Civil Construction NBPI

Unit 1 Introduction

Construction Work – It is defined as the means of realization of infrastructure development. In

the field of Civil Engineering, construction is the process that consists of building or assembling
of infrastructure. It comprises of:

 Survey, design and drawing

 Estimate of quantity and cost
 Construction management
 Agreement between contractor, client and consultant
 Detailed working drawing
 Specification of works and construction materials

According to the purpose, construction works can be divided into:

 New construction works – Build new structures

 Repair and maintenance works – correct the parts of the existing structures
 Rehabilitation works –replaces or add new parts to the existing structures

The Public Procurement Act 2063 has given the definition of construction work as follows:

Construction Work means works such as site preparation, excavation, erection, building
installation of equipment or goods and decoration, etc. associated with the construction,
reconstruction, demolition, repair or renovation of any structure or works, and this term includes
services incidental to construction works such as mapping, laboratory testing, satellite
photographs and seismic investigation.

Construction of any structure can be executed by the client, or through the help of contract.
There are three different types of contract:

 Labor contract
 Labor and material contract
 Turnkey contract

Labor contract

- Client supplies all construction materials, tools and equipment available at site.
- Contractors make available the manpower to execute the construction works.

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

1
Civil Construction NBPI

Labor and material contract

- Contractor is responsible to supply the necessary construction materials, tools and

equipment and manpower.
- Contractor gets payment from client for his total expenses plus tax, contractors overhead
cost and profit as per the agreed rate.

Turnkey contract

- Client gets the key of the building or ownership of any structure after it is complete. All
responsibility from the very beginning of the project (planning to the completion of
construction) lies in the contractor.

Principle of Design and Construction

The basic principle of design and construction includes:

Functionality – The structure built should be functional or it should be appropriate to give the
intended services.

Stability – The structure should resist the various loads it is supposed to bear. It should be stable
for long period at least its design period.

Durability – The materials of each component of the structure need to be resistant to the wear
and tear. It should last long.

Cost – The design and construction of the structures should be as economical as practical.
Minimizing the cost is very important task. Designing and constructing within the available
budget is also very important.

Environmental Impacts – The projects that include construction of both small and large scale
need to have Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) and also Environment Impact Assessment
(EIA). The construction works should avoid (if not minimize) any adverse effect on the
environment.

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

2
Civil Construction NBPI

Unit 2 Construction Materials

Bricks

Brick is obtained by molding 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 molding, 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 machineries and
improved techniques of molding, drying and burning.

The size of the bricks is of 230 mm × 110 mm × 55mm (9” x 4” x 2”). With mortar joints, the size
of these bricks are taken as 240 mm × 120 mm × 65 mm (10” x 5” x 3”).

Properties of Bricks

The following are the required properties of good bricks:

 Color: Color should be uniform and bright.

 Shape: Bricks should have plane faces. They should have sharp and true right angled
corners.
 Size: Bricks should be of standard sizes as prescribed by codes.
 Texture: They should possess fine, dense and uniform texture. They should not possess
fissures, cavities, loose grit and unburnt lime.
 Soundness: When struck with hammer or with another brick, it should produce metallic
sound.
 Hardness: Finger scratching should not produce any impression on the brick.
 Strength: Crushing strength of brick should not be less than 3.5 N/mm2. A field test for
strength is that when dropped from a height of 0.9 m to 1.0 m on a hard ground, the brick
should not break into pieces.
 Water Absorption: After immersing the brick in water for 24 hours, water absorption
should not be more than 20 per cent by weight. For class-I works this limit is 15 per cent.
 Efflorescence: Bricks should not show white patches when soaked in water for 24 hours
and then allowed to dry in shade. White patches are due to the presence of sulphate of
calcium, magnesium and potassium. They keep the masonry permanently in damp and
wet conditions.
 Thermal Conductivity: Bricks should have low thermal conductivity, so that buildings built
with them are cool in summer and warm in winter.
 Sound Insulation: Heavier bricks are poor insulators of sound while light weight and
hollow bricks provide good sound insulation.
 Fire Resistance: Fire resistance of bricks is usually good. In fact bricks are used to encase
steel columns to protect them from fire.
Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

3
Civil Construction NBPI

Classification of Bricks

The bricks used in construction are classified as:

 First class bricks

 Second class bricks
 Third class bricks and
 Fourth class bricks

First Class Bricks: These bricks are of standard shape and size. They are burnt in kilns. They fulfill
all desirable properties of bricks.

Second Class Bricks: These bricks are ground molded and burnt in kilns. The edges may not be
sharp and uniform. The surface may be somewhat rough. Such bricks are commonly used for the
construct ion of walls which are going to be plastered.

Third Class Bricks: These bricks are ground molded and burnt in clamps. Their edges are
somewhat distorted. They produce du ll sound when struck together. They are used for
temporary and unimportant structures.

Fourth Class Bricks: These are the over burnt bricks. They are dark in color. The shape is irregular.
They are used as aggregates for concrete in foundations, floors and roads.

Uses of Bricks

Bricks are used in the following civil works:

 As building blocks.
 For lining of ovens, furnaces and chimneys.
 For protecting steel columns from fire.
 As aggregates in providing water proofing to [Link].
 For pavers for footpaths and cycle tracks.
 For lining sewer lines.

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

4
Civil Construction NBPI

Stones

Stone is a 'naturally available building material 'which has been used from the early age of
civilization. It is available in the form of rocks, which is cut to required size and shape and used as
building block. It as been used to construct small residential buildings to large palaces and
temples all over the world.

Types of Stones

Stones used for civil engineering works may be classified in the following three ways:

 Geological
 Physical
 Chemical

Geological Classification

Based on their origin of formation stones are classified into three main groups—Igneous,
sedimentary and metamorphic rocks.

Igneous Rocks: These rocks are formed by cooling and solidifying of the rock masses from their
molten magmatic condition of the material of the earth. Generally igneous rocks are strong and
durable. Granite, trap and basalt are the rocks belonging to this category; Granites are formed by
slow cooling of the lava under thick cover on the top. Hence they have crystalline surface. The
cooling of lava at the top surface of earth results into non-crystalline and glassy texture. Trap and
basalt belong to this category.

Sedimentary Rocks: Due to weathering action of water, wind and frost existing rocks
disintegrates. The disintegrated material is carried by wind and water; the water being most
powerful medium. Flowing water deposits its suspended materials at some points of obstacles to
its flow. These deposited layers of materials get consolidated under pressure and by heat.
Chemical agents also contribute to the cementing of the deposits. The rocks thus formed are
more uniform, fine grained and compact in their nature. They represent a bedded or stratified
structure in general. Sand stones, lime stones, mud stones etc. belong to this class of rock.

Metamorphic Rocks: Previously formed igneous and sedimentary rocks undergo changes due to
metamorphic action of pressure and internal heat. For example due to metamorphic action
granite becomes gneisses, trap and basalt change to schist and laterite, limestone changes to
marble, sandstone becomes quartzite and mud stone becomes slate.

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

5
Civil Construction NBPI

Physical Classification

Based on the structure, the rocks may be classified as:

 Stratified rocks
 Unstratified rocks
 Foliated Rocks

Stratified Rocks: These are rocks are having layered structure. They possess planes of
stratification or cleavage. They can be easily split along these planes. Sandstones, limestone's,
slate etc. are the examples of this class of stones.

Unstratified Rocks: These rocks are not stratified. They possess crystalline and compact grains.
They cannot be split in to thin slab. Granite, trap, marble etc. are the examples of this type of
rocks.

Foliated Rocks: These rocks have tendency to split along a definite direction. The direction need
not be parallel to each other as in case of stratified rocks. This type of structure is very common
in case of metamorphic rocks.

Chemical Classification

On the basis of their chemical composition engineers prefer to classify rocks as:

 Siliceous rocks
 Argillaceous rocks and
 Calcareous rocks

Siliceous rocks: The main content of these rocks is silica. They are hard and durable. Examples of
such rocks are granite, trap, sand stones etc.

Argillaceous rocks: The main constituent of these rocks is argil i.e., clay. These stones are hard
and durable but they are brittle. They cannot withstand shock. Slates and literates are examples
of this type of rocks.

Calcareous rocks: The main constituent of these rocks is calcium carbonate. Limestone is a
calcareous rock of sedimentary origin while marble is a calcareous rock of metamorphic origin.

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

6
Civil Construction NBPI

Properties of Stones

The following properties of the stones should be looked into before selecting them for
engineering works:

 Structure: The structure of the stone may be stratified (layered) or Unstratified.

Structured
[Link]
difficult to dress. They are preferred for the foundation works.
 Texture: Fine grained stones with homogeneous distribution look attractive and hence
they are used for carving. Such stones are usually strong and durable.
 Density: Denser stones are stronger. Light weight stones are weak. Hence stones with
specific gravity less than 2.4 are considered unsuitable for buildings.
 Appearance: A stone with uniform and attractive color is durable, if grains are compact.
Marble and granite get very good appearance, when polished. Hence they are used for
face works in buildings.
 Strength: Strength is an important property to be looked in to before selecting stone as
building block. IS code recommends a minimum crushing strength of 3.5 N/mm 2 for any
building block. Table 2.1 shows the crushing strength of various stones.

Table 2.1 Crushing strength of common building stones

Name of Stone Crushing Strength in N/mm 2

Trap 300 to 350
Basalt 153 to 189
Granite 104 to 140
Slate 70 to 210
Marble 72
Sand stone 65
Lime stone 55
Laterite 1.8 to 3.2

 Hardness: It is an important property to be considered when stone is used for flooring

and pavement.
 Percentage wear: It is measured by attrition test. It is an important property to be
considered in selecting aggregate for road works and railway ballast.
 Porosity and Absorption: All stones have pores and hence absorb water. The reaction of
water with material of stone causes disintegration. Absorption test is specified as
percentage of water absorbed by the stone when it is immersed under water for 24
hours. For a good stone it should be as small as possible and in no case more than 5.

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

7
Civil Construction NBPI

 Weathering: Rain and wind cause loss of good appearance of stones. Hence stones with
good weather resistance should be used for face works.
 Toughness: The resistance to impact is called toughness. It is determined by impact test.
Stones with toughness index more than 19 are preferred for road works. Toughness index
13 to 19 is considered as medium tough and stones with toughness index less than 13 are
poor stones.
 Resistance to Fire: Sand stones resist fire better. Argillaceous materials, though poor in
strength, are good in resisting fire.
 Ease in Dressing: Cost of dressing contributes to cost of stone masonry to a great extent.
Dressing is easy in stones with lesser strength. Hence an engineer should look into
sufficient strength rather than high strength while selecting stones for building works.
 Seasoning: The stones obtained from quarry contain moisture in the pores. The strength
of
[Link]
isture from pores is called seasoning. The best way of seasoning is to allow it to the action
of nature for 6 to 12 months. This is very much required in the case of laterite stones.

Uses of Stones

Stones are used in the following civil engineering constructions:

 Stone masonry is used for the construction of foundations, walls, columns and arches.
 Stones are used for flooring.
 Stone slabs are used as damp proof courses, lintels and even as roofing materials.
 Stones with good appearance are used for the face works of buildings. Polished marbles
and granite are commonly used for face works.
 Stones are used for paving of roads, footpaths and open spaces round the buildings.
 Stones are also used in the constructions of piers and abutments of bridges, dams and
retaining walls.
 Crushed stones with graved are used to provide base course for roads. When mixed with
tar they form finishing coat.
 Crushed stones are used in the following works also:
- As a basic inert material in concrete
- For making artificial stones and building blocks

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

8
Civil Construction NBPI

Cement

Cement is a commonly used binding material in the construction. The cement is obtained by
burning a mixture of calcareous (calcium) and argillaceous (clay) material at a very high
temperature and then grinding the clinker so produced to a fine powder. It was first produced by
a mason Joseph Aspdin in England in 1924. He patented it as Portland cement.

Types of Cement

In addition to ordinary Portland cement there are many varieties of cement. Important varieties
are briefly explained below:

 White Cement: The cement when made free from coloring oxides of iron, manganese
and
[Link],theoilfuelisusedinsteado
fcoal
[Link],plastering,[Link]
ming pools white cement is used to replace glazed tiles. It is used for fixing marbles and
glazed tiles.
 Colored Cement: The cements of desired colors are produced by intimately mixing
pigments with ordinary cement. The chromium oxide gives green color. Cobalt produces
blue color. Iron oxides with different proportion produce brown, red or yellow color. Addition of
manganese dioxide gives black or brown colored cement. These cements are used for
giving finishing touches to floors, walls, window sills, roofs etc.
 Quick Setting Cement: Quick setting cement is produced by reducing the percentage of
gypsum and adding a small amount of aluminum sulphate during the manufacture of
cement. Finer grinding also adds to quick setting property. This cement starts setting
within 5 minutes after adding water and becomes hard mass within 30 minutes. This
cement is used to lay concrete under static or slowly running water.
 Rapid Hardening Cement: This cement can be produced by increasing lime content and
burning at high temperature while manufacturing cement. Grinding to very fine is also
necessary. Though the initial and final setting time of this cement is the same as that of
Portland cement, it gains strength in early days. This property helps in earlier removal of
form works and speed in construction activity.
 Low Heat Cement: In mass concrete works like construction of dams, heat produced due
to hydration of cement will not get dispersed easily. This may giver [Link] in
such constructions it is prefer able to use low heat cement. This cement contains low
percentage (5%) of tricalcium aluminate (C3A) and higher percentage (46%) of dicalcium
silicate (C2S).
 Pozzulana Cement: Pozzulana is a volcanic power found in Italy. It can be processed from
shales and certain types of clay also. In this cement Pozzulana material is 10 to 30 percent

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

9
Civil Construction NBPI

.It can resist action of sulphate. It releases less heat during setting. It imparts higher
degree of water tightness. Its tensile strength is high but compressive strength is low. It is
used for mass concrete works. It is also used in sewage line works.
 Expanding Cement: This cement expands as it sets. This property is achieved by adding
expanding medium like sulpho aluminate and a stabilizing agent to ordinary cement. This
is used for filling the cracks in concrete structures.
 High Alumina Cement: It is manufactured by calcining a mixture of lime and bauxite. It is
more resistant to sulphate and acid attack. It develops almost full strength within 24
hours of adding water. It is used for under waterworks.
 Blast Furnace Cement: In the manufacture of pig iron, slag comes out as a waste product.
By grinding clinkers of cement with about 60 to 65 per cent of slag, this cement is
produced. The properties of this cement are more or less me as ordinary cement, but it is
cheap, since it utilize waste product. This cement is durable but it gains the strength
slowly and hence needs longer period of curing.

