding and nail etc.
• Large no of labors required.
• Cost of semi-skilled and unskilled labors is high.
• Tying rods and mesh together is especially tedious and time consuming.

Process of Ferrocement Construction

• Fabricating the skeletal framing system.
• Applying rods and meshes.
• Plastering.
• Curing

Applications of Ferrocements in Construction

• Housing
• Marine
• Agricultural
• Rural Energy
• Anticorrosive Membrane Treatment.
• Miscellaneous.

Housing Applications of Ferrocement

Marine Application

Agricultural Applications

Application in Rural Energy

Cost Effectiveness of Ferrocement Structures

• The type of economic system.
• Type of applications.
• Relative cost of labor.
• Capital and local tradition of construction procedure.
• Doesn’t need heavy plant or machinery.
• Low cost of construction materials.

Recent Applications:

• Residential and Public Buildings.
• Industrial Structures.
• Agricultural structures.
• Transportation Structures.

Application in Industrial Structures:

Application in Agricultural Structures:

Application in Transportation Structures:



Tolerances of Errors in Pile Foundation Construction

Tolerances of errors in pile foundation construction allows maximum errors that can be occur during manufacturing process. Beyond these tolerances, the piles may be rejected for use.

Different types of pile foundations have different tolerances for their fabrications which are discussed below.

Tolerances of Errors in Pile Foundation Construction

Following are tolerances for various types of piles:

1. Steel bearing piles

Dimensional tolerances of steel bearing pile sections shall comply with the BS 4360. Fabrication tolerances for steel bearing piles and related steelwork shall comply with BS 5950: Part 2.

2. Precast concrete piles

The manufacturing tolerances for precast concrete piles shall comply with the following requirements:

(a) The external cross-sectional dimensions shall be within 0 mm and +6 mm of the specified dimensions.

(b) The wall thickness of hollow spun concrete piles shall be within 0 mm and +25 mm of the specified thickness.

(c) There shall be no irregularity exceeding 6 mm in a 3 m length along the face of the pile measured using a 3 m straight edge.

(d) There shall be no irregularity exceeding 25 mm in a 3 m length along the internal face of hollow spun concrete piles measured using a 3 m straight edge.

(e) The centroid of any cross-section of the pile shall not be more than 12 mm from the straight line connecting the centroids of the end faces of the pile. For the purpose of determining the centroid, the centroid of any cross-section of a hollow pile shall be determined by assuming that the pile has a solid section.

3. Hand-dug caissons foundations

The centre of each section of the shaft shall lie within 50 mm of the centreline of the whole shaft.

4. Tolerances for pile installations

(1) Piles, including hand-dug caissons and mini-piles, shall be installed to within the tolerances stated in Table -1.

(2) Piles that do not comply with the specified tolerances shall not be forcibly corrected.

Table-1: Tolerances of installed piles

Description	Tolerances
	Land Piles	Marine Piles
Deviation from specified position in plan, measured at cut-off level	75mm (15mm for mini-piles)	150mm
Deviation from vertical	1 in 75 1 in 100 for mini-piles	1 in 25
Deviation of raking piles from specified batter	1 in 25
Deviation from specified cut-off level	25mm
The diameter of cast-in-situ piles shall be at least 97% of the specified diameter.