DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION
Abatement
The waste produced in cutting a timber, stone or metal piece to a desired size and
shape.
Abram’s Law
In concrete materials, for a mixture of workable consistency the strength of concrete is
determined by the ratio of water to cement.
Abrasion
The removal of surface materials from any solid through the fictional action of another
solid, a solid, or a gas or combination thereof.
Abreuvoir
A space between stones in masonry to be filled with mortar.
Absolute volume
The total volume of the particles in a granular material, including both permeable and
impermeable voids but excluding spaces between particles.
Absorption loss
The quantity of water that is lost during the initial filling of a reservoir because of
absorption by soil and rocks.
Abutment
A supporting wall carrying the end of a bridge or span and, generally, sustaining the
pressure of the abutting earth. The abutment of an arch is, sometimes called a “Bench
Wall”.
Accelelograph
An instrument which measures the velocity and acceleration of an earthquake in the
ground.
Acceleration
The rate of change of velocity with respect to time.
Accelerogram
A record made by an accelerograph.
Civil Engineering Review
by: Engr. Earl John Villamora, RCE, REB
Accelerograph
It is an instrument which measure the velocity and acceleration of an earthquake in the
ground.
Accelerometer
An instrument which measures acceleration or gravitational force capable of imparting
acceleration.
Active earth pressure
The horizontal pressure that an earth mass exerts on a wall.
Adhesion
Intimate sticking together of metal surfaces under compressive stresses by formation of
metallic bonds.
Admixture
Is a metal other than water, aggregate, or hydraulic cement used as an ingredient of
concrete and added to concrete before or during its mixing to modify its properties.
Adz
A cutting tool with a thin arched blade, sharpened on the concave side, at right angles
on the handle, used for rough dressing of timber.
Aggregate
It is a granular material, such as sand, gravel, crushed stone and iron blast-furnace
slag, and when used with a cementing medium forms a hydraulic cement concrete or
mortar.
Aggregate
is granular material, such as sand, gravel, crushed stone and iron blast-furnace slag,
and when used with a cementing medium forms a hydraulic cement concrete or mortar.
Aggregate, lightweight
Is aggregate with a dry, loose weight of 1120 kg/m3 or less.
Airport, engineering
Civil Engineering Review
by: Engr. Earl John Villamora, RCE, REB
The planning, design, construction, and operation and maintenance of facilities
providing for the landing and take off, loading and unloading, servicing, maintenance
and storage of aircraft.
Allowable bearing capacity, permissible ground pressure, etc.
The figure, expressed in tons/m2, k/m2 or other unit, from which foundation engineers
calculates the area needed for their foundations, knowing the weight they must carry.
Allowable bearing value
The maximum permissible pressure on foundation soil that provides adequate safety
against rapture of the soil mass or movement of the foundation of such magnitude as to
impair the structure imposing the pressure.
Allowable load
The maximum force that may be safely applied to a solid or is permitted by applicable
regulators.
Allowable strength
Nominal strength divided by the safety factor.
Allowable stress
Allowable strength divided by the appropriate section property, such as section modulus
or cross-section area.
Allowable stress
The maximum force per unit area that may be safely applied to a solid.
Analemma
Any raised construction which serves as a support or rest.
Anchor
A device connecting a structure to a heavy masonry of concrete object to a metal plate
or to the ground to hold the structure in place.
Anchor bolt
A round, steel bolt embedded in concrete or masonry to hold down machinery, castings,
shoes, beams, plates and engines beds.
Anchorage
Civil Engineering Review
by: Engr. Earl John Villamora, RCE, REB
Also known as Anchor Black or Anchor Pier, A structure built to hold down penstock in
position at the points where the direction of the axis changes and also at some regular
intervals.
Anchorage
An essential piece of post tensioning equipment cast into the anchorage zone at the
end of a tendon.
Anchorage device
In post-tensioning is a device used to anchor tendons to concrete member, in
pretensioning, a device used to anchor tendons during hardening of concrete.
Anchorage device in post-tensioning
Is a device used to anchor tendons to concrete member; in pre-tensioning, a device
used to anchor tendons during hardening of concrete.
Anchored bulkhead
A bulkhead used to anchored piles.
Angle of friction
In the study of body sliding on plane surface, the angle between the perpendicular to
the surface and the resultant force (between the body and surface) when the body
begins to slide.
Angle of internal friction
For quite dry and quite submerged soils without cohesion such as clean sands, the
angle of internal friction is approximately the angle of repose.
Angle strut
An angle-shaped structural member which is designed to carry a compression load.
Apex
In architecture and construction, the highest point, peak or tip of any structure.
Applied Mechanics
The branch of science that treats of the action or forces on engineering structure.
Arch beam
Civil Engineering Review
by: Engr. Earl John Villamora, RCE, REB
A curve beam, used in construction, with a longitudinal section bounded by two arcs
having different radii and centers of curvature so that the beam cross section is larger at
either end than at the center.
Arch center
A temporary structure for support of the parts of a masonry or concrete arch during its
construction.
Arch truss
A truss having the form of an arch or arches.
Area way
Area enclosed by walls to provide access to an opening in a wall located below grade.
Artificial drainage
Drainage instituted by man.
ASD (Allowable Strength Design)
Method of proportioning structural components such that the allowable strength equals
or exceeds the required strength of the component under the action of the ASD load
combinations.
Ashlar
Masonry with an exposed side of square or rectangular stones.
Asphalt
A thick black substance made of bitumen and other mineral. It is used for making paper,
roofs and other things waterproof.
Asphalt emulsion
A combination of asphalt with a small amount of soap-forming compound and water.
Backfill
Soil replaced in an area that had previously excavated.
Balance beam
A long beam, attached to a gate so as to counter balance the weight of the gate during
opening or closing. Also known as balance bar.
Civil Engineering Review
by: Engr. Earl John Villamora, RCE, REB
Balanced reinforcement
An amount and distribution of steel reinforcement in a flexural reinforced concrete
member such that the allowable tensile stress in the steel and the allowable
compressive stress in the concrete are attained simultaneously.