Properties of Ordinary Portland cement (OPC)

Chemical properties: Portland cement consists of the following chemical compounds:

(a) Tricalcium silicate 3 CaO.SiO2 (C3S) 40%

(b) Dicalcium silicate 2CaO.SiO2 (C2S) 30%
(c) Tricalcium aluminate 3CaO.Al2O3 (C3A) 11%
(d) Tetracalcium aluminate 4CaO.Al2O3.Fe2O3 (C3AF) 11%
There may be small quantities of impurities present such as calcium oxide (CaO) and magnesium
oxide (MgO).

When water is added to cement, C3A is the first to react and cause initial set. It generates great
amount of heat. C3S hydrates early and develops strength in the first 28 days. It also generates
heat. C2S is the next to hydrate. It hydrates slowly and is responsible for increase in ultimate
strength. C4AF is comparatively in active compound.

Physical properties

The following physical properties should be checked before selecting a Portland cement for the
civil engineering works.

 Fineness
 Setting time
 Soundness
 Crushing strength.

Fineness: It is measured in terms of percentage of weight retained after sieving the cement
through 90 micron sieve or by surface area of cement in square centimeters per gram of cement.

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

10
Civil Construction NBPI

Setting time: A period of 30 minutes as minimum setting time for initial setting and a maximum
period of 600 minutes as maximum setting time is specified.

Soundness: Once the concrete has hardened it is necessary to ensure that no volumetric changes
take place. The cement is said to be unsound, if it exhibits volumetric instability after hardening.

Crushing strength: For this mortar cubes are made with standard sand and tested in
compression testing machine. The minimum strength specified is 16 N/mm 2 after 3 days and 22
N/mm2 after 7 days of curing.

Uses of Cement

Cement is used widely for the construction of various structures. Some of them are listed below:

 Cement slurry is used for filling cracks in concrete structures.

 Cement mortar is used for masonry work, plastering and pointing.
 Cement concrete is used for the construction of various structures like buildings, bridges.
Water tanks, etc.
 Cement is used to manufacture lamp posts, telephone posts, piles etc.
 For manufacturing cement pipes, garden seats, dustbins, flower pots etc. Cement is
commonly used.
 It is useful for the construction of roads, footpaths, courts for various sports etc.

Aggregates

Aggregates are inert granular materials such as sand, gravel, or crushed stone that, along with
water and Portland cement, are an essential ingredient in concrete. For a good concrete mix,
aggregates need to be clean, hard, strong particles free of absorbed chemicals or coatings of clay
and other fine materials that could cause the deterioration of concrete. Aggregates, which
account for 60 to 75 percent of the total volume of concrete, are divided into two distinct
categories--fine and coarse. Fine aggregates generally consist of natural sand. Gravels constitute
the majority of coarse aggregate with crushed stone making up most of the remainder.

Sand

Sand is an unconsolidated granular material consisting of mineral or rock fragments between

6.3µm (0.0625mm) and 2mm in diameter. Finer material is referred to as silt (particles smaller
than 0.0625mm down to 0.004mm), coarser material as gravel (particles ranging from 2mm up to
64 mm). Sand is usually produced by the chemical or mechanical breakdown of older source
rocks, but may also be formed by the direct chemical precipitation of grains or by biological
processes. Accumulations of sand result from hydrodynamic sorting of sediment during transport
and deposition.

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

11
Civil Construction NBPI

The most common constituent of sand is silica (silicon dioxide, or SiO2), usually in the form of
quartz, which, because of its chemical inertness and considerable hardness, is the most common
mineral resistant to weathering.

Types of Sand

Based on natural sources from which sand is obtained, sand is classified as:

 Pit Sand
 River Sand

Pit Sand

 This sand is obtained by forming pits in soils.

 It is excavated from a depth of about 1 – 2 m from the ground level.
 This sand is found as deposits in soil and it consists of sharp angular grains, which are free
from salts.
 It serves as an excellent material for mortar or concrete work.
 Pit sand must be made free from clay and other organic materials before it can be used in
mortar.

River Sand

 This sand is widely used for all purposes.

 It is obtained from the banks or beds of rivers and it consists of fine rounded grains.
 The presence of fine rounded grains is due to mutual attrition/abrasion under the action
of water current.
 The river sand is available in clean conditions.
 The river sand is almost white in color.

Based on the grain size distribution, sand is classified as:

Fine sand: The sand passing through a sieve with clear openings of 1.5875 mm is known as fine
sand. Fine sand is mainly used for plastering. .

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

12
Civil Construction NBPI

Coarse sand: The sand passing through a sieve with clear openings of 3.175 mm is known as
coarse sand. It is generally used for masonry work.

Gravelly sand: The sand passing through a sieve with clear openings of 7.62 mm is known as
gravelly sand. It is generally used for concrete work.

Properties of Good Sand

 It should be clean and coarse.

 It should be free from any organic or vegetable matter; usually 3-4 per cent clay is
permitted.
 It should be chemically inert (inactive).
 It should contain sharp, angular, coarse and durable grains.
 It should not contain salts which attract moisture from the atmosphere.
 It should be well graded, i.e., it should contain particles of various sizes in suitable
proportions.
 It should be strong and durable.
 It should be clean and free from coatings of clay and silt.

Use of Sand in Construction

Brickworks: Finest modulus of fine sand with grain size between 1.2 to 1.5 mm. Sand gives
uniform texture to the bricks.

Plastering works: Finest modulus of fine sand with grain size not less than 1.5 mm. It is usually
mixed with cement in the ratio of 1:3 or 1:4.

Concrete works: It helps in the adjustment of strength of concrete by variation of its proportion
with cement.

Coarse Aggregates

When the aggregate is sieved through 4.75mm sieve, the aggregate retained is called coarse
aggregate. Gravel, cobble and boulders come under this category. The maximum size aggregate
used may be dependent upon some conditions. In general, 40mm size aggregate used for normal
strengths and 20mm size is used for high strength concrete. The size range of various coarse
aggregates is given below.

Coarse Aggregates Size

Fine Gravel 4mm – 8mm
Medium Gravel 8mm – 16mm
Coarse Gravel 16mm – 64mm
Cobbles 64mm – 256mm
Boulders >256mm

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

13
Civil Construction NBPI

The coarse aggregates should be hard, strong, non-porous and free from clay and other organic
matters. The mixture of only cement and sand is costly and possess low strength and shrinks
unacceptably on drying. In order to reduce the cost and modify such properties, aggregates are
used.

Water

Water is one of the most important elements in construction but people still ignore quality
aspect of this element. The water is required for preparation of mortar, mixing of cement
concrete and for curing work etc. during construction work. The quality and quantity of water
has much effect on the strength of mortar and cement concrete in construction work.

Quality of Water

The water used for mixing and curing should be clean and free from injurious quantities of
alkalis, acid, oils, salt, sugar, organic materials, vegetable growth and other substances that may
be deleterious to bricks, stone, concrete or steel. Potable water is generally considered
satisfactory for mixing. The pH value of water should be not less than 6.

Quantity of Water

Water is an important component for mortar or concrete. The quantity and quality of water have
much effect on the strength of mortar and cement concrete. When the water is mixed in mortar,
it reacts with cement and forms a binding paste which fills small voids in the sand. This creates a
close cohesion of sand particles and cement. In case of cement concrete the voids formed
between sand and coarse aggregate gets filled with the paste forming a cohesive
substance/concrete. The required quantity of water is used to prepare mortar or concrete, but in
practice it is seen that more water is mixed to make the mix workable. This is a bad practice and
additional water weakens the strength of cement paste. Extra water also weakens adhesive
quality.

Quantity of Water for One Bag Mix

 Approximate 32 liters of water is required where the ratio 1:2:4 of cement concrete is
used.
 Approximate 30 liters of water is required where the ratio 1:1.5:3 of cement concrete is
used.

Rebar/Steel Bar

Rebar (short for reinforcing bar), collectively known as reinforcing steel and reinforcement steel,
is a steel bar or mesh of steel wires used as a tension device in reinforced concrete and
reinforced masonry structures to strengthen and hold the concrete in tension. Rebar's surface is
often patterned to form a better bond with the concrete. Concrete is a material that is very
strong in compression, but relatively weak in tension. To compensate for this imbalance in
Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

14
Civil Construction NBPI

concrete's behavior, rebar is cast into it to carry the tensile loads. Most steel reinforcement is
divided into primary and secondary reinforcement

Primary reinforcement refers to the steel which is employed to guarantee the resistance needed
by the structure as a whole to support the design loads. Secondary reinforcement, also known as
distribution or thermal reinforcement is employed for durability and aesthetic reasons, by
providing enough localized resistance to limit cracking and resist stresses caused by effects such
as temperature changes and shrinkage.

Type of Steel Bars

Generally there are two types of steel bars:

 Mild Steel Bars

 Deformed Steel Bars

Mild Steel Bars

Mild steel bars are used for tensile stress of RCC (Reinforced cement concrete) slab beams etc. in
reinforced cement concrete work. These steel bars are plain in surface and are round sections of
diameter from 6 to 50 mm. These rods are manufactured in long lengths and can be cut quickly
and be bent easily without damage.

Mild steel bars are supplied in two grades

 Mild steel bars grade-I designated as Fe 410-S or Grade 60

 Mild steel bars grade-II designated as Fe-410-o or Grade 40

Deformed Steel Bars

Deformed bars are rods of steels provided with deformation on the surface of bar, these bars
minimize slippage in concrete and increases the bond between the two materials. Deformed bars
have more tensile stresses than that of mild steel plain bars.

To limit cracks that may develop in reinforced concrete around mild steel bars due to stretching
of bars and some loss of bond under load it is common to use deformed bars that have
projecting ribs or are twisted to improve the bond with concrete. These bars are produced in
sections from 6 mm to 50 mm dia.

In addition the strength of bonds of deformed bars calculated should be 40 to 80 % higher than
that of plain round bars of same nominal size. And it has more tensile stress than that of plain
round bars of same nominal size.

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

15
Civil Construction NBPI

Timber

Timber denotes wood which is suitable for building or carpentry and for various engineering and
other purposes. Timber and its characteristics depend upon the kind of tree it is obtained from:

Soft woods – includes firs, pines, spruce and other coniferous trees

Hard woods – includes Sal, teak mahogany, laurel, etc.

Properties of Good Timber

Appearance: A freshly cut surface of timber should exhibit hard and of shining appearance.

Color: A color should preferably be dark.

Defects: A good timber should be free from series defects such as knots, flaws, shakes etc.

Durability: A good timber should be durable and capable of resisting the action of fungi, insects,
chemicals, physical agencies, and mechanical agencies.

Elasticity: The timber returns to its original shape when load causing its deformation is removed.

Fire resistance: A dense wood offers good resistance to fire.

Hardness: A good timber should be hard.

Mechanical wear: A good timber should not deteriorate easily due to mechanical wear or
abrasion.

Shape: A good timber should be capable of retaining its shape during conversion or seasoning.

Smell: A good timber should have sweet smell. Unpleasant smell indicates decayed timber.

Sound: A good timber should give a clear ringing sound when struck.

Strength: A good timber should be sufficiently strong for working as structural member such as
truss, beam, rafter etc.

Water permeability: A good timber should have low water permeability, which is measured by
the quantity of water filtered through unit surface area of specimen of wood.

Weight: The timber with heavy weight is considered to be sound and strong.

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

16
Civil Construction NBPI

Unit 3 Building Construction

Every family needs a building to reside. Apart from residential purposes buildings are required
for educational, institutional, business, assembly and for industrial purposes. Buildings are
required for the storage of materials also.

Basic Requirement of a Building

The planning and construction of a building should be aimed at fulfilling the following
requirements:

 Strength and stability

 Dimensional stability
 Resistance to dampness
 Resistance to fire
 Heat insulation
 Sound insulation
 Protection against termite attack
 Durability
 Security against burglary
 Lighting and ventilation
 Comforts and convenience
 Economy.

