Use of Composite Concrete Slab System Using Hollow Blocks and Precast Slab/Beam Member

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Date

2004-06

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Publisher

Addis Ababa University

Abstract

Housing is needed by many people in all parts of the country. Low-income persons usuallycannot afford to pay for the labour to build their houses and they have difficulty in doing thbuilding themselves because many of the construction methods and standard practices are toocomplicated. Simplification of the construction methods therefore seems to be a logical wayo reduce the cost of house. Moreover the increasing cost of construction materials and the time taken are the othenputs, which make the cost of construction to be expensive, and therefore the other way oeducing the cost of construction is to decrease the material and labour inputs. One of the temporary construction material inputs is the formwork. Formwork is a temporaryancillary construction used as a mould for structure, in which concrete is placed, hardens andmatures. The construction of formwork involves considerable expenditure of time andmaterial. The cost of formwork may be up to 20 to 25% of cost of structure in building workand even higher in bridges. In order to reduce this expenditure, it is necessary to design toeconomical types of formwork and mechanize its construction. When the concrete haeached a certain required strength, the formwork is no longer needed and is removed, in thcase of slab the formwork should be remain as it is for 14 days, this condition obstructactivities to be performed at lower level and affects the total time required for thconstruction. On the other hand the use of wood for use of formwork is a common practice in our country, and this significantly affects the countries limited source of wood. Therefordecreasing the use of formwork in the construction industry reduces the expenditure, time oconstruction and generally contributes in the reduction of deforestation. This study uses a simplified precast beam slab system, which reduces the use of formworkrom the usual way of construction technique.

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Keywords

Composite Concrete, Precast Slab/Beam Member, Concrete Slab, Hollow Blocks

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