Bank measure
The volume of a given portion of soil or rock as measured in its original position before
excavation.
Barodynamics
The mechanics of heavy structures which may collapse under their own weight.
Barometer
An absolute pressure gage specifically designed to measure atmospheric pressure.
Barrage
An artificial dam which increases the depth of water of a river or water, course, or
diverts it into a channel for navigation or irrigation.
Bascule
A structure that rotates about an axis, as seesaw with a counterbalance (for the weight
of the structure) at one end.
Base course
The first layer of material laid down in construction of a pavement.
Base of structure
Is that level at which the horizontal earthquake ground motions are assumed to be
imparted to a building.
Basement
A building story which is wholly or less than half below ground. It is generally used for
living space.
Basement wall
A foundation wall which encloses a usable area under a building.
Batten plate
Plate rigidly connected to two parallel components of a built-up column or beam
designed to transmit shear between the components.
Civil Engineering Review
by: Engr. Earl John Villamora, RCE, REB
Battened column
A column consisting of two longitudinal shafts, rigidly connected to each other by batten
plates.
Batter
A uniformly steep slope in a retaining wall of pier; inclination is expressed as 1 meter
horizontally per unit vertical.
Batter board
Horizontal boards nailed to corner posts located just outside the corners of a proposed
building to assist in the accurate layout of foundation and excavation lines.
Beam
Structural member that has the primary function of resisting bending moments.
Beam bridge
A fixed structure consisting of a series of steel or concrete beams placed parallel to
traffic and supporting the roadway directly on their top flanges.
Beam clip
A device for attaching a pipe hanger to its associated structural beam when it is
undesirable to weld the pipe hanger to supporting structural steel work.
Beam column
A structural member subjected simultaneously to axial load and bending moments
produce by lateral forces or eccentricity of the longitudinal load and bending moments
produced by lateral forces or eccentricity of the longitudinal load.
Beam splice
A connection between two lengths of a beam or girder; may be shear or moment
connections.
Beam test
A test of a flexural strength (modulus of rupture) of concrete from measurements on a
standard reinforced concrete beam.
Beam-and-girder construction
A system of floor construction in which the load is distributed by slabs to spaces beams
and girders.
Civil Engineering Review
by: Engr. Earl John Villamora, RCE, REB
Beam-column
Structural member that resists both axial force and bending moment.
Bearing
In a connection, the ultimate shear forces transmitted by the mechanical fastener to the
connection elements.
Bearing (local compressive yielding)
Local compressive yielding due to the action of a member bearing against another
member or surface.
Bearing pile
A vertical post of pile which carries the weight of foundation, transmitting the load to a
structure to the bedrock or subsoil without detrimental settlement.
Bearing plate
A flat steel plate used under the end of a wall-bearing beam to distribute the load over a
broader area.
Bearing wall
A wall capable of supporting an imposed load. Also known as structured wall.
Bearing-type connection
Bolted connection where shear forces are transmitted by the bolt bearing against the
connection elements.
Bedding
A prepared base in soil or concrete for laying of concrete or masonry.
Bedding course
The first layer of mortar at the bottom of masonry.
Belled caisson
A type of drilled caisson with a flared bottom.
Bend test
A test of a weld or of the steel in a flat bar, in which the bar is bent cold through 180°
To verify its ductility. If there is no cracking the piece is considered ductile.
Civil Engineering Review
by: Engr. Earl John Villamora, RCE, REB
Block pavement
A road wearing course made of rectangular block of stone or wood, as opposed to
sheet pavement.
Bent
A structural frame composed of two or more columns and a crosspiece called a cap.
Berm
A horizontal ledge on the side of an embankment or cutting, to intercept earth rolling
down the slope, or to add strength to the construction.
Billet
A steel slab under a steel column to distribute the load from the column to the
supporting masonry.
Binder course
Coarse aggregate with a bituminous binder between the foundation course and the
wearing course of a pavement.
Bituminous concrete pavement
It is flexible pavement made of 38 mm to 50 mm bituminous concrete surface, 38 mm to
75 mm bituminous concrete based and sand or crushed gravel sub-base.
Block shear rupture
In a connection, limit state of tension fracture along one path and shear yielding or
shear fracture along another path.
Board measure
Measurement of lumber in board-feet.
Boils
The disturbing of ground by an upward flow of water.
Bollard
A heavy post on the dock or ship used in mooring ships.
Bonded tendon
Is a pre stressing tendon that is bonded to concrete either directly or through grouting.
Bored pile
Civil Engineering Review
by: Engr. Earl John Villamora, RCE, REB
A pile formed with or without casing by excavating or boring a hole in the ground and
subsequently filling it with plain or reinforced concrete.
Borings
Holes drilled into the ground to obtain samples of soil from every stratum encountered
for purposed of investigation and soil evaluation.
Borrow pit
A source from where material is borrowed to complete a section or make fills.
Boussinesq equation
A relation used to calculate the influence of a concentrated load on the backfill behind a
retaining wall.
Box caisson
A floating steel or concrete box with an open top which will be filled and sunk at a
foundation site in a river or seaway. Also known as American caisson; stranded
caisson.
Box culvert
A culvert having a rectangular barrel.
Box flume
A flume of rectangular cross section.
Box girder
A hollow girder or beam with a square or rectangular cross-section. Also known as box
beam.
Braced frame
An essentially vertical truss system that provides resistance to lateral forces and
provides stability for the structural system.
Breaking strength
The ability of a material to resist breaking or rupture from a tension force.
Breakwater
A wall built to a sea to protect a shore area, harbor, anchorage, or basin from the action
of waves.
Civil Engineering Review
by: Engr. Earl John Villamora, RCE, REB
Breast boards
Timber planks used to support the tunnel face when excavation is in loose soil.
Breast wall
A low wall built to retain the face of a natural bank of earth.
Breasting dolphin
A pile or other structure against which a moored ship rests.
Bridge abutment
The end foundation upon which the bridge superstructure rests.