1. Strength and Stability: Building should be capable of transferring the expected loads in its
life period safely to the ground. Design of various structural components like slabs,
beams, walls, columns and footing should ensure safety. None of the structural
components should buckle overturn and collapse.
2. Dimensional Stability: Excessive deformations of structural components give a sense of
instability and result into crack in walls, flooring etc. All structural components should be
so designed that deflections do not exceed the permissible values specified in the codes.
3. Resistance to Dampness: Dampness in a building is a great nuisance and it may reduce
the life of the building. Great care should be taken in planning and in the construction of
the building to avoid dampness.
4. Resistance to Fire: Regarding achieving resistance to fire, the basic requirements laid
down in the codes are:
a) The structure should not ignite easily.
b) Building orientation should be such that spread of fire is slow.
c) In case of fire, there should be means of easy access to vacate building quickly.
5. Heat Insulation: A building should be so oriented and designed that it insulates interior
from heat.
6. Sound Insulation: Buildings should be planned against outdoor and indoor noises.
Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

17
Civil Construction NBPI

7. Protection from Termite: Buildings should be protected from termites.

8. Durability: Each and every component of the building should be durable.
9. Security against Burglary: This is the basic need the owner of the building expects.
10. Lighting and Ventilation: For healthy and happy living natural light and ventilations are
required. Diffused light and good cross ventilation should be available inside the building.
11. Comforts and Conveniences: Various units in the building should be properly grouped and
integrated keeping in mind the comfort and convenience of the user.
12. Economy: Economy without sacrificing comfort, convenience and durability is another
basic requirement of the building.

Elements of a Building

The following are the basic elements of a building:

1. Foundation
2. Superstructure

Foundation

Foundation is the most important part of the building. Building activity starts with digging the
ground for foundation and then building it. It is the lower most part of the building. It transfers
the load of the building to the ground. Its main functions and requirements are:

 Distribute the load from the structure to soil evenly and safely.
 To anchor the building to the ground so that under lateral loads building will not move.
 It prevents the building from overturning due to lateral forces.
 It gives level surface for the construction of super structure.

The foundations of the building transfer the weight of the building to the ground. Various loads
subjected to a building like dead load of superstructure (including self-weight of foundation), live
load, wind load, seismic load, etc. are transmitted to the soil by foundation. While 'foundation' is
a general word, normally, every building has a number of individual foundations. Most buildings
have some kind of foundation structure directly below every major column, so as to transfer the
column loads directly to the ground.

Safe Bearing Capacity of Soil Strata

Since the weight of the building rests on the soil (or rock), engineers have to study the properties
of the soil very carefully to ensure that it can carry the loads imposed by the building. Safe
Bearing Capacity (SBC) is the amount of weight per unit area the soil can bear. This capacity also
changes at different depths of soil. In general, the deeper one digs, the greater the SBC, unless
there are pockets of weak soil in the earth. To properly support a building, the soil must be very
firm and strong. It is common for the soil near the surface of the earth to be loose and weak.

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

18
Civil Construction NBPI

Table: Safe Bearing Capacity of Soil Strata

[Link]. Description of Soil (or Rock) Safe Bearing Capacity, KN/m2

1 Hard Rock 3300
2 Soft Rock 450
3 Gravel and Sand 450
4 Medium sand 250
5 Fine Sand/Silt 150
6 Loose Gravel 250
7 Fine Sand/Loose Clay 100
8 Medium Clay 250
9 Soft Clay 100
10 Very Soft Clay 50

Types of Foundations

Depending upon the depth of the foundation bed laid underground, the foundation can be
broadly classified into-

1. Shallow Foundation
2. Deep Foundation

Shallow Foundation

Shallow foundations are those founded near to the finished ground surface; generally where the
founding depth (Df) is less than the width of the footing and less than 3m. These are not strict
rules, but merely guidelines: basically, if surface loading or other surface conditions will affect
the bearing capacity of a foundation it is 'shallow'. Shallow foundations (sometimes called
'spread footings') include pads ('isolated footings'), strip footings and rafts. Shallows foundations
are used when surface soils are sufficiently strong and stiff to support the imposed loads; they
are generally unsuitable in weak or highly compressible soils

i. Isolated Footing (Pad Foundation)

Isolated Footings are used to support an individual point load such as that due to a structural
column. They may be circular, square or rectangular. They usually consist of a block or slab of
uniform thickness, but they may be stepped or hunched if they are required to spread the load
from a heavy column. Pad foundations are usually shallow, but deep pad foundations can also be
used.

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

19
Civil Construction NBPI

Individual footings are usually connected by a plinth beam, a horizontal beam that is built at
ground or below ground level.

ii. Strip Footings

Strip footings are commonly found in load-bearing masonry construction, and act as a long strip
that supports the weight of an entire wall. These are used where the building loads are carried
by entire walls rather than isolated columns, such as in older buildings made of masonry.

iii. Combined Footings

Combined footings are those foundations that are made common for two or more columns in a
row. It is used when the footing for a column may extend beyond the property line. It is also
suitable when the two columns are closely spaced and the soil on which the structure resist is of
low bearing capacity. It may be rectangular or trapezoidal in shape.

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

20
Civil Construction NBPI

iv. Mat or Raft Foundation

A mat foundation is a combined footing which covers the entire area beneath of a structure and
supports all the walls and columns. It is also known as raft foundation. Mat foundation is
applicable when:

 Allowable bearing pressure is low.

 The structure is heavy.
 The site is with highly compressible layer.

This type of foundation is suitable for expansive soils whose bearing capacity is less for suitability
of spread footings and wall footings.

Deep Foundation

Deep Foundation are those foundations in which the depth of the foundation is greater than its
width (D>B). The D/B ratio is usually 4-5 for deep foundation. Unlike shallow foundation, the
deep foundation transmits the load of the superstructure vertically to the rock strata lying deep.
Deep foundations are used when the shallow foundation cannot support the load of the
structure.

i. Pile Foundation

Pile foundation is a type of deep foundation which is used to transfer heavy loads from the
structure to a hard rock strata much deep below the ground level. Piles are relatively long,
slender members that transmit foundation loads through soil strata of low bearing capacity to
deeper soil or rock strata having a high bearing capacity. They are used when for economic,
constructional or soil condition considerations it is desirable to transmit loads to strata beyond
the practical reach of shallow foundations.

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

21
Civil Construction NBPI

ii. Well Foundation (Caisson Foundation)

The term caisson refers to box or a case. These are hollow inside and are usually constructed at
the site and sunk in place into hard bearing strata. As they are expensive in construction, they are
usually restricted to major foundation works. Well foundations are suitable when the soil
contains large boulders obstructing the penetration during installation of pier or pile
foundations. Caissons are used for bridge piers, abutments in rivers and lakes and other shore
protection works. They are used to resist heavy vertical and horizontal loads and are used in the
construction of large water front structures as pump houses.

Superstructure

The portion above the ground level and below the ground floor level is known as plinth. The
portion above the ground floor level is known as super structure. It includes walls, columns,
beams, floors, roofs, doors, windows, lintels, staircases etc.

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

22
Civil Construction NBPI

Types of Superstructure

On the basis of load transfer, there are two types of superstructure

1. Load Bearing Structures

2. Framed Structures

Load Bearing Structures

In this type of structure the load on the structure is transferred vertically downward through
walls. Loads from roof and floors get transferred to wall and then wall has to transfer these
loads as well as self-weight. Such constructions are used in
[Link]+ 2 floors can
be built economically with such structures.
Framed Structures: In this type of structures a frame work of columns, beams and floors are
built first. Then walls are built to portion the living area. The walls are subjected to self- weight
only. These types of super structures are required when number of stories in a building is more
and also when larger areas are to be covered free from walls.
Table: Comparison between Load Bearing and Framed Structure

S. No. Load Bearing Structure Framed Structure

1. Cost is less Cost is more
2. Suitable up to three stories Suitable for any number of stories
3. Walls are thicker and hence floor area is Walls are thinner and hence more floor
reduced. area available for use.
4. Slow construction Speedy construction
5. Not possible to alter the position of Position of walls may be changed,
walls, after the construction. whenever necessary.
6. Resistance to earthquake is poor. Resistance to earthquake forces is good.

Stone Masonry

Masonry means construction of buildings using building blocks like stone, bricks, concrete blocks
etc. Masonry is used for the construction of foundation, plinth, walls and columns. Mortar is the
binding material for the building blocks.

Types of Stone Masonry

Mainly there are two types of stone masonry:

1. Rubble Masonry
2. Ashlar Masonry.

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

23
Civil Construction NBPI

Rubble Masonry

In this type of constructions, stones of irregular sizes and shapes are used. To remove sharp
shapes they may be hammered. The rubble masonry may be coursed or uncoursed. In uncoursed
rubble masonry the wall is brought to level at every 300 mm to 500 mm. The mortar consumed
in these constructions is more. Course rubble masonry is used for the construction of public and
residential buildings. Uncoursed rubble masonry is used for the construction of foundations,
compound walls, garages, labor quarters etc. A skilled mason may arrange the facing stones in
polygonal shapes to improve the aesthetic of the wall.
x

Through (T)

(a) Elevation (b) Section x – x

Fig. Uncoursed rubble masonry

Fig. Coursed rubble masonry

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

24
Civil Construction NBPI

Ashlar Masonry

In this type of masonry stones are dressed to get suitable shapes and sizes. The height of the
stones varies from 250 mm to 300 mm. The length should not exceed three times the height. The
dressing of the stone need not be very accurate on all sides. Usually good dressing is made on
facing side. In such construction mortar consumption is less compared to rubble masonry.

Fine Finished Ashlar Ashlar Chamfered

Brick Masonry

Brick masonry is built with bricks bonded together with mortar. For temporary sheds mud mortar
may be used but for all permanent buildings lime or cement mortars are used.

The various types of bonds generally used in brick masonry are

1. Stretcher bond
2. Header bond
3. English bond and
4. Flemish bond.

Stretcher Bond

A stretcher is the longer face of the brick as seen in the elevation. In the brick of size 230 mm ×
110 mm × 55 mm, 230 mm × 55 mm face is the stretcher. In stretcher bond masonry all the
bricks are arranged in stretcher courses as shown in Fig. However care should be taken to break
vertical joints. This type of construction is useful for the construction half brick thick partition
wall.

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

25
Civil Construction NBPI

Header Bond

A header is the shorter face of the brick as seen in the elevation. In a standard brick it is 110 mm
× 55 mm face. In header bond brick masonry all the bricks are arranged in the header courses as
shown in Fig. This type of bond is useful for the construction of one brick thick walls.

English Bond

In this alternate courses consist of headers and stretchers. This is considered to be the strongest
bond. Hence it is commonly used bond for the walls of all thicknesses. To break continuity of
vertical joints a brick is cut lengthwise into two halves and used in the beginning and end of a
wall after first header. This is called queen closer.

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

26
Civil Construction NBPI

Flemish Bond

In this type of bond each course comprises of alternate header and stretcher. Alternate courses
start with stretcher and header. To break the vertical joints queen closers are required, if a course
starts with header. Every header is centrally supported on the stretcher below it.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Brick Masonry over Stone Masonry

Advantages:

1. Since shape and size of bricks are uniform, it does not need skilled labor for the
construction.
2. Bricks are light in weight and hence handling them is easy.
3. Bricks are easily available around cities and their transportation cost is less because their
weight is less. Stones are to be brought from quarries which are located only few places.
4. It is possible to use all types of mortar in brick masonry. For unimportant buildings even
mud mortar can be used.
5. Thinner walls can be constructed with bricks but it is not so with stones.
6. It is easy to form openings for doors and windows.
7. Dead load of brick masonry is less.
8. In brick masonry mortar joints are thin and hence construction cost is reduced
considerably.
9. Brick masonry has better fire and weather resistance compared to stone masonry.

Disadvantages:

1. Strength of brick masonry is less than that of stone masonry.

2. Durability of brick masonry is less.
3. Brick masonry needs plastering and plastered surface needs color washing. Stone
masonry doesn’t need them and hence maintenance cost is more in brick masonry.
4. Brick masonry absorbs water and there are possibilities of dampness. There is no such
problem in stone masonry.

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

27
Civil Construction NBPI

5. More architectural effects can be given in stone masonry compared to that in brick
masonry.
6. Stone masonry gives massive appearance and hence monumental buildings are built in
stone masonry.

Concrete

Plain concrete, commonly known as concrete, is an intimate mixture of binding material, fine
aggregate, coarse aggregate and water. This can be easily molded to desired shape and size
before it loses plasticity and hardens. Plain concrete is strong in compression but very weak in
tension. The tensile property is introduced in concrete by inducting different materials and this
attempt has given rise to RCC.

Plain Cement Concrete (PCC)

Major ingredients of concrete are:

 Binding material (like cement)

 Fine aggregate (sand)
 Coarse aggregates (crushed stone)
 Water

Depending upon the proportion of ingredient, strength of concrete varies. It is possible to

determine the proportion of the ingredients for a particular strength by mix design procedure. In
the absence of mix design the ingredients are proportioned as 1:1:2, 1:1/2:3, 1:2:4, 1:3:6 and
1:4:8, which is the ratio of weights of cement to sand to coarse aggregate.

S. No. Proportion Nature of Work

1 1:1:2 For foundation, footings for steel columns and concreting under water.

2 1:1 1/2:3 Water tanks, shells and folded plates, for other water retaining structures.
3 1:2:4 Commonly used for reinforced concrete works like beams, slabs, tunnel
4 1:3:6 Piers, abutments, concrete
lining, walls,
bridgessill of windows, floors.
Mass concretes like dam, foundation course for walls, for making concrete
5 1:4:8
blocks.

Reinforced Cement Concrete (RCC)

Concrete is good in resisting compression but is very weak in resisting tension. Hence
reinforcement is provided in the concrete wherever tensile stress is expected. The best
reinforcement is steel, since tensile strength of steel is quite high and the bond between steel
and concrete is good. Reinforcements are usually in the form of mild steel or ribbed steel bars of
6 mm to 32 mm diameter. A cage of reinforcements is prepared as per the design requirements,
kept in a form work and then liquid state concrete is poured. After the concrete hardens, the
Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

28
Civil Construction NBPI

form work is removed. The composite material of steel and concrete now called R.C.C. acts as a
structural member and can resist tensile as well as compressive stresses very well.

Properties of RCC

1. It should be capable of resisting expected tensile, compressive, bending and shear forces.
2. It should not show excessive deflection and spoil serviceability requirement.
3. There should be proper cover to the reinforcement, so that the corrosion is prevented.
4. The hair cracks developed should be within the permissible limit.
5. It is a good fire resistant material.
6. When it is fresh, it can be molded to any desired shape and size.
7. Durability is very good.
8. R.C.C. structure can be designed to take any load.

Uses of RCC

It is a widely used building material. Some of its important uses are listed below:

1. R.C.C. is used as a structural element; the common structural elements in a building

where R.C.C. is used are Footings, Columns, Beams and lintels.
2. R.C.C. is used for the construction of storage structures like Water tanks, Dams, etc.
3. It is used for the construction of big structures like Buildings, Bridges, Retaining walls,
under water structures.
4. It is used for paving Roads, Airports.

Plastering

Applying mortar coats on the surfaces of walls, columns, ceiling etc. to get smooth finish is
termed as plastering. Mortar used for plastering may be lime mortar, cement mortar or lime-
cement mortar. Lime mortar used shall have fat lime to sand ratio of 1: 3 or 1: 4 Cement mortar
of 1: 4 or 1: 6 mix is very commonly used for plastering, richer mix being used for outer walls.

Objectives of plastering

 To conceal defective workmanship.

 To give smooth surface to avoid catching of dust.
 To give good look.
 To protect the wall from rain water and other atmospheric agencies.
 To protect surfaces against vermin, insects.

Requirement of good plaster

 It should adhere to the background easily.

 It should be hard and durable.
 It should prevent penetration by moisture.
 It should be cheap.
Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

29
Civil Construction NBPI

Cement mortar is generally applied in two or three coats for the stone and brick masonry. For
concrete building blocks, many times only one coat of cement mortar is applied. The first coat
provides means of getting level surface. The final coat provides smooth surface. If three coats are
used second coat is known as floating coat. The average thickness of first coat is 10 to 15 mm.
Middle coat thickness is 6–8 mm. The final coat is just 2 to 3 mm thick. If single coat is used its
thickness is kept between 6 to 12 mm. Such coats are used on concrete surfaces not exposed to
rain.

Pointing

Instead of plastering entire surface of the masonry, special mortar finishing work is done to the
exposed joints. This is called pointing. It consists of raking the joints to a depth of 10 mm to 20
mm and filling it with richer mortar mixes. In case of cement mortar pointing mix used is 1: 3.
Pointing is ideally suited for stone masonry because stones are having attractive colors and good
resistance to penetration by water. Pointing gives perfection to weaker part of masonry (i.e. to
joints) and it adds to aesthetic view of the masonry.

Table: Comparison between plastering and pointing

S. No. Plastering Pointing

1. It is applied to entire surface. It is provided only at exposed joints.
2. It provides smooth surface. It does not provide smooth surface.
It conceals defective workmanship in the It is used to expose beauty of well-built
3.
masonry construction. masonry work.
It provides a base for applying white/ White washing or color washing are ruled
4.
color washing out.

Painting

Paints

Paints are applied on the surfaces of timber, metals and plastered surfaces as a protective layer
and at the same time to get pleasant appearance. Paints are applied in liquid form and after
sometime the volatile constituent evaporate and hardened coating acts as a protective layer.

Constituents of Paint

The essential constituents of paints are:

1. Base
2. Vehicle
3. Pigment
4. Drier and
5. Thinner.
Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

30
Civil Construction NBPI

Bases: It is a principal constituent of paint. It also possesses the binding properties. It forms an
opaque coating. Commonly used bases for paints are white lead, red lead, zinc oxide, iron oxide,
titanium white, aluminum powder and lithopone. A lead paint is suitable for painting iron and
steel works, as it sticks to them well. However it is affected by atmosphere action and hence
should not be used as final coat. While zinc forms good base but is costly. Lithopone, which is a
mixture of zinc sulphate and barites, is cheap. It gives good appearance but is affected by day
light. Hence it is used for interior works only.

Vehicles: The vehicles are the liquid substances which hold the ingredients of paint in liquid
suspension and allow them to be applied on the surface to be painted. Linseed oil, Tung oil and
Nut oil are used as vehicles in paints. Of the above oils, linseed oil is very commonly used
vehicles. Boiling makes the oil thicker and darker. Linseed oil reacts with oxygen and hardens by
forming a thin film.

Pigment: Pigments give required color for paints. They are fine particles and have a reinforcing
effect on thin film of the paint. The common pigments for different colors are: Black—Lamp
black, suit and charcoal black, Red—venedion red, red lead and Indian red, Brown—burned
timber, raw and burned sienna Green—chrome green, copper sulphate, Blue—Prussian blue and
ultra-marine, Yellow—ochre and chrome yellow.

Drier: These are the compounds of metal like lead, manganese, cobalt. The function of a drier is
to absorb oxygen from the air and supply it to the vehicle for hardening. The drier should not be
added until the paint is about to be used. The excess drier is harmful because it destroys
elasticity and causes flaking.

Thinner: It is known as solvent also. It makes paint thinner and hence increases the coverage. It
helps in spreading paint uniformly over the surface. Turpentine and naphtha are commonly used
thinners. After paint is applied, thinner evaporates and paint dries.

Properties of an Ideal Paint

 It should be possible to apply easily and freely.

 It should dry in reasonable time.
 It should form hard and durable surface.
 It should not be harmful to the health of workers.
 It should not be easily affected by atmosphere.
 It should possess attractive and pleasing appearance.
 It should form a thin film of uniform nature i.e., it should not crack.
 It should possess good spreading power.
 It should be cheap.

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

31
Civil Construction NBPI

Application of Paint

Preparation of surface for application of paint is the most important part in painting. The surface
to be painted should not be oily and it should be from flakes of the old paint. Cracks in the
surface should be filled with putty and then with sand paper. Then primer is applied. Painting
work should be carried out in dry weather. The under coats and first coats must be allowed to
dry before final coat is applied.

Distempers

Distempers are the cheaper variety of paints in which chalk is used as base and water is used as a
carrier. The emulsifying agent which is commonly used is glue or casein. Distempers are available
in powder form or in the form of paste. They are to be mixed with hot water before use.

The surface to be distempered should be thoroughly rubbed and cleaned. The cracks, if any
should be filled by lime putty. The surface should be kept dry for about two months before
applying distemper. Thus a primary coat is applied and is allowed to dry. Distemper is usually
applied in two coats.

Properties of Distemper

 They are generally light in color.

 The coatings are generally thick.
 They give reflective coating.
 They are less durable than oil paints but are cheaper.

Formwork

Formwork is a temporary structure designed to contain fresh fluid concrete, including all
supporting structures, used to shape and support the concrete until it attains sufficient strength
to carry its own weight. It should be capable of carrying all imposed dead and live loads apart
from its own weight. Formwork has been in use since the beginning of concrete construction.
New materials such as steel, plastics and fiberglass are used in formwork. Greater attention is
being given to the design, fabrication, erection and dismantling of formwork.

In order to successfully carry out its function, formwork must achieve a balance of following
requirements:

 Containment
 Strength
 Resistance To Leakage
 Accuracy
 Ease Of Handling
 Finish And Reuse Potential
 Access For Concrete
Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

32
Civil Construction NBPI

 Economy

Materials for formwork

Formwork can be made out of a large variety of materials. The material most commonly being
used to date is timber. However, due to the depleting forest reserves and increasing cost of
timber the use of alternate materials such as plywood and steel has become prominent.

Timber is required for practically all jobs of formwork. The timber being used for formwork must
satisfy the following requirements:

 It should be durable and treatable.

 It should have sufficient strength characteristics.
 It should be light weight and well-seasoned without warping.
 It should hold nails well.

Advantages of using timber forms:

 It is economical for small construction jobs.

 It is design flexible and easy to erect.
 It has good thermal insulation which makes it useful to be used in colder Regions.
 It can easily be made into any shape or size.

Steel formworks are mostly used in large construction projects or in situations where large
number of re-uses of the same shuttering is possible. These are suitable for circular or curved
shaped structures such as tanks, columns, chimneys, etc. and also for structures like sewer
tunnel and retaining wall.

Advantages of steel formwork over timber formwork:

 Strong, durable & have longer life.

 Reuses can be assumed to vary from 100 to 120 wares timber varies from 10 to 12.
 Steel can be installed & dismantled with greater ease & speed resulting in saving in labor
cost.
 Excellent quality of exposed concrete surface obtained. Thus saving in the cost of
finishing the concrete surface.
 No danger of formwork absorbing water from the concrete.

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

33
Civil Construction NBPI

Unit 4 Road Construction

Development of a country depends on the connectivity of various places with adequate road
network. Roads are the major channel of transportation for carrying goods and passengers. They
play a significant role in improving the socio-economic standards of a region. Roads are the
primary and major means of connectivity all around the world till now from the ancient
[Link] are means of providing vehicular movement as well as movement of the people.
Road is a vital infrastructure development of the country, which further leads to other
developmental activities. Thus road network is sometimes named as the arteries of a nation.
Among other modes of transport like railways, waterways, airways, roadways are the one that
can give services to maximum number people.

Over the years road construction technologies has a seen a great innovation due to the emergent
of various new technologies and methodologies. These technologies has been changing the vary
course of construction ever since they came in to existence. But the actual aim of constructing
roads, i.e. creating connectivity has remained intact and so it gave rise to the different
approaches of classification of roads.

Classification of Roads

Roads can be classified on the basis of materials used to construct, traffic volume, total load of
the truck and goods carried location and purpose the roads. Based on material or the
construction techniques, roads can be grouped into- earthen, gravel, asphalt, concrete roads.

The classification of roads can be done into two groups depending upon whether they can be
used during different seasons of the year or not. They are as follows:

 All- weather roads – These roads are negotiable during all conditions or seasons of the
year, except at major river crossing where some interruption to traffic is permissible up to
certain extent.
 Fair- weather roads – These roads are operative only during the dry or non-monsoon
seasons and causes interruption to the traffic during the monsoon seasons due to the
overflow across the river.

Nepal Road Standard, 2027 (Second Revision 2070) has classified roads in Nepal into the
followings;

1. National Highways

National Highways are main highways connecting East to West and North to South of the Nation.
The roads connecting national highways to Regional headquarters shall be classified as national
highways. These serve directly the greatest portion of the longer distance travel provides
consistently higher level of service in terms of travel speeds, and bear the inter-community
mobility (regional interest). These roads shall be the main arterial routes passing through the
Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

34
Civil Construction NBPI

length and breadth of the country as a whole. They are designated by letter “H” followed by a
two-digit number.

2. Feeder roads

Feeder roads are important roads of localized nature. These serve the community's wide interest
and connect District headquarters and /or Zonal headquarters, Major economic centers, Tourism
centers to National Highways or other feeder roads to National highways are designated by letter
“F” followed by 3-digit number.

3. District roads/Village roads

District Roads are important roads within a district serving areas of production and markets, and
connecting with each other or with the main highways. This class of roads consisting of all roads
not defined as national Highways or feeder and city roads serve primarily by providing access to
abutting land carrying little or no through movement. These roads should give access to one or
more villagers to the nearest market or to a higher type of roads. Moderate travel speeds are
typical on such roads.

4. Urban roads

Urban Roads are the roads serving within the urban municipalities. These include roads within
the urban limits except for the above classes, passing through the city. These provide access to
abutting residential, business or industrial properties.

In Nepal the overall management of National Highways and Feeder Roads comes within the
responsibility of the Department of Roads (DOR). These roads are collectively called Strategic
Roads Network (SRN) roads. District Roads and Urban Roads are managed by Department of
Local Infrastructure Development and Agricultural Roads (DOLIDAR). These roads are collectively
called Local Roads Network (LRN) roads.

Road Geometry

Road geometrics are the elements of a road visible to road users. These elements are the basis
that provides optimum efficiency in traffic operation with maximum safety. Geometrics can be
broadly classified into the following headings;

I. Cross section elements

II. Sight distance characteristics
III. Horizontal and vertical alignments

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

35
Civil Construction NBPI

Cross section elements

The cross section of a road includes some or all of the following elements:

Carriageway

The metallic strip of road meant for vehicular movement is called carriage way. Width of the
carriage way or the width of the pavement depends on the width of the traffic lane and number
of lanes. Side clearance improves operating speed and safety. The maximum permissible width of
a vehicle is 2.44 and the desirable side clearance for single lane traffic is 0.68 m. This require
minimum of lane width of 3.75 m for a single lane road.

Width Of Carriage Way, Meter

Single Intermediate Two Lane Without Two Lane With Multilane Carriage Way,
Lane Lane Raised Kerb Raised Kerb Width Per Lane
3.75 5.5 7.0 7.5 3.5

Shoulders

Shoulders are strips provided on both sides of the carriage way. They are provided along the road
edge and are intended for accommodation of stopped vehicles, serve as an emergency lane for
vehicles and provide lateral support for base and surface courses. The shoulder should be strong
enough to bear the weight of a fully loaded truck even in wet conditions. The shoulder width
Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

36
Civil Construction NBPI

should be adequate for giving working space around a stopped vehicle. A minimum width of
0.75m is recommended for roads in Nepal.

Formation width

Width of formation or roadway width is the sum of the widths of pavements or carriage way
including separators and shoulders. This does not include the extra land in formation/cutting.