Bridge bearings
The supports on a bridge pier, which carry the weight of the bridge and control the
movements at the bridge supports, including the temperature expansion and
contraction.
Bridge cap, bridge pier c..
The highest part of a bridge pier, on which the bridge bearing or rollers are seated. It
may be of stone, brick, or plain or reinforced concrete, usually the last for heavy loads.
Bridge foundation
The piers and abutments of a bridge on which the superstructure rests.
Bridge pier
A masonry structure supporting the superstructure.
Brooming
The crushing and spreading of a wooden pile head with no driving band when driven
into hard ground.
Buckle plate
A steel floor plate which is slightly arched to increase rigidity.
Buckle
To load a column too heavy or with eccentric loading until it bends sharply and crumples
or wrinkles at its cripping load.
Buckling
Civil Engineering Review
by: Engr. Earl John Villamora, RCE, REB
Sudden change in the geometry of a structure or any of its elements under critical
loading condition.
Buckling load
The crippling load of a long column.
Buckling strength
`Nominal strength for buckling or instability limit states.
Building code
Local building laws to promote safe practices in the design and construction of a
building.
Building line
A designated line beyond which building cannot extend.
Built-up member, cross-section, section, shape Member
Cross-section, section or shape fabricated from structural steel elements that are
welded or bolted together.
Bulk modulus of elasticity
The ratio of the compressive or tensile force applied to a substance per unit surface
area to the change in volume of the substance per unit volume.
Bulkhead
A wall of sheet piling of either steel, timber, or reinforce concrete restrained at the
bottom by the soil and at the top by a wale tied back to a deadman or pile anchor. It
may also be a filled crib.
Bulkhead line
The farthest offshore line to which a structure maybe constructed without interfering with
navigation.
Bulkhead wharf
A bulkhead that may be used as wharf by addition of mooring appurtenances, paving
and cargo-handling facilities.
Buttress
A structure of any material built against a wall to strengthen it.
Butt-welding
Civil Engineering Review
by: Engr. Earl John Villamora, RCE, REB
A method of welding by placing two heated metal edges together and hammering.
Cable-stayed bridge
A modification of the cantilever bridge consisting of girders or trusses cantilevered both
ways from a central tower and supported by inclined cables attached to the tower at top
or sometimes at several levels.
Caisson
A watertight, cylindrical or rectangular chamber used in underwater construction to
protect workers from water pressure and soil collapse.
Caisson foundation
A shaft of concrete placed under a building column or wall and extending down to
hardpan or rock.
California bearing ratio (C.B.R)
A punching test correlation between a standard stone base and a given soil.
California bearing ratio (CBR) method
A method of designing flexible pavements on the basis of the CBR test (below).
Camber
Curvature fabricated into a beam or truss so as to compensate for deflection induced by
loads.
Canopy
A subsidiary roof over an entrance or other feature.
Cantilever bridge
A fixed bridge consisting of two spans projecting toward each other and joined at their
ends by a suspended simple span.
Cantilever footing
A footing used to carry a load from two columns, with one column and one end of the
footing placed against a building line or exterior wall.
Cantilever retaining wall
A type of wall formed of three cantilever beams; stem, toe projection and heel
protection.
Cantilever wall
Civil Engineering Review
by: Engr. Earl John Villamora, RCE, REB
A reinforced-concrete retaining wall stabilized usually by the weight of the retained
material on its heel.
Cap
A concrete block arranged to distribute the column load, usually a concrete column
load, to the concrete footing. Top member of a trestle bent.
Capillary action
The phenomenon of a dry soil sucking moisture up above the ground water level.
Capillary attraction
The phenomenon by which adhesion between the molten filler metal and the base
metals, together with surface tension of the molten filler metal, distributes the filler metal
between the properly fitted surfaces of the joint to the brazed.
Castigliano’s theorem
The theorem that the component in a given direction of the deflection of the point of
application of an external force on an elastic body is equal to the partial derivative of the
work of deformation with respect to the component of the force in that direction.
Cement
A power that, mixed with water, binds a stone-sand mixture into a strong concrete within
a few days.
Cementitious Materials
These are materials as specified in NSCP Specifications which have cementing value
when used in concrete either by themselves, such as Portland cement, blended
hydraulic cements and expansive cement, or such materials in combination with fly ash,
raw or other calcined natural pozzolans, silica fume, or ground granulated blast-furnace
slag.
Center of force
The point toward or from which a central force acts.
Center of gravity
A fixed point in a material body through which the resultant force of gravitational
attraction acts.
Center of mass
That point of a material body or system of bodies which moves as though the system’s
total mass existed at the point and all external forces were applied at the point.
Civil Engineering Review
by: Engr. Earl John Villamora, RCE, REB
Center of twist
A point on a line parallel to the axis of a beam through which any transverse force must
be applied to avoid twisting of the section.
Centrifugal
Acting or moving in a direction away from the axis of rotation or the center of a circle
along which a body is moving.
Centripetal
Acting or moving in a direction toward the axis of rotation or the center of a circle along
which a body is moving.
Centripetal acceleration
The radial component of the acceleration of a particle of object moving around a circle,
which can be shown to be directed toward the center of the circle.
Centripetal force
The force which pulls things towards the center of a circle.
Charpy V-notch impact test
Standard dynamic test measuring notch toughness of a specimen.
Civil Engineering
The planning, design, construction, and maintenance of fixed structures and ground
facilities for industry, transportation, use and control of water, or occupancy.
Cladding
Exterior covering of structure
Cleat
A strip of wood, metal or other material fastened across something to serve as a batten
or to provide strength or support.
Clevis
A U-shaped metal fitting which holes in the open ends to receive a bolt or pin.
Coefficient of cubical expansion
The increment in volume of a unit volume of solid, liquid or gas for a rise of temperature
of 1 degree at constant pressure. Also known as coefficient of expansion; coefficient of
Civil Engineering Review
by: Engr. Earl John Villamora, RCE, REB
thermal expansion; coefficient of volumetric expansion; expansion coefficient;
expansivity.
Coefficient of expansion of thermal expansion
The expansion of a material per unit length for each degree rise in temperature.
Coefficient of friction
The ratio between the force causing a body to slide along a plane and the force normal
to the plane.
Coefficient of kinetic friction
The ratio of the frictional force, parallel to the surface of contact.
Coefficient of linear expansion
The increment of length of a solid in a unit of length for a rise in temperature of 1 degree
at constant pressure.
Coefficient of restitution
The constant e, which is the ratio of the relative velocity of two elastic spheres after
direct impact to that before impact.
Cofferdam
A temporary structure built to exclude earth and water from an excavation so that work
may be done in the dry.
Cohesion
Sticking together: The cohesion of molecules.
Cohesive strength
Strength corresponding to cohesive forces between atoms. Hypothetically, the stress
causing tensile fracture without plastic deformation.
Collar beam
A tie beam in a roof truss connecting the rafters well above the wall plate.
Column
Is a member with a ratio of height-to-least-lateral dimension of 3 or greater used
primarily to support axial compressive load.
Civil Engineering Review
by: Engr. Earl John Villamora, RCE, REB
Combined footing
Two or more footings combined to act as one unit.
Combined sewers
A drainage system that receives both surface runoff and sewage.
Compact section
Section capable of developing a fully plastic stress distribution and possessing a
rotation capacity of approximately three before the onset of local buckling.
Composite
Condition on which steel and concrete elements and members work as a unit in the
distribution of internal forces.
Composite action
Combining two or more materials in such a way that the resulting structure is stronger
than would be obtained by merely adding their strength.
Composite beam
Structural steel beam in contact with and acting compositely and reinforced concrete via
bond or shear connectors.
Composite brace
Reinforce-concerete=-encased structural steel section (rolled or built-up) or concretefilled steel section used as a brace.
Composite cement
A hollow steel section filled with concrete or steel section encased in concrete.
Composite column
Reinforced-concrete-encased structural steel section (rolled or built-up) or concretefilled steel section used as a column.
Composite Concrete Flexural Members
These are concrete flexural members of precast and cast-in-place concrete elements,
or both, constructed in separate placements but so interconnected that all elements
respond to loads as a unit.
Composite pile
A pile in which the upper and lower portions consist of different type of piles.
Civil Engineering Review
by: Engr. Earl John Villamora, RCE, REB
Composite shear wall
Reinforced concrete wall that has unencased or reinforced-concrete-encased structural
steel sections as boundary members[U1][U2].
Composite slab
Concrete slab supported on and bonded to a formed steel deck that acts as a
diaphragm to transfer load to and between elements of the seismic load resisting
system.
Compound girder, plated beam
A rolled-steel joist with plates fixed to the flanges by welding or riveting.
Compression failure
Buckling or collapse caused by compression, as of a steel or concrete column or of
wood fibers.
Compression member
A beam or other structural member which is subject to compressive stress.
Compression test
A test to determine compression strength, usually applied to materials of high
compression but low tensile strength, in which the specimen is subjected to increasing
compressive forces until failure occurs.
Compression-Controlled Section
It is a cross section in which the net tensile strain in the extreme tension steel at
nominal strength is less than or equal to the compression-controlled strain limit.
Compression-controlled strain limit
Is the net tensile at balanced strain conditions.
Compressive strength
The maximum compressive stress a material can withstand without failure.
Compressive stress
A stress which causes an elastic body to shorten in the direction of the applied failure.
Concrete
It is a mixture of Portland cement or any other hydraulic cement, fine aggregate, coarse
aggregate and water, with or without admixtures.
Civil Engineering Review
by: Engr. Earl John Villamora, RCE, REB
Concrete caisson sinking
A shaft-sinking method similar to caisson sinking except that reinforced concrete rings
are used and an airtight working chambers is not adopted.
Concrete chute
A long metal through with rounded bottom and open ends used for conveying concrete
to a lower elevation.
Concrete collar or doughnut
A collar of reinforced concrete placed around and existing column enabling it to be
jacked.
Concrete crushing
Limit state of compressive failure in concrete having reached the ultimate strain.
Concrete haunch
Section of solid concrete that results from stopping the deck on each side of the girder
in a composite floor system constructed using a formed steel deck.
Concrete slab
A flat, reinforced-concrete structural member, relatively sizable in length and width, but
shallow in depth; used for floors, roofs, and bridge decks.
Concrete vibrator
Vibrating device used to achieve proper consolidation of concrete; the three types are
internal, surface, and form vibrators.
Concrete, Specified Compressive Strength of
It is the compressive strength of concrete used in design and evaluated in accordance
with provisions of the NSCP Specifications, expressed in mega pascals (MPa).
Whenever the quantity fc’ is under a radical sign, square root of the numerical value only
is intended, and result has units of mega pascals.
Concrete, specified compressive strength of
It is the compressive strength of concrete used in design and evaluated in accordance
with provision in MPa.
Concrete-encased beam
Beam totally encased in concrete cast integrally with the slab.
Civil Engineering Review
by: Engr. Earl John Villamora, RCE, REB
Connection
Combination of structural elements and joints used to transmit forces between two or
more members.
Consistency
The slump test for concrete is used to determine.
Consortium
A joint venture, often of consultants, contractors and financiers.
Constant of motion
A dynamical variable of a system which remains constant in time.
Construction joint
A vertical or horizontal surface in reinforced concrete where concreting was stopped
and continued later.
Continuous beam
A beam of several spans in the same straight line joined together so effectively that a
known load on one span will produce an effect on the others which can be calculated.
Contraction joint
A break designed in a structure to allow for drying and temperature shrinkage of
concrete, brickwork, or masonry, thereby preventing the formation of cracks.
Contraflexure
Contraflexure, a change of direction of bending.
Contraflexure point
The point in a structure where bending occurs in opposite directions.
Control joint
An expansion joint in masonry to allow movement due to expansion and contraction.
Coping
Is the top course of the pier usually projecting beyond the lower courses.