Right of Way

Right of way (ROW) is the width of land acquired for the road, along its alignment. It should be
adequate to accommodate all the cross-sectional elements of the highway and may reasonably
provide for future development. To prevent ribbon development along highways, control lines
and building lines may be provided. Control line is a line which represents the nearest limits of
future uncontrolled building activity in relation to a road. Building line represents a line on either
side of the road; between which and the road no building activity is permitted at all.

Camber

Camber is the cross slope provided to raise middle of the road surface in the transverse direction
to drain off rain water from road surface. The objectives of providing camber are:

 Surface protection especially for gravel and bituminous roads.

 Sub-grade protection by proper drainage quick drying of pavement which in turn
increases safety.

Too steep slope is undesirable for it will erode the surface. Camber is measured in 1 in n or n%
(e.g. 1 in 50 or 2%) and the value depends on the type of pavement surface. Its value ranges
from 1 in 20 (for earthen road) to 1 in 72 (for cement concrete road).

Median

The median strip or central reservation is the reserved area that separates opposing lanes of
traffic on divided roadways. In order to provide positive protection against a conflict with
opposing traffic median strip are provided. The reserved area may simply be paved, but
commonly it is adapted to other functions; for example, it may accommodate decorative
landscaping, trees, a median barrier.

Footpath

Footpaths are exclusive right of way to pedestrians, especially in urban areas. They are provided
for the safety of the pedestrians when both the pedestrian traffic and vehicular traffic is high.
Minimum width is 1.5 meter and may be increased based on the traffic. The footpath should be
either as smooth as the pavement or smoother than that to induce the pedestrian to use the
footpath.

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

37
Civil Construction NBPI

Kerb

The kerb is the raised edge of a pavement or sidewalk which separates it from the road. Kerbs
may fulfill any or several of a number of functions. They separate the road from the roadside,
and discourage drivers from parking or driving on sidewalks. They also provide structural support
to the pavement edge. Kerbs can be used to channel runoff water from rain into drains.

Bus-bays

Bus bays are provided by recessing the Kerbs for bus stops. They are provided so that they do not
obstruct the movement of vehicles in the carriage way.

Sight Distance Characteristics

The safe and efficient operation of vehicles on the road depends very much on the visibility of
the road ahead of the driver. Thus the geometric design of the road should be done such that any
obstruction on the road length could be visible to the driver from some distance ahead. This
distance is said to be the sight distance.

Types of sight distance

Sight distance available from a point is the actual distance along the road surface, over which a
driver from a specified height above the carriage way has visibility of stationary or moving
objects. Three sight distance situations are considered for design:

 Stopping sight distance (SSD) or the absolute minimum sight distance

 Intermediate sight distance (ISD) is defined as twice SSD
 Overtaking sight distance (OSD) for safe overtaking operation

Stopping sight distance

Stopping sight distance (SSD) is the minimum sight distance available on a highway at any spot
having sufficient length to enable the driver to stop a vehicle traveling at design speed, safely
without collision with any other obstruction.

Overtaking sight distance

Overtaking sight distance (OSD) is the minimum distance open to the vision of the driver of a
vehicle intending to overtake the slow vehicle ahead safely against the traffic in the opposite
direction. The overtaking sight distance or passing sight distance is measured along the center
line of the road over which a driver with his eye level 1.2 m above the road surface can see the
top of an object 1.2 m above the road surface.

The factors that affect the OSD are:

 Velocities of the overtaking vehicle, overtaken vehicle and of the vehicle coming in the
opposite direction.
Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

38
Civil Construction NBPI

 Spacing between vehicles, which in-turn depends on the speed

 Skill and reaction time of the driver
 Rate of acceleration of overtaking vehicle
 Gradient of the road

Horizontal and Vertical Alignments

Design Speed

The design speed is the important factor in the design of horizontal alignment. The design speed
also depends on the type of the road. For e.g. the design speed expected from a National
highway will be much higher than a village road, and hence the curve geometry will vary
significantly.

The design speed also depends on the type of terrain. A plain terrain can afford to have any
geometry, but for the same standard in a hilly terrain requires substantial cutting and filling
implying excessive costs as well as safety concern due to unstable slopes. Therefore, the design
speed is normally reduced for terrains with steep slopes.

Horizontal curve

Horizontal curves are provided when the direction of road alignment changes. The presence of
horizontal curve imparts centrifugal force which is reactive force acting outward on a vehicle
negotiating it. Centrifugal force depends on speed and radius of the horizontal curve and is
counteracted to a certain extent by transverse friction between the tire and pavement surface.
On a curved road, this force tends to cause the vehicle to overrun or to slide outward from the
center of road curvature. For proper design of the curve, an understanding of the forces acting
on a vehicle taking a horizontal curve is necessary.

Superelevation

Super elevation or cant is the transverse slope provided at horizontal curve to counteract the
centrifugal force, by raising the outer edge of the pavement with respect to the inner edge,
throughout the length of the horizontal curve. When the outer edge is raised, a component of
the curve weight will be complimented in counteracting the effect of centrifugal force.

Radius of Horizontal Curve

The radius of the horizontal curve is an important design aspect of the geometric design. The
maximum comfortable speed on a horizontal curve depends on the radius of the curve. Although
it is possible to design the curve with maximum Superelevation and coefficient of friction, it is
not desirable because re-alignment would be required if the design speed is increased in future.

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

39
Civil Construction NBPI

Extra widening

Extra widening refers to the additional width of carriageway that is required on a curved section
of a road over and above that required on a straight alignment. This widening is done due to two
reasons: the first and most important is the additional width required for a vehicle taking a
horizontal curve and the second is due to the tendency of the drivers to ply away from the edge
of the carriageway as they drive on a curve.

Gradient

Gradient is the rate of rise or fall along the length of the road with respect to the horizontal.
While aligning a highway, the gradient is decided for designing the vertical curve. Usually steep
gradients are avoided as far as possible because of the difficulty to climb and increase in the
construction cost. The effect of long steep gradient on the vehicular speed is considerable. This is
particularly important in roads where the proportion of heavy vehicles is significant. Due to
restrictive sight distance at uphill gradients the speed of traffic is often controlled by these heavy
vehicles. As a result, not only the operating costs of the vehicles are increased, but also capacity
of the roads will have to be reduced. The positive gradient or the ascending gradient is denoted
as +n and the negative gradient as –n.

Vertical curves

When two different or contrary gradients are met in an alignment of road, they are connected by
a curve in vertical plane. Such curves are known as vertical curves. These curves are introduced
to secure safety and adequate visibility together with comfort to the passengers. Vertical curves
are of two categories-

 Summit curves
 Valley curves

Road Pavement

Pavement is the actual travel surface especially made durable and serviceable to withstand the
traffic load commuting upon it. Pavement grants friction for the vehicles thus providing comfort
to the driver and transfers the traffic load from the upper surface to the natural soil.

In earlier times before the vehicular traffic became most regular, cobblestone paths were much
familiar for animal carts and on foot traffic load.

Pavements are primarily to be used by vehicles and pedestrians. Storm water drainage and
environmental conditions are a major concern in the designing of a pavement. The first of the
constructed roads date back to 4000 BC and consisted of stone paved streets or timber roads.
The roads of the earlier times depended solely on stone, gravel and sand for construction and
water was used as a binding agent to level and give a finished look to the surface. All hard road
pavements usually fall into two broad categories namely
Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

40
Civil Construction NBPI

 Flexible Pavement
 Rigid Pavement

Flexible pavement

Flexible pavements will transmit wheel load stresses to the lower layers by grain-to-grain transfer
through the points of contact in the granular structure. The wheel load acting on the pavement
will be distributed to a wider area, and the stress decreases with the depth. Taking advantage of
these stress distribution characteristic, flexible pavements normally has many layers. Hence, the
design of flexible pavement uses the concept of layered system.

Based on this, flexible pavement may be constructed in a number of layers and the top layer has
to be of best quality to sustain maximum compressive stress, in addition to wear and tear. The
lower layers will experience lesser magnitude of stress and low quality material can be used.
Flexible pavements are constructed using bituminous materials.

Typical layers of a flexible pavement

Typical layers of a conventional flexible pavement includes seal coat, surface course, tack coat,
binder course, prime coat, base course, sub-base course, compacted sub-grade, and natural sub-
grade.

Seal Coat: Seal coat is a thin surface treatment used to water-proof the surface and to provide
skid resistance.

Tack Coat: Tack coat is a very light application of asphalt, usually asphalt emulsion diluted with
water. It provides proper bonding between two layers of binder course and must be thin,
uniformly cover the entire surface, and set very fast.

Prime Coat: Prime coat is an application of low viscous cutback bitumen to an absorbent surface
like granular bases on which binder layer is placed. It provides bonding between two layers.

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

41
Civil Construction NBPI

Unlike tack coat, prime coat penetrates into the layer below, plugs the voids, and forms a water
tight surface.

Surface course: Surface course is the layer directly in contact with traffic loads and generally
contains superior quality materials. They are usually constructed with dense graded asphalt
concrete (AC). The functions and requirements of this layer are:

 It provides characteristics such as friction, smoothness, drainage, etc. Also it will prevent
the entrance of excessive quantities of surface water into the underlying base, sub-base
and sub-grade.
 It must be tough to resist the distortion under traffic and provide a smooth and skid-
resistant riding surface,
 It must be water proof to protect the entire base and sub-grade from the weakening
effect of water.

Binder course: This layer provides the bulk of the asphalt concrete structure. Its chief purpose is
to distribute load to the base course. The binder course generally consists of aggregates having
less asphalt and doesn't require quality as high as the surface course, so replacing a part of the
surface course by the binder course results in more economical design.

Base course: The base course is the layer of material immediately beneath the surface of binder
course and it provides additional load distribution and contributes to the sub-surface drainage. It
may be composed of crushed stone, crushed slag, and other untreated or stabilized materials.

Sub-Base course: The sub-base course is the layer of material beneath the base course and the
primary functions are to provide structural support, improve drainage, and reduce the intrusion
of fines from the sub-grade in the pavement structure. If the base course is open graded, then
the sub-base course with more fines can serve as filler between sub-grade and the base course.
A sub-base course is not always needed or used. For example, a pavement constructed over a
high quality, stiff sub-grade may not need the additional features offered by a sub-base course. In
such situations, sub-base course may not be provided.

Sub-grade: The top soil or sub-grade is a layer of natural soil prepared to receive the stresses
from the layers above. It is essential that at no time soil sub-grade is overstressed. It should be
compacted to the desirable density, near the optimum moisture content.

Rigid pavement

Rigid pavements have sufficient flexural strength to transmit the wheel load stresses to a wider
area below. Compared to flexible pavement, rigid pavements are placed either directly on the
prepared sub-grade or on a single layer of granular or stabilized material. Since there is only one
layer of material between the concrete and the sub-grade, this layer can be called as base or sub-
base course.

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

42
Civil Construction NBPI

In rigid pavement, load is distributed by the slab action, and the pavement behaves like an elastic
plate resting on a viscous medium. Rigid pavements are constructed by cement concrete and
should be analyzed by plate theory instead of layer theory, assuming an elastic plate resting on
viscous foundation. Plate theory is a simplified version of layer theory that assumes the concrete
slab as a medium thick plate which is plane before loading and to remain plane after loading. The
rigid characteristic of the pavement are associated with rigidity or flexural strength or slab action
so the load is distributed over a wide area of subgrade soil. Rigid pavement is laid in slabs with
steel reinforcement.

Advantages of Rigid Pavement

 Rigid lasts much, much longer i.e. 30+ years compared to 5-10 years of flexible
pavements.
 In the long run it is about half the cost to install and maintain. But the initial costs are
somewhat high.
 Rigid pavement has the ability to bridge small imperfections in the subgrade.
 Less Maintenance cost and Continuous Traffic and Flow.
 High efficiency in terms of functionality

Road Alignment

Establishing or positioning the center line of the proposed road in plan on ground is called road
alignment. Following principles should be considered while aligning the road;

 Length of road should be the shortest between two terminal stations.

 The alignment should be economical line of communication. It can be achieved by
providing easy grades, large radius horizontal curves, good sight distances and aligning
road through the area having good type of soil and good drainage conditions.

Factors affecting the selection of alignment are listed below;

 Volume of traffic expected to use road

 Obligatory points to be touched or/ and not to be touched by the road
 Topographical features of the area where road has to traverse
 Geometrical standards to be adopted
 Canal, river or railway crossings
 Landslides/floods in the area
 Geological conditions
 Availability of construction materials in the area
 Existing right of way
 Avoidance of road passing through a town or village
 Political and other consideration

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

43
Civil Construction NBPI

Properties of Soil and Stone Aggregate used in Road Construction

Properties of good soil

In road construction the following desirable properties are expected from soil sub grade;

 It should remain stable in adverse condition

 It should maintain permanent strength
 It should be incompressible
 It should have good drainage properties
 Under severe condition of water soil should not swell.
 It should be easily compactable, which will ensure higher dry density and strength under
a given amount of compaction.

Properties of Stone aggregates

 These aggregates are responsible to bear the stress occurring on roads and also to resist
the wear due to abrasive action of traffic.
 Most of the aggregates are obtained from natural rocks by crushing them. Thus the
properties of aggregates depend on the type of rock they are obtained from.
 The soft aggregates are suitable for low cost roads.
 Aggregates should be clean, hard, tough, strong and durable and most important, they
must be properly graded.

Road Drainage

Road drainage may be defined as the process of interception and removal of water from over or
under the vicinity of the road surface. Drainage is essential part of roadways design and
construction.

One of the major causes of road failure is its improper drainage. Improper drainage may cause
destruction in the following ways;

 Road surface if made of soil, gravel or Water Bound Macadam (WBM) becomes soft and it
strength is lost.
 The road sub grade may be softened and its bearing capacity reduced.
 Variation in moisture content in expansive soil causes variation in the volume of sub
grade and thus causes road failure.
 Failure of formation slopes may occur due to poor drainage.
 If rain water is not properly drained and allowed to flow along the road for long distances,
slips and landslides may occur causing road failure.
 Erosion of side slopes, side drains, and formation of gullies may result if proper drainage
conditions are not maintained.

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

44
Civil Construction NBPI

Road drainage requirement

 Side drain should be of sufficient capacity and having sufficient longitudinal slope so that
it may drain off all the collected surface water efficiently.
 Surface water flowing across the road pavement should not develop cross ruts or erosion
on road surface and formation slopes. For this, high embankment slopes should be
protected either by turfing or pitching.
 Seepage water and other capillary waters should be drained off by suitable underground
drainage system.
 Maximum level of underground water table should be maintained well below the sub
grade level of the road. Underground water table should remain at least 1- 2 m below the
road sub grade.

The removal of rain water from road surface and road side ground is called surface drainage. It
consists of two activities;

a) collection of surface water and

b) disposal of collected surface water

Side drains of suitable size and longitudinal slopes are constructed along both the sides of the
road at some distance from the foot of the formation. These side drains are open and are of
trapezoidal shape. In the case of road in cuttings, drains are provided along both the sides of the
road just adjacent to shoulder width. In case where space is restricted in cuttings, open drains
are dangerous to be provided hence in such cases covered drains off drainage trenches properly
filled with layers of coarse sand and gravel may be constructed.

In the case of urban roads underground drainage facilities are provided to drain off surface water.
Surface water from pavement flows towards the Kerbs because of camber and starts flowing
along road in a drain formed by road pavement edge and vertical face of kerb. At short distance
along Kerbs, inlets are provided through which water is taken underground and collected in a
catch pit from where it is lead into underground sewers or drainage pipes. Underground sewer
or drainage pipes are laid with suitable longitudinal slope and water flowing into them keeps on
flowing and get disposed off into some streams. Kerb inlets are provided with gratings to prevent
the entry of rubbish into the underground drainage system.

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

45
Civil Construction NBPI

Unit 5 Irrigation System

Irrigation is the method in which a controlled amount of water is supplied to plants at regular
intervals for agriculture. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of
landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate
rainfall. Irrigation is the controlled application of water to croplands. Its primary objective is to
create an optimal soil moisture regime for maximizing crop production and quality while at the
same time minimizing the environmental degradation inherent in irrigation of agricultural lands.
Irrigation is thus critical for food security in semi-dry and dry areas.

Irrigation has two primary objectives:

 To supply the essential moisture for plant growth; &

 To leach or dilute salts from the soil.

Irrigation water management deals with the frequency of irrigation, depth of water to be
applied, and measures to increase the uniformity of applications. Irrigation management should
be a set of practices designed to maximize efficiencies and minimize the labor and capital
requirements of a particular irrigation system.

Purposes of Irrigation

 Providing insurance against short duration droughts

 Reducing the hazard of frost (increase the temperature of the plant)
 Reducing the temperature during hot spells
 Washing or diluting salts in the soil
 Promoting the function of some micro organisms

Objectives of irrigation

 To supply Water Partially or Totally for Crop Need

 To Cool both the Soil and the Plant
 To Leach Excess Salts
 To improve Groundwater storage
 To Facilitate continuous cropping
 To Enhance Fertilizer Application

Benefits of Irrigation

 Increase in Crop Yield

 Protection from famine
 Elimination of mixed cropping
 Economic development
 Domestic and industrial water supply

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

46
Civil Construction NBPI

Types of Irrigation

Various types of irrigation techniques differ in how the water obtained from the source is
distributed within the field. In general, the goal is to supply the entire field uniformly with water,
so that each plant has the amount of water it needs, too much nor too little. Irrigation may be
broadly classified into two types:

 Surface Irrigation
 Sub-surface Irrigation

Surface Irrigation

Surface irrigation is defined as the group of application techniques where water is applied and
distributed over the soil surface by gravity. It is by far the most common form of irrigation
throughout the world and has been practiced in many areas virtually unchanged for thousands of
years.

Surface irrigation is often referred to as flood irrigation, implying that the water distribution is
uncontrolled and therefore, inherently inefficient. In reality, some of the irrigation practices
grouped under this name involve a significant degree of management.

Surface Irrigation is further classified into:

a. Flow Irrigation
b. Lift Irrigation

Flow Irrigation

Gravity or flow irrigation is the type of irrigation in which water is available at a higher level as to
enable supply to the land by gravity flow. In flow irrigation water is supplied to the fields though
the canals off taking from head works. Gravity flow irrigation is cheaper compared to lift
irrigation. The gravity irrigation is further classified as under.

Perennial Irrigation: In this system, supply of water is assured throughout the crop period to
irrigation. Requirement of the crops is made available to the command area through storage of
water done at the dam or diversion of supply made by means of head works at the off take point
of the canal. Perennial irrigation may be either direct or indirect.

Flood or Inundation Irrigation: Flood irrigation is done by a canal taking off from a river in flood
without any diversion work. In this kind of irrigation, soil is kept submerged and thoroughly
flooded with water, so as to cause through saturation of the land, moisture soaked by the soil,
when occasionally supplemented by the natural rainfall or minor watering, brings the crops to
maturity.

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

47
Civil Construction NBPI

Lift Irrigation

In lift irrigation water is lifted from a river or a canal to the bank to irrigate the lands which are
not commanded by gravity flow. Lift irrigation is being increasingly practiced in Nepal. Lift area is
defined as the area the level of which is too high to permit irrigation by gravity flow from the
source, but which can be irrigated by lifting water to the necessary level by means of pump.

Surface water may be lifted from a reservoir, a river, or from a gravity flow canal. From river,
water may be lifted by installing pumps either on the ground or on floating barges. Floating
barge installation envisages economical and expeditious execution of the project for lift
irrigation. Moreover, the pumping installation can be made mobile by rowing to the next
pumping sit after completing irrigation at one installation.

Lift Irrigation vs. Gravity Irrigation

Lift irrigation

 Costly means of irrigation

 Less silt in water
 Working dependent on operation of machinery
 Higher water rates
 Lift irrigation is a complex system and by and large costly.

Gravity flow irrigation

 Cheapest means of irrigation

 Silt in water has manorial value
 Lifting equipment is not involved
 Lowest water rates
 Simple and economical system of irrigation.

Sub-surface Irrigation

Groundwater is generally a more dependable source of irrigation than surface water and is free
from seeds and plant organisms. The first cost of installation is however, high. The best water
bearing stratum or aquifer is coarse gravel free from sand but such formations are rare to find.
An aquifer is a saturated formation which creates ground water reservoir and yields sufficient
quantity of water to wells or springs. These are made of unconsolidated formations like sand,
gravel, fractured rocks.

In sub surface irrigation, the underground water nourishes the plant roots by capillarity. It may
be divided into the following two types:

 Natural sub surface irrigation; and

 Artificial sub surface irrigation.

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

48
Civil Construction NBPI

Natural sub surface irrigation: leakage water from channels, etc., goes underground, and during
passage through the sub soil, it may irrigate crops, spread on lower lands, by capillarity.
Sometimes, leakage causes the water table to rise up, which helps in irrigation of crops by
capillarity. When underground irrigation is achieved, simply by natural processes, without any
additional extra efforts, it is called natural sub surface irrigation.

Artificial sub surface irrigation: when a system of open jointed drains is artificially laid below the
soil, so as to supply water to the crops by capillarity, then it is known as artificial sub surface
irrigation. It is a very costly process and hence, adopted on a very small scale. It may be
recommended only in some special cases with favorable soil conditions and for cash crops of
very high return. Sometimes, irrigation water may be intentionally collected in some ditches near
the fields; the percolation water may then come up to the roots through capillarity.

Sprinkler Irrigation

In this irrigation method, water is applied to the soil in the form of a spray through a network of
pipes and pumps. It is a kind of an artificial rain and, therefore, gives very good results. It is a
costly process. It can be used for all types of soils and for widely different topographies and
slopes. It can advantageously be used for many crops, because it fulfills the normal requirement
of uniform distribution of water. This method possesses great potentialities for irrigating areas,
where other types of surface or sub – surface irrigation are very difficult.

Distribution System for Canal Irrigation

The irrigation system consists of the network of canals of different size and capacities. The entire
network of irrigation channels is called canal system. The canal system consists of:

1. Main canal
2. Branch canals
3. Distributaries (Majors)
4. Minors, and
5. Watercourses

In case of direct irrigation scheme, a weir or a barrage is constructed across the river, and water
is headed up on the upstream side. The arrangement is known as Head Works or Diversion Head
Works. Water is diverted into the main canal by means of a diversion weir. A head regulator is
provided at the head of the main canal, so as to regulate the flow of water into the main canal.

In storage irrigation scheme, a dam is constructed across the river, thus forming a reservoir on
the upstream side of the river. The water from this reservoir is taken into the main canal through
the outlet sluices.

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

49
Civil Construction NBPI

In both these irrigation scheme, when once the water reaches into the main canal, the problem
left is to distribute this water into the fields. The purpose is achieved through a network of
channels, as described below:

Main Canal

Canals having discharge greater than 10 cumecs are called as main canals.

 A main canal carries discharge directly from river.

 It carries large amount of water and cannot be used for direct irrigation.
 Main canal supplies water to the branch canals.

Branch Canals

Canals having discharge in the range of 5-10 cumecs are called as branch canals.

 These are the branches of main canal in either direction at regular intervals.
 Branch canals also do not carry out direct irrigation but sometimes direct outlets are
provided.
 Branch canals are actually the feeders for major and minor distributaries.

Distributary canal

Canals having discharge 0.25-3 cumecs are called Distributary canal.

They are further divided into two types:

1. Major Distributary
2. Minor Distributary

Major distributary

These take off water from branch canals. Sometimes they may get supply from main canal but
their discharge is less than branch canal. These are irrigation channels because they supply water
to the field directly through outlets.

Minor distributary

Canals in which discharge varies from 0.25-3 cumecs are called as minor distributaries.

 These take off from major distributary or sometimes may get supply from branch canal.
 They also provide water to the courses through outlets provided along with them.
 The discharge in minor distributaries is less than in the major distributaries.

Field channels (water courses)

These are the small channels which ultimately feed water to the irrigation fields.

 The discharge in water courses is less than 0.25 cumecs.

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

50
Civil Construction NBPI

 Depending upon the extent of irrigation, a field channel may take off from a major
distributary or minor.
 Sometimes, it may even take off water from the branch canal for the field situated very
near to the branch canal.

Components of Small Irrigation Systems

1. Headworks

Head works are the hydraulic structure which supplies water to the off taking canal. Headworks
provide an obstruction across a river, so that the water level is raised and water is diverted to the
channel at required level. The increase water level helps the flow of water by gravity and results
in increasing the command area and reducing the water fluctuations in the river.

Functions of Headworks

A headwork serves the following purposes:

 Headwork raises the water level in the river.

 It regulates the intake of water into the canal.
 It also controls the entry of silt into the canal.
 Headwork can also store water for small periods of time.
 Reduces fluctuations in the level of supply in river.

Types of Headworks

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

51
Civil Construction NBPI

i. Storage Headworks: Dam is constructed across a river to form storage reservoir,

known as storage head works. Water is supplied to the canal form this reservoir
through canal regulator. The storage headwork is generally used to store the water.
ii. Diversion Headworks: The works, which are constructed at the head of the canal, in
order to divert the river water towards the canal, so as to ensure a regulated
continuous supply of silt-free water with a certain minimum head into the canal, are
known as Diversion Head Works. Weirs or Barrages is constructed for this purpose.

Weirs

A weir is a barrier across the horizontal width of the river that alters the flow characteristics
of the water and usually results in a change in the vertical height of the river level. There are
many designs of weir, but commonly water flows freely over the top of the weir crest before
cascading down to a lower [Link] some locations, the terms dam and weir are synonymous,
but normally there is a clear distinction made between the structures. A dam is usually
specifically designed to impound water behind a wall, whilst a weir is designed to alter the
river flow characteristics.

Barrages

The only difference between a weir and a barrage is of gates, i.e. the flow in barrage is
regulated by gates and that in weirs, by its crest height. Barrages are costlier than weirs. The
heading up of water is affected by gates put across the river. The crest level in the barrage
(top of solid obstruction) is kept at low level. During flood, gates are raised to clear of the
high flood level. As a result there is less silting and provide better regulation and control than
the weir.

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

52
Civil Construction NBPI

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

53
Civil Construction NBPI

2. Canal Related Structures

i. Head Regulator

It is a structure constructed at the entrance (the head) of the canal where it takes off from the
river.

A canal head regulator is required to serve the following functions:

 To regulate the discharge into the off taking canal

 To control the entry of sediment into the canal

ii. Cross Regulator

A cross regulator is generally provided downstream of an off taking channel so that the water
level upstream of the regulator can be raised, whenever necessary. It is constructed across a
canal to regulate the water level in the canal upstream of itself and the discharge passing
downstream of it for one or more of the following purposes:

 To feed off taking canals located upstream of the cross regulator.

 To help water escape from canals in conjunction with escapes.
 To control water surface slopes in conjunction with falls for bringing the canal to regime
slope and section.
 To control discharge at an outfall of a canal into another canal.