Corrugated bar
Civil Engineering Review
by: Engr. Earl John Villamora, RCE, REB
Steel bar with transverse ridges, used in reinforced concrete.
Cost accounting
The branch of accounting in which one records, analyzes, and summarizes costs of
material, labor, and burden, and compares these actual costs with predetermined
budgets and standards.
Cost analysis
Analysis of the factors contributing to the costs of operating a business and of the costs
which will result from alternative procedures, and of their effects on profits.
Cost-plus contract
A contractor under which a contractor furnishes all materials, construction equipment,
and labor at actual cost, plus an agreed-upon fee for her services.
Cost-plus-percentage contract
A cost-reimbursement contract in which the contractor is paid a percentage to cover
overheads and profit.
Cost-reimbursement contract
Any contract based on the cost of labour and materials plus an allowance for overheads
and profit, including cost-plus-fixed-fee, cost-plus percentage or value-cost contracts.
Counterfort
A thickening to a retaining wall on the side of the retained material, therefore not visible.
Counterfort wall
A type of retaining wall that resembles a cantilever wall but has braces at the back; the
toe slab is a cantilever and the main steel is placed horizontally.
Cover plate
Plate welded or bolted to the flange of a member to increase cross-sectional area,
section modulus or moment of inertia.
Cradle
A temporary framework to carry something during construction.
Creep
Civil Engineering Review
by: Engr. Earl John Villamora, RCE, REB
Gradually increasing permanent deformation of a material under stress, well known in
metals as high-temperature creep.
Crib, grillage
One or more layers of timber or steel crossing each other so as to spread a load over a
foundation.
Critical path method
A systematic procedure for detailed project planning and control.
Critical slope
The maximum angle with the horizontal at which a slope bank of soil of a given height
will remain undeformed without some form of support.
Cross bracing
Horizontal timbering extending across an excavation to support shearing or cofferdams.
Crosstie
Is a continuous reinforcing bar having a seismic hook at one end a hook not less than
90 degree hooks with at least six-diameter extension at the other end.
Culvert
A drain or channel crossing under a road, etc.; a sewer or conduit.
Curb
A border of concrete or row of joined stones forming part of gutter along a street edge.
Curing period
The amount of time in any given weather during which concrete members must be kept
damp after sating.
Curvature Friction
It is a friction resulting from bends or curves in the specified pre stressing tendon profile.
Cyclopean concrete
Mass concrete in a dam or other large structure, containing plums of 50 kg or more
(ACI).
Deadman
Civil Engineering Review
by: Engr. Earl John Villamora, RCE, REB
A buried plate, wall or block attached at some distance from and forming an anchorage
for retaining wall.
Deck
The flooring of a bridge.
Deck bridge
A bridge that carries the deck on the very top of the superstructure.
Deck roof
A roof that is nearly flat and without parapet walls.
Deep well
A well that draws its water from beneath shallow impermeable strata, at depths
exceeding 22 feet.
Deep-penetration test
Cone penetration test.
Deformeter
An instrument used in the model analysis of a structure to help in drawing out its
influence line.
Delamination
Separation of a layer from its neighbor in any construction, especially any surface layer
of concrete, parting sometimes along a layer of rusting steel.
Density of concrete
Density of concrete is the ratio of the solid volume to the total volume of a specified
mass of concrete; it is the percentage of solid mass in a given volume and may be
taken as about 80 per cent for ordinary concrete.
Design displacement
Is the total lateral displacement expected for the design-basis earthquake, as required
by the governing code for earthquake-resistant design.
Design load
Applied load determined in accordance with either LRFD load combinations or ASD
load combinations, whichever is applicable.
Design story drift ratio
Civil Engineering Review
by: Engr. Earl John Villamora, RCE, REB
Is the relative difference of design displacement in between the top and bottom of a
story, divided by the story height.
Design strength
Resistance factor multiplied by the nominal strength.
Development length
It is the length of embedded reinforcement required to develop the design strength of
reinforcement at a critical section.
Diagonal tension
In reinforced or pre stressed concrete the principal tensile stress due to horizontal
tension and vertical shear.
Diaphragm
A thin sheet placed between parallel parts of a member of a structural steel to increase
its rigidity.
Direct cost
The cost in goods and labor to produce a product which would not be spent if the
product were not made.
Direct strength method
An alternative design method detailed in section C-1 that provides predictions of
member strengths without the use of effective widths.
Distortional buckling
A mode of buckling involving change in cross-sectional shape, excluding local buckling.
Dividing bell
Watertight bell-shaped steel chamber which can be lowered to or raised from a fresh or
sea water bed by a crane. It is open at the bottom and filled with compressed air so that
men can prepare foundations and undertake similar construction work under water.
Dock
An artificial basin for the use of vessels. The term is often improperly applied to a “pier”
or a “marginal wharf”.
Dock-wall
A marginal wall on a wharf or pier also known as Quay-wall.
Civil Engineering Review
by: Engr. Earl John Villamora, RCE, REB
Dockyard
A group of piles driven close and tied together to provide a fixed mooring in the open
sea or guide for ships coming into a narrow harbor entrance.
Dolphin
A group of piles driven close and tied together to provide a fixed mooring in the open
sea or guide for ships coming into a narrow harbor entrance.
Double curvature
Deformed shaped of a beam with one or more inflection points within the span.
Doubly reinforced beam
A reinforced-concrete beam with steel in the top and the bottom.
Dowel
A short steel bar extending from one concrete element to another, as for instance from
a concrete foundation to a concrete column. The dowel may or may not transfer direct
stress.
Downspout
A vertical pipe that leads water from a roof drain or gutter down to the ground or cistern.
Drain
A conduit for carrying off surplus ground or surface water.
Drainage
Removal of groundwater or surface water, or of water from structures, by gravity or
pumping.
Draw bridge
Any bridge that can be raised, lowered or drawn aside to provide clear passage of
ships.
Dredge
A floating machine for excavating materian from below water level; dredger.
Dredging
A method for deepening streams, swamps or coastal waters by scraping and removing
solids from the bottom. The resulting mud is ussualy deposited in marshes in a process
natural ecological cycles.
Civil Engineering Review
by: Engr. Earl John Villamora, RCE, REB
Drift
Lateral reflection of structure.
Drift bolt
Is a long pin of steel or wood, made with or without the head, driven through the timber
and in to an adjacent timber to hold them together and to transmit stress.
Drilled caisson
A drilled hole filled with concrete and lined with a cylindrical steel casing if needed.
Driving capuring
A temporary cap placed on top of a pile to distribute the blow over the cross-section and
to prevent the head being damaged during driving.
Drop
The distance which the weight is allowed to fall on to the head of the pile.
Drop hammer
A hammer, Ram or Monkey (which are identical terms) raised by a winch and allowed to
fall by gravity.
Drop panel
The structural portion of a flat slag above a supporting column, which is thickened in the
area surrounding the column capital.
Ductility
The ability of a metal to undergo cold plastic deformation without breaking, particularly
by pulling in cold drawing.
Dynamics
The branch of mechanics which deals with the motion of a system of material particles
under the influence of forces, especially those which originate outside the system under
consideration.
Dyne
The unit of force and the centimeter-gram-second system of units, equal to the force
which imparts an acceleration of 1 cm/s2 to a 1 gram mass.
Earliest finish time
Civil Engineering Review
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The earliest time for completion of an activity of a project; for the entire project, it equals
the earliest start time of the final event included in the schedule.
Earliest start time
The earliest time at which an activity may begin in the schedule of a project; it equal the
earliest time that all predecessor activities can be completed.
Early finish date
The earliest time that an activity can be completed.
Early start date
The earliest time that an activity may be commenced.
Earthquake factor
The percentage of gravity acceleration for which a structure is required to be designed.
Earthquake
The oscillatory sometimes violent movement of the earth surface that follows a release
of energy in the crust.
Eccentricity
The distance between the point of application of a direct load to a column or tie and the
centroid of the member. It is sometimes called the arm.
Effective depth of section
Is the distance measured from extreme compression fiber to centroid of tension
reinforcement.
Effective length factor, k
Ratio between the effective length and the unbraced length of the member.
Elastic
Capable of sustaining deformation without permanent loss of size or shape.
Elastic analysis
Structural analysis based on the assumption that the structure returns to its original
geometry on removal of the load.
Elastic buckling
Civil Engineering Review
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An abrupt increase in the lateral deflection of a column at a critical load while the
stresses acting on the column or wholly elastic.
Elastic center
That point of a beam in the plane of the section lying midway between the flexural
center and the center of twist in that section.
Elastic flow
Return of a material to its original shape following deformation.
Elastic limit
The maximum stress solid can sustain without undergoing permanent deformation.
Elastic ratio
The ratio of the elastic limit to the ultimate strength of a solid.
Elasticity
The property whereby a solid material changes its shaped and size under action of
opposing forces, but recovers its original configuration when the forces are removed.
Embankment
A ridge constructed of earth, stone, or other material to carry a roadway or railroad at a
level above that of the surrounding terrain.
Embedment length
Is the length of embedded reinforcement provided beyond critical section.
End return
Length of fillet weld that continues around a corner in the same plane.
End-bearing pile
A bearing pile that is driven down to hard ground so that it carries the full load at its
point.
Epicenter
The point on the earth’s surface directly above the focus of an earthquake.
Equilibrant
A single force which cancels the vector sum of a given system of forces acting on a rigid
body and whose torque cancels the sum of the torques of the system.
Civil Engineering Review
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Equilibrium
The state of a body which does not move. A body is instable equilibrium when any slight
movement increases its potential energy so that when released it tends to fall back to its
original position.
Escalation
Provision in actual or estimated costs for inflation increases in the costs of equipment,
materials, labor and so on, over those specified in an original contract.
Euler force
The greatest load that a long, slender column can carry without buckling, according to
the Euler formula for long columns.
Euler formula for a long columns
A formula which gives the greatest axial load that a long, slender column can carry
without buckling, in terms of its length, Young’s modulus, and the moment of inertia
about an axis along the center of the column.
Expansion joint
Joint designed to take expansion and contraction.
False leaders
A steel mast set on the ground, held upright by guy ropes and used for guiding a pile
during driving and for holding the weight of a pile hammer over it.
Falsework
A temporary support used until the main structure is strong enough to support itself.
Fault
It is a fractures in the earth crust along which two blocks of the crust have slipped with
respect to each other either horizontally or vertically.
Feasibility study
The study of applicability or desirability of any management or procedural system from
the standpoint of advantages versus disadvantages in any given case.
Fillet weld
A weld of roughly triangular cross-section between two pieces at right angles.
Civil Engineering Review
by: Engr. Earl John Villamora, RCE, REB
Final pre stress
The stress which exists after substantially all losses have occurred.
Final set
See that occurs when the concrete or mortar has definitely set but has not yet hardened
sufficiently for the framework to be removed.
Fineness modulus
A number which indicates the fineness of a sand, pigment, cement, etc. It is calculated
by determining the percentage residues on each of a series of standard sieves from
37.5 mm opening downwards, each opening being half the preceding one. The
percentages are then summed and divided by 100, the quotient being fineness
modulus.
Fissility
A property of timber of splitting in the direction of the fibers when a tensile force is
exerted at right angles to the grain.
Flexibility
Flexibility is the ratio which the rate of change of discharge of the outlet bears to the rate
of change of discharge of the distributary.
Flexible pavement
Road or airstrip construction with a waterproof wearing surface of bituminous material
which is assumed to have no tensile strength.
Flexural buckling
Buckling mode in which a compression member deflects laterally without twist of
change in cross-sectional change.
Flexural modulus
A measure of the resistance of a beam of specified material and cross section to
bending, equal to the product of Young’s modulus for the material and the square of the
radius of gyration of the beam about its neutral axis.
Flexural rigidity
The stiffness of a beam, column, etc.
Civil Engineering Review
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Flexural-Torsional buckling
Buckling mode in which a compression member bends and twists simultaneously
without change in cross-sectional shape.