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

54
Civil Construction NBPI

iii. Escapes

Canal Escapes are the structure required to dispose of surplus or excess water from canal from
time to time. Thus, a canal escape serves as safety valve for canal system. It provides protection
to the canal from possible damage due to excess supply which may be due to mistake in
releasing water at head regulator or heavy rainfall that makes sudden regular demand of water.
The excess supply makes the canal banks vulnerable to failure due to overtopping or dangerous
leaks. Therefore, provision for disposing this surplus water in form of canal escapes at suitable
intervals along the canal is essential. Moreover emptying canal for repair and maintenance and
removal of sediment deposited in the canal can also be achieved with the help of canal escapes.

3. Cross Drainage Works

Irrigation Canals while carrying water from Headworks to crop field, have to cross few natural
drainage streams, rivers, etc.. To cross those drainages safely by the canals, some suitable
structures are required to construct. Works required to construct, to cross the drainage are called
Cross Drainage Works (CDWs).

A cross drainage work is a structure carrying the discharge from a natural stream across a canal
intercepting the stream. Canal comes across obstructions like rivers, natural drains and other
canals. The various types of structures that are built to carry the canal water across the above
mentioned obstructions or vice versa are called cross drainage works. There are many different
factors involved in selection of a specific type of Cross drainage works and in selection of a
suitable site for cross drainage works. It is generally a very costly item and should be avoided by

 Diverting one stream into another.

 Changing the alignment of the canal so that it crosses below the junction of two streams.

Types of C/D Works

Depending upon levels and discharge, it may be of the following types:

1) Cross drainage works carrying canal across the drainage

The structures that fall under this type are: Cross Section of Aqueduct

 Aqueduct
 Siphon Aqueduct

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

55
Civil Construction NBPI

Aqueduct

When the HFL of the drain is sufficiently below the bottom of the canal such that the drainage
water flows freely under gravity, the structure is known as Aqueduct. In this, canal water is
carried across the drainage in a trough supported on piers.

Siphon Aqueduct

In a hydraulic structure where the canal is taken over the drainage, but the drainage water
cannot pass clearly below the canal. It flows under siphonic action. So, it is known as siphon
aqueduct. This structure is suitable when the bed level of canal is below the highest flood level.

2) Cross drainage works carrying drainage over canal

The structures that fall under this type are:

 Super passage
 Canal siphon or called siphon only
Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

56
Civil Construction NBPI

Super passage

The hydraulic structure in which the drainage is passing over the irrigation canal is known as
Super Passage. This structure is suitable when the bed level of drainage is above the flood
surface level of the canal. The water of the canal passes clearly below the drainage. The FSL of
the canal is lower than the underside of the trough carrying drainage water. Thus, the canal
water runs under the gravity. A super passage is similar to an aqueduct, except in this case the
drain is over the canal. It is the reverse of an aqueduct.

Canal Siphon

If two canals cross each other and one of the canals are siphoned under the other, then the
hydraulic structure at crossing is called “canal siphon”. In case of Siphon, the FSL of the canal is
much above the bed level of the drainage trough, so that the canal runs under the siphonic
action. The canal bed is lowered and a ramp is provided at the exit so that the trouble of silting is
minimized. It is the reverse of an aqueduct siphon.

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

57
Civil Construction NBPI

3) Drainage and Canal intersect each other at the same level

Level Crossings

When the bed level of canal and the stream are approximately the same and quality of water in
canal and stream is not much different, the cross drainage work constructed is called level
crossing where water of canal and stream is allowed to mix. With the help of regulators both in
canal and stream, water is disposed through canal and stream in required quantity. Level crossing
consists of following components (i) crest wall (ii) Stream regulator (iii) Canal regulator.

Water Distribution and Management of Irrigation Systems

Water distribution management is the practice which includes the integrated approach of intake,
conveyance, regulation, maintenance, distribution, allocation, application and use of the proper
amount of irrigation water required to obtain the maximum crop yield.

Irrigation systems in Nepal can be broadly categorized into two groups according to the
responsibility for their management. One is Farmer-managed Irrigation Systems (FMIS) and the
other is Government-managed Irrigation Systems (GMIS), which consists of agency-managed or
agency-assisted irrigation system. Farmers are responsible for all management activity in water
distribution in the former. Public servant specialized in management takes care of irrigation
system with varying levels of farmer participation in GMIS.

Farmer Managed Irrigation System (FMIS)

In FMIS, groups of farmers collectively manage the system from the water source to the fields.
Design, construction, operation and maintenance for the canal are carried out by the groups of
farmers. The government assistance is not involved.

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

58
Civil Construction NBPI

Government Managed Irrigation System (GMIS)

In GMIS, design, construction, operation and maintenance of the canal are carried out by the
government. Farmers are not involved in these activities.

Water Distribution

When there is abundant supply of water, continuous flow distribution is observed. Water flows
continuously in all channels of the system and farmers apply water to their fields at any time
they want. In some places, saachos are used to distribute water by continuous flow. A saacho is a
weir that the farmers install in the canal with two or more rectangular openings for the water to
flow through.

When there is a limited supply, rotation among the secondary canals is followed. Within the field
served by the secondary canal, timing of rotation is calculated on the basis of shares/land
holdings. In many localities, the responsibility of water distribution is given to the mukhiya
(leader of the village). All requests for water are made to him and water is delivered to each
farmer’s field in the order in which requests are received.

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

59
Civil Construction NBPI

Unit 6 Water Supply System

Water Supply System is the system that brings water from source to the human settlement for
people to use for domestic purpose. Main function of water supply system is to provide user with
water in good quality and quantity all-round the year.

Types of Water Supply System

Water Supply System can be classified:

On the basis of water sources

I. Surface Water Supply System – This system utilizes water from river, stream, pond or
lakes.
II. Ground water supply system – This system utilizes water underground natural water
reserves.

On the basis of energy required for water to flow

I. Gravity Flow Water Supply System

This system is feasible when water sources in a higher altitude than that of human settlement.
The water flows due to gravity. Such system is very common in hilly regions of Nepal. Most of the
schemes in rural areas of Nepal are gravity flow water systems.

II. Pumping Water Supply System

Where water source lies in low altitude and water is required to be lifted up to supply to the
human settlement, pumping is required. Pumping is needed to lift both surface water and
ground water.

III. Combined Water Supply System

In this system, water flows due to gravity and pumps. Water supply schemes that lifts ground
water to the elevated water tanks, then let this stored water to be distributed to users through
gravity is an example of this system.

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

60
Civil Construction NBPI

On the basis of types of human settlement where water is supplied

I. Rural Water Supply System – This system is for the benefit of people of rural areas.
II. Urban Water Supply System – This system is the water supply system in urban areas.

On the basis of Reliability

I. Continuous System

Water in a continuous system is available whenever the faucet is opened. Since water is
continuously available, it is a more desirable, because service is available all the time. Since the
distribution, line is always under pressure, the possibility of contamination by negative suction in
the pipeline in a continuous system does not exist.

II. Intermittent System

In this system, water is supplied to the consumers only during some fixed hours of the day. Many
schemes in Nepal are presently being operated intermittently even though they were originally
designed to function continuously. The possible reasons: source dried, faucets in the stand post
are not properly maintained leading to wastage. In many cases the non-performance of the float
valves in Break Pressure Tanks also lead to excessive wastage. When schemes are operated on
intermittent basis water is supplied for a short period within which time the design demand has
to be met.

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

61
Civil Construction NBPI

A Comparative Study of

Surface Water Sources and Ground Water Sources

Surface Water Source Ground Water Source

1. Quality of Water

- The quality of water varies - The quality remains constant

according to the season; usually throughout the year. Basically clear.
turbid and contaminated with - Very negligible variance in
suspended or colloidal particles. temperature.
- Temperature is variable due to - Less chances of contamination.
weather/climate.
- Possibility of contamination due to
human activities is very high.

2. Quantity

- The discharge of most of the steam

is dependent on the - The seasonal variation in ground
climate/weather. water level is very low.

Whenever possible, ground water is given top priority in compare to surface water. Streams,
spring and tube well are most common types of water sources used in Nepal.

Surface Water Sources

- Rivers
- Streams
- Lakes
- Rainwater Harvesting
- Fog/Dew Harvesting
- Snow Harvesting

Ground Water Sources

- Spring
- Dug Well (Open Well)
- Shallow Well
- Tube Well

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

62
Civil Construction NBPI

Discharge

Discharge is the measure of flow of water. It is the volume rate of water flow, which is
transported through a given cross-sectional area. Its unit is cumec i.e. m3/sec. It is also measured
in lt/sec, cm3/sec, etc. In simplest concept, discharge means outflow and is used as a measure of
the rate at which a volume of water passes a given point.

Measurement of Discharge of the Source

The source measurement or the finding out of its discharge can be done by one of two methods.

1. Velocity – Area Method

The formula is:

Q=vxA

Where,

Q is the flow
v is the velocity
A is the average depth of water multiplied by stream width

Procedure:

- First, measure the distance to be travelled by a floating object like piece of wood in the
stream and measure the time taken by the object to flow along the distance travelled by
the floating object. Take the average of 3 readings and divide by the time to obtain
velocity ‘v’ in m/sec.
- Second, make several depth measurements across the stream width to find the Area of
Section, A.

D = (D1 + D2 + D3 + D4 + … + Dn) / n

- Calculate Discharge, Q = V x A.
Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

63
Civil Construction NBPI

2. Bucket and Watch Method

This is an easy and exact method for measuring discharge upto 5 lt/s per each measuring pipe
installed.

Procedure:

- One or more pipes, depending on the quantity, are fitted into a temporary earth dam so
that all the water passes through the pipes.
- The flow from one pipe should not exceed a quantity which fills a bucket in less than 4 to
5 seconds.
- Calculate the volume of the bucket if it is not a graduated one.
- Gauge the flow of each pipe three times and enter the results into the records.
- Calculate the quantity in lt/sec.

Components of Water Supply System

Intakes

Intakes are the structures used for collecting water from the surface sources and conveying it
further to the transmission main (pipeline). Generally, it is a masonry or concrete structure with
an aim of providing relatively clean water, free from pollution, sand and objectionable floating
materials.

The functioning of water supply scheme largely depends on the intake. Its location and
construction hence requires great care.

Criteria for Selecting Intake Sites

 Site should be so selected that it may admit water even under worst river flow condition
or under lowest possible water level.
 Site should be as near to the treatment work as possible.
 Site should be far away from human settlement.
 Stream intake should be constructed where suitable hydrological conditions of the stream
are found (discharge, velocity, depth, etc.)
 The intake should be so located that good foundation conditions are available and the
possibility of scouring is less.

Intakes can be classified according to the type of source as –

a) Stream Intake
b) Spring Intake
Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

64
Civil Construction NBPI

Stream Intake

A stream intake is built when a stream is selected as the water source. The characteristic of a
stream intake depends on the type of stream, its morphology and the expected maximum and
minimum flows. Since each river has its own unique characteristics, only a general guideline can
be provided for design and construction. Generally, a sedimentation tank needs to be
constructed with a stream intake.

Spring Intake

A spring intake is provided to abstract water from a spring source. It also prevents outside water
and other sources of pollutants from entering into the transmission main. The water outlet
points of the spring should be properly identified before intake constructed is initiated. Proper
drainage should be provided around the spring source to divert the runoff water and prevent it
from damaging the intake. Special care should be taken to ensure that the source is not affected
and there is no leakage.

Fig: Spring Intake

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

65
Civil Construction NBPI

Fig: Stream Intake

Sedimentation Tanks

Sedimentation is the removal of suspended particles by gravitational settling. Sedimentation

tanks are designed to reduce the velocity of flow of water so as to permit suspended solids to
settle out of the water by gravity.

Suspended matters like leaves, branches and sediment particles like soil and debris come with
the flow of river or streams. These causes many operational problems like –

- Reduction of pipeline capacity which in extreme situation can block the pipe completely.
- Reduction of capacity of storage tank due to sediment deposit.
- Increase of wear and tear of system appurtenances like valves.
- Scouring of internal pipe surfaces when the water flow velocity is high.

In order to overcome above problems, a sedimentation tank is necessary before the storage tank
and close to the intake structure or collection chamber. The size of sedimentation tank required
depends on the type and size of sediment particles entering the transmission mains.

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

66
Civil Construction NBPI

Fig: Sedimentation Tank

Interruption Chamber (IC)

A chamber provided in the transmission main to break high pressure without a float valve is
called Interruption chamber.

In an open system, when the dynamic head in the pipe line exceeds 60m, an interruption
chamber may be provided. To minimize the operation and maintenance requirements, attempts
should be made to reduce the number of interruption chambers as possible.

Points to be considered while location IC

- Should be easily accessible.

- As far as possible not within rice fields because of contamination possibilities.
- Upstream of stand posts and branch off tees, towards the lower edge of a terrace to
avoid long pipelines carrying peak flows in flat terrain.

In the transmission main when the pipe diameter is smaller, higher series pipe should be used to
reduce the number of ICs.

Distribution Chamber (DC)

A chamber provided to split supply network into manageable sub-systems serving lesser number
of stand post is called distribution chamber. It also distributes the flow in the sub-systems. These
chambers will work satisfactorily up to a flow rate of 3lt/sec.

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

67
Civil Construction NBPI

A distribution chamber is used to proportionally divide inlet flow. Outlet pipe size and proper
orientation (horizontal) allow the flow to be distributed at an approximate ratio regardless of
variation in the inlet flow. In some cases the proper pipe combination can control the flow
accurately enough to eliminate the need for globe valves.

DC operates on the principle that open channel flow in two horizontal pipes (lower edge at the
same height) will be approximately proportional to the pipe diameters.

Three methods can be used to divide the flow:

1. Proper orientation and sizing of GI outlets.

2. The pipeline from DC to RT can be designed to control the flow naturally.
3. An orifice (opening) can be placed in one or all of the outlets to control the flow.