Floating foundation
A reinforced concrete slab that distributes the concentrated load from columns; used on
soft soils. A foundation that several meters below the ground surface when it is
combined with external walls.
Floor beam
A beam used in the framing of floors in building. A large beam used in a bridge floor at
right angles to the direction of the roadway to transfer loads to bridge supports.
Focal depth
The depth from the earth’s surface to the focus where an earthquake’s energy
originates.
Foot bridge
A bridge structure used only for pedestrian traffic.
Footing
Portion of the foundation of a structure that transmits loads directly to the soil.
Formwork
A temporary wooden casing used to contain concrete during its placing and hardening.
Foundation
That part of a structure which is in direct contact with soil and transmits loads to it.
Foundation engineering
That branch of engineering concerned with evaluating the earth’s ability to support a
load and designing substructures to transmit the load of superstructures to the earth.
Freyssinet, Eugene
Founder of pre stress concrete.
Friction
A force which always opposes motion.
Friction pile
Civil Engineering Review
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A bearing pile surrounded by earth and supported entirely by friction, carries no load at
its end.
Gabion
A rectangular steel mesh basket filled with rocks, used with others for building a freedraining retaining wall.
Gert
Horizontal structural member that supports wall panels and is primarily subjected to
bending under horizontal loads, such as wind load.
Grade beam
A reinforced concrete beam placed directly on the ground to provide the foundation for
the superstructure.
Gravitational force
The force on a particle due to its gravitational attraction to another particles.
Grillage
A group of steel beams arranged to distribute a concentrated load to the supporting
masonry or soil.
Grout
A liquid mixture of cement and water, or of cement, sand and water.
Gusset plate
Plate element connecting truss member or a strut or brace to a beam or column.
Hardness
A property possessed by a material which enables it to resist penetration or abrasion or
scratching by other materials. It is also measured by its own ability to scratch other
materials.
Hardy Cross method
This usually refers to the method of moment distribution in continuous beams described
by Professor Hardy Cross in 1936.
Hooke’s law
The elastic deflection of a material is proportional to the load on it up to the elastic limit.
This means that stress is proportional to strain, a basic principle of engineering.
Civil Engineering Review
by: Engr. Earl John Villamora, RCE, REB
Howe truss
A truss for spans up to 80 feet (24 meters) having both vertical and diagonal members,
made of steel or timber or both.
Hybrid beam
A metal beam with flanges fabricated from a material that differs from that of a web
plate and has a different minimum yield strength.
Hypocenter
It is known as the actual location of the earthquake beneath the earth surface.
Impact
The sudden application of a load to a structure producing stresses in excess of those
arising from the static loading.
Impact velocity
The velocity of a projectile or missile at the instant of impact. Also known as velocity.
Impulse
A pulse or force acting for a short time in one direction.
Inelastic buckling
Sudden increase of deflection or twist in a column when compressive stress reaches
the elastic limit but before elastic buckling develops.
Inertia
The tendency of a body either to remain at rest or (if moving) to maintain uniform motion
in a straight line.
Influence line
A graph of the shear, stress, bending moment, or other effect of a movable load on a
structural member versus the position of the load.
Instantaneous center
A point about which a rigid body is rotating at a given instant in time. Also known as
instant center.
Intermediate earthquake
Earthquake with focal depths from 60 to 300 km.
Civil Engineering Review
by: Engr. Earl John Villamora, RCE, REB
Invert
The floor or bottom of the conduit.
Isolated footing
A concrete slab or block under an individual load or column.
Jacking force
It is a temporary force exerted by the device that introduces tension into pre stressing
tendons in pre stressed concrete.
Jacking force
It is a temporary force exerted by the device that introduces tension into pre stressing
tendons in pre stressed concrete.
Jetting
A method of driving files of well points into sand by using a jet of water to break the soil.
Joint
A break between two pours of concrete done at sum interval of time; or a small open
space forming a complete plane of separation between components of the structure
with relation of transition of stresses.
Joist
A strong piece of wood or steel which is used to support floors and ceilings.
Joule
The unit of energy or work in the meter-kilogram-second system of units, equal to the
work done by a force of 1 Newton magnitude when the point at which the force is
applied is displaced 1 meter in the direction of the force symbolized.
Kinematics
The study of the motion of a system of material particles without reference to the forces
which act on the system.
Kinetic energy
The energy of a moving body due to its mass and motion, equal to Wv2/2g kg-m where
W is the mass in kg, v its speed in m/s, and g is 9.81 m/s each second.
Kineticity
Ratio of the kinetic energy head to the potential energy head.
Civil Engineering Review
by: Engr. Earl John Villamora, RCE, REB
Knee brace
A stiffer between a column and a supported truss or beam to provide greater rigidity in a
building frame under transverse loads.
Labor cost
That part of the cost of goods and services attributable to wages, especially for direct
labor.
Laitance
A water ‘scum’ which may form at the top of concrete in which too much water has been
used, or when too much floating or trowalling has been done. If laitance is not removed
the upper portion of the concrete will be porous.
Lally column
A hollow and nearly circular steel column that supports girders or beams.
Lap joint
Joint between two overlapping connection elements in parallel planes.
Lateral bracing
Diagonal bracing, shear walls or equivalent means for providing in-plane lateral stability.
Lateral load
Load, such as the produced by wind or earthquake effects, acting in a lateral direction.
Lintel
A horizontal member over an opening, such as a door or window, usually carrying the
wall load.
Liquefaction
The loss of load carrying ability of loose fill (such as sand) during earthquake.
Load bearing piles
Piles that perform the function of a support for the load of a structure when the ground
below is not strong enough to bear the load directly.
Local bending
Ultimate state of large deformation of a flange under a concentrated transverse force.
Local buckling
Civil Engineering Review
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Limit state of buckling of a compression element within a cross section.
Local crippling
Limit state of local failure of web plate in the immediate vicinity of a concentrated load or
reaction.
Loss of pre stress
Losses of pre stressing force after transfer arise mainly through elastic shortening,
shrinkage and creep of the concrete and creep of the steel.