Storage Tank

Storage tanks are necessary to balance the variation of demand in a day. For economic reasons, it
is important to place the storage tank, as close as possible to the supply area so that cost of the
scheme is reduced.

It should be carefully sited keeping the following points in mind:

- Should be located at suitable place above the highest located stand post, so that residual
head of 5m to 10m can be maintained at the stand post.
- Should be located towards lower edge of terrace to avoid long pipelines carrying peak
flows in flat terrain.
- Should be accessible at all times and not located in rice fields to reduce risk of
contamination and failure from uplift pressure.
- Instead of one storage tank or tanks served in several small storage tanks which are
served by independent supply lines should be provided.

For a rural water scheme, storage tanks are usually constructed either of Ferro cement or RCC or
Stone masonry. Ferro Cement tanks of capacity 1m3 to 10m3 in the interval of 1m3 and above
10m3 to 20m3 in the interval of 2m3 are standardized for community water schemes. If the
required size is more than 20m3, a combination of two or more tanks may be adopted.

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

68
Civil Construction NBPI

Fig: Underground Storage Tank

Fig: Overhead Storage Tank

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

69
Civil Construction NBPI

Break Pressure Tanks (BPT)

At any structure where water is permitted to discharge into the atmosphere, the hydrostatic
pressure is reduced to zero. A small tank specifically built to break the hydrostatic pressure in
the pipeline is called Break Pressure Tank.

Storage tank, collection chamber, distribution chamber will also act as BPT besides serving their
primary purposes. A float valve is always provided in a Break pressure chamber. It is used in the
distribution system when the pressure head exceeds 60m of water column. The limit is specified
because most float valve can satisfactorily withstand up to 60m head. BPT should not be
constructed fully underground and protected by providing barbed wire fencing.

The following points should be considered while locating a BPT:

- In the distribution line whenever the static head exceeds 60m even if pipe with a
pressure rating of 10kg/cm2 is used.
- Replacement of an air valve by a BPT at high points, if the design permits.

Fig: Break Pressure Tank

Pipeline

Pipeline transfers water from the source to the service area. Pipelines require high investment
outlay; hence careful consideration is necessary for its design. Alignment, size and material of
pipeline should be chosen carefully.

High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) pipes are mostly used in community water supply schemes in
Nepal. Galvanized Iron (GI) pipes and sometimes high pressure steel pipes may be used
whenever static water pressure and head is exceptionally high. GI pipe should not be excessively
bent, for bending GI bends should be used.

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

70
Civil Construction NBPI

Pipeline in a water supply scheme consist of

1. Transmission Main
2. Distribution Pipeline

Transmission Main

A pipe that feeds a storage tank continuously for 24 hours from a source (Intake to Storage Tank
or Storage Tank to Another Storage Tank) is called Transmission Main. Some points to be taken
into consideration in the choice of pipe alignment are –

- The available head

- The distance from source to the service area
- Nature of soil and its stability with regard to landslide
- Nature of the terrain – steep slopes, rocky terrain
- Nature and type of river crossings
- Easily accessible

Distribution Pipeline

Distribution pipelines are used to supply water to various consumers. Pipes of different
diameters and lengths constitute a distribution network. Distribution pipe sizes are determined
by the tap flow rate.

Points to be considered while selecting the alignment of distribution line –

- Avoid geologically unstable sections

- Alignment along the side of an existing footpath, even if it would increase the pipe
length
- Pipeline gradient should be uniform for long stretch. Sudden changes in pipeline
alignment in the horizontal or vertical directions should be avoided.

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

71
Civil Construction NBPI

Fig: Transmission Main and Distribution Pipeline

Stand post (Tap)

The stand post is central and most frequently used component of a water scheme. A stand post
will be more than just a physical structure and may become important landmark in the
community. Its design should therefore, confirm closely to the social and cultural aspirations of
the community. The stand post must be appropriately located. It must be aesthetically pleasant
and robust. The drainage from the stand post should be taken away from it and safely disposed.

The location of a stand post is governed by the population density, and by the settlement
pattern. The provision of a stand post may be determined by the following two factors:

i. Maximum desirable walking distance to fetch water.

ii. The number of people benefited from water

Maximum distance of stand post location form users

Walking Distance Desirable Exceptions

Horizontal 150 m 250 m
Vertical 50 m 80 m

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

72
Civil Construction NBPI

Fig: Stand Post

Types of Pipes used in Water Supply System

Water pipe is any pipe or tube designed to transport treated drinking water/potable water to
consumers/building. They differ according to sizes:-

 Large diameter main pipes, which supply entire towns

 Smaller branch lines that supply a street or group of buildings
 Small diameter pipes located within individual buildings

Pipes come in several types and sizes. They can be divided into three main categories: metallic
pipes, cement pipes and plastic pipes.

 Metallic pipes include steel pipes, galvanized iron pipes and cast iron pipes.
 Cement pipes include concrete cement pipes.
 Plastic pipes include High density polyethylene (HDPE), plasticized polyvinyl chloride
(PVC) pipes.

Demand Assessment

Population

The total population of the community to be served by the proposed water scheme needs to be
accurately surveyed. The population data should be taken on household basis by actual
counting.

Present population – Population at the time of survey.

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

73
Civil Construction NBPI

Base year population – Population when construction is completed and water scheme is
commissioned.

Design population – Population likely to be at the end of design period.

Design Period

It refers to the duration for which a scheme will meet water demands of different water users.
This time begins from the day a scheme is commissioned and operated by the users. The general
practice in Nepal is to design water schemes for a period of 15 to 20 years.

The design period generally depends on:

- Rate of population growth

- Present and future settlement pattern
- Economical life of system components
- Potential for development

Population Forecast

The design population will have to be estimated with due regard to all the factors governing the
future growth and development of project area.

There are various methods for population forecast:

1. Demographic method
2. Airthematic increase method
3. Incremental increase method
4. Geometrical increase method
5. Decreasing rate of growth method
6. Graphical method

Geometrical Increase Method

In this method, following formula is used to forecast the population –

P = P0 (1 + r) n

P0 is present population
r is rate or growth (mean) per annum
n is number of years

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

74
Civil Construction NBPI

Water Demand

The amount of water required for a rural community depends on factors like economic level
of community, their consciousness and other physical and social aspects. In urban areas, the
demand would be higher due to commercial activities and the transient population.

Piped water supplies for communities should be provided adequately for the following
purposes:

1. Domestic Needs
2. Institutional Needs
3. Public Purposes
4. Industrial and Commercial Use
5. Fire Fighting
6. Requirement for livestock and poultry
7. Likely waste amongst all users

Domestic Demand

Water used by an individual for different purposes such as drinking, cooking, washing,
bathing, toilet flushing, gardening, etc. It is denoted by liter per capita demand (lpcd).

Institutional Demand

Water needed for offices, schools and health posts in the community. In some cases, tourist
resorts, local industries like brewery and dairy, may also have to be supplied water from the
schemes.

Livestock Demand

Water needed for live stocks. It should not exceed 20% of the design domestic water
demand.

Wastage and Leakage

In case of community based gravity flow schemes, wastage and leakage are incorporated in
the per capita demand and are not considered separately.

Fire Demand

Water required for firefighting. It is usual to provide for firefighting demand as a coincident
draft on the distribution system along with the normal supply to the consumers.
Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

75
Civil Construction NBPI

It is related as a function of population and may be computed as –

Q = 100 x P0.50

Q is the quantity of water in kiloliters per day

P is the population of the service area in thousand.

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

76
Civil Construction NBPI

Unit 7 River Training Works

A definition of river training can be as follows:

"all engineering works constructed in a river which are required to guide and confirm theflow to
the river channel and to regulate the river bed configuration for effective and safe movement of
floods and river sediment".

The function(s) of the river training structures can best be described on the basis of the three
aims: flood protection, navigation and bank protection.

The importance of river training is as follows-

 To provide a safe passage to pass flood without overflowing its banks and thus to prevent
flooding of the adjoining areas.
 To prevent the river from changing its course and eroding the adjoining land.
 To prevent the erosion of banks and hence improve the alignment by stabilizing the river
channel
 To keep the river transports the bed load and suspended load efficiently.
 To provide the minimum desired depth of flow required for navigation.
 To detect the river flow away from a bank or to attract the river flow towards a bank.

Classification of River Training Works:

1. High river training works:

It is done to quick disposal of maximum floods and to protect adjoining land against damage due
to floods. It aims to provide sufficient river cross section for safe passage of maximum flood.

2. Low river training works:

It is done to provide sufficient water depth for navigation during low flow period. Generally,
spurs are constructed to contract the width of the channel and hence to increase the depth.

3. Mean water training works:

It is undertaken with the primary purpose of providing efficient disposal if sediment load and bed
load and thus to preserve the channel in good shape. It is the most important training of the 3
types.

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

77
Civil Construction NBPI

Methods of River Training:

Marginal Embankments or Levees

A levee, dike or embankment is an elongated naturally occurring ridge or artificially constructed

fill or wall, which regulates water levels. It is usually earthen and often parallel to the course of a
river. The marginal embankments are constructed parallel and close to the banks as possible to
restrict the flood water from submerging the area behind them. The alignment of levees should
follow the normal meandering pattern of the river.

Fig- Levee

Levees are usually built by piling earth on a cleared, level surface. Broad at the base, they taper
to level top, where temporary embankments or sandbags can be placed. Because flood discharge
intensity increases in levees on both river banks, and silt deposits raise the level of riverbeds,
planning and auxiliary measures are vital.

Guide Banks or Guide Bunds

Guide banks, also called Bell’s bund/Guide bund, is defined as the site of a barrage, weir, bridge,
ett. to guide the river flow through the confined waterway without causing damage to the
structure and its approaches. They are provided in the direction of flow, both upstream and
downstream of the barrage of one or both flanks depending or requirement.

The guide banks are usually provided in pairs, symmetrical in plan and may either be parallel or
converge slightly towards the structure, extending a little downstream but largely on the
upstream of the structure and curved inlands on both ends to provide a bell mouth entry and
smooth exit.

Guide banks are meant for guiding and confining the flow in a reasonable waterway at the site of
the structure.

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

78
Civil Construction NBPI

fIg- Guide bank

Functions of Guide Bank:

The functions served by a guide bank are -

i. Economical spanning of a wide river

ii. Safe and expeditions passage of floods
iii. Protect adjacent lands, upstream of a weir or barrage from spills due to afflux caused by
the barrage construction
iv. control and confine the flow axially through a restricted waterway so that the river has no
possibility to swing about and outflank the structure
v. Prevent occurrence of cross flow immediately upstream of barrage
vi. Protect the approach embankments (on either side of a bridge extending from the river
bank to the guide banks) from direct attack by the river.

Groynes or Spurs

Spur, dikes or groynes are structures constructed projecting from a bank to protect the bank
from erosion. These are the structures which are constructed on the river path such that it
deflect or attract or normalize the flow of water in the river.

Objectives of Groynes:

 To retain the river along the desired course by attracting of deflecting or repelling the
flow in the desired direction.
 To reduce the concentration of flow at a particular point of attack.
 To create a slack zone for silting up the area
 To protect a bank by keeping the flow away from it
 To contract a wide river channel for the purpose of increasing its depth for navigation.

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

79
Civil Construction NBPI

Classification of Groynes based on function:

 Attracting groynes
 Deflecting or Normal groynes
 Repelling groynes

Fig-Groynes

Types of spurs according to functions

 Normal Groynes/Holding spurs: Spurs are constructed to the river current. They should
be short in length and should be constructed perpendicular to the bank. Such spurs are
utilized to hold the channel in position and protect the banks.
 Attracting Groynes/spurs: Spurs should be constructed pointing towards upstream of the
flow to attract the river current towards the bank. The angle of inclination may vary from
60 degree to 80 degree. This attracts river flow towards the banks from which the spurs
are very strong in construction as they have to bear the full frontal attack of the river
flow.
 Repelling Groynes/spurs: spurs constructed to repel the river current should be aligned
pointing towards downstream. The angle of inclination with normal to bank varies from
40 to 60 degrees. The head of the spur should be heavily protected to resist swirling
action of the current. The distance between the two spurs is kept 1 to 2 times the length
of the spurs. On bends the distance between the spurs is kept more in case of convex
banks and small for concave banks.

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

80
Civil Construction NBPI

Artificial Cutoff

An artificial cutoff is developed in a meandering river to divert the flow along a straight course.
An artificial cutoff is used for the purpose of training of river when its meander goes on
increasing and endangers some valuable land or property on its banks. It is also used for
straightening the river approach to a structure.

Pickles recommendations for artificial cutoff as follows:

 The pilot or starting channel should be tangential to the main direction of flow in the
river both at entry and at the exit.
 The pilot or starting channel should be excavated on a mild curve of the river where the
curvature is less the dominant curvature of the river.
 When the cut cannot develop naturally by scouring action because the bank material is
not easily erodible or because the velocity is low, it should be excavated to the main river
cross section.
 When a series of cut is required to be made the cut at d/s end should be developed first
and the work should be progress u/s to excavate more cuts.

Pitched Island

A pitched island is an artificially created island in the river. It is made of earth with pitched side
slopes and stone apron. Sometimes an existing natural island in the river is reshaped and pitched
and provided with aprons.

Pitched island are used to correct the river approach conditions by attracting the river course
above the weir and holding it there. It decreases the intensity of flow along marginal banks and
guide banks and protects them from damage. It also deepens the river channel, which helps the
silt distribution before the head regulator of off-taking channels and navigation purposes.
Pitched island are particularly suitable in deep channels.

Compiled By: - Ramji Khatri

81