Lumpsum contract
Contract which provide for the compensation of the contractor on the basis of a total
amount to cover all work and services required under the plans and specifics.
Magnitude
The measure of energy released by an earthquake.
Malleability
That property of a metal, resembling ductility, which allows it to yield without breaking
when hammered.
Masonry
An assemblage of masonry units properly bonded together with mortar.
Mat foundation
A large, thick usually reinforced concrete mat which transfers loads from a number of
columns, or columns and walls, to the underlying rock or soil. Also known as raft
foundation.
Mechanics
The branch of physics concerned with the action of forces on bodies. The science of
machines.
Modulus deformation
The modulus of elasticity of a material that deforms other than according to Hooke’s
law.
Modulus of elasticity
Is the ratio of normal stress to corresponding strain for tensile or compressive stresses
below proportional limit of material.
Civil Engineering Review
by: Engr. Earl John Villamora, RCE, REB
Modulus of resilience
The maximum mechanical energy stored per unit volume of material when it is stressed
to its elastic limit.
Modulus of rigidity
Modulus elasticity of shear.
Modulus of rupture
Is the maximum unit stress produced in the material when a beam is loaded to failure.
Modulus of subgrade reaction
The elastic reaction of a subgrade to plate load test.
Moment distribution
A method of solving the bending moments in continuous beams and redundant frames
by successive approximations. Every span is first assumed end fixed at each support.
Moment of inertia
The sum of the products formed by multiplying the mass for sometimes, the area of
each element of a figure by the square of its distance from a specified line.
Momentum
The product of the mass of a body and its velocity.
Necking
The contraction in area, accompanied by elongation, which occurs on a ductile test
piece failing in tension. This plastic deformation occurs with good mild steel.
Needle beam
A temporary member thrust under a building or a foundation for use in underpinning.
Newton
The force that will impart an acceleration of 1 meter per second to a mass of 1 kilogram.
Newton’s second law
The law that the acceleration of a particle is directly proportional to the resultant external
force acting on the particle and is inversely proportional to the mass of the particle. Also
known as second law of motion.
Newton’s third law
Civil Engineering Review
by: Engr. Earl John Villamora, RCE, REB
The law that, if two particles interact, the force exerted by the first particle on the second
particle (called the action force) is equal in magnitude and opposite in direction to the
force exerted by the second particle on the first particle (called the reaction force). Also
known as law of action and reaction, third law of motion.
One-way slab
A concrete slab in which the reinforcing steel runs perpendicular to the supporting
beams.
Overlay
A repair topping of asphalt or concrete placed on a worn roadway.
Pachimeter
An instrument for measuring the limit beyond which shear of a solid ceases to be
elastic.
Panel length
The distance between adjacent joints on a truss, measure along upper and lower chord.
Pascal
A unit of pressure equal to the pressure resulting from a force of 1 newton acting
uniformly over an area of 1 square meter symbolized Pa.
Pedestal
It is an upright compression member with a ratio of unsupported height to average least
lateral dimension not exceeding of 3.
Permafrost
Ground permanently frozen throughout the year.
Pile cap
A mass of reinforced concrete cast around the head of a group of piles ensure that they
act as a unit to support the imposed load.
Pile extractor
A pile hammer which strikes the pile upward so as to loosen its grip and remove it from
the ground.
Pile foundation
A substructure supported on piles.
Civil Engineering Review
by: Engr. Earl John Villamora, RCE, REB
Pitching
Lifting a runner or a pile and placing it in position for driving. In a small steel sheet pile
cofferdam, all the files are pitched before any are driven, ensuring that they fit.
Plane stress
A state of stress in which two of the principal stresses are always parallel to a given
plane and are constant in the normal direction.
Plastic flow
The deformation of a plastic material beyond the point of recovery, accompanied by
continuing deformation with no further increase in stress.
Plastic hinge
A point of maximum bending moment, which is assumed in plastic design to be stressed
up to the yield point of the steel.
Plastic modulus
A value used in the elastic design of steel structures, which is constant for each
particular shape of section and corresponds to the modulus of section and
correspondents to the modulus of section used in elastic design.
Plasticity
A soil is plastic if, like clay, when squeezed in the hand it does not break up. A concrete
is plastic if it never suffer segregation.
Plate girder
A riveted or welded steel girder having a deep vertical web plate with a pair of angles
along each edge to act as compression and tension flanges.
Point of inflection
A point of contra-flexure.
Poisson’s Ratio
The ratio of the unit deformation or strains in the transverse direction which is constant
for stresses within the proportional limit.
Polar moment of inertia
The polar moment of inertia of a plane section is its second moment of area about an
axis perpendicular to its plane. If the axis passes through the centroid, the polar
Civil Engineering Review
by: Engr. Earl John Villamora, RCE, REB
moment is equal to the sum of the other two moments of inertia about axes passing
through the centroid and in the plane but perpendicular to each other.
Ponding
Retention of water due solely to the deflection of flat roof framing.
Pontoon bridge
A fixed floating bridge supported by pontoons.
Post-tensioning
It is a method of pre stressing in which tendons are tensioned after concrete has
hardened.
Potential energy
The energy a body has because of its position.
Pre cast Concrete
It is a structure concrete element cast in other than its final position in the structure.
Pre stressed concrete
Is structural concrete in which internal stresses have been introduced have been
introduced to reduce potential tensile stresses in concrete resulting from loads.
Pre tensioning
It is a method of pre stressing in which tendons are tensioned before concrete is placed.
Prime cost contract
A cost-plus-fixed-fee contract.
Product of inertia
Relative to two rectangular axes, the sum of the products formed by multiplying the
mass (or sometimes, the area) of each elements of a fatigue by the product of the
coordinates corresponding to those axes.
Proportional limit
The greatest stress a material can sustain without departure from a linear proportionally
of stress and strain.
Puddle
Civil Engineering Review
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A mixture of clay sand and gravel or clay and moorum, in the proportion of 2:1 (or only
clay) well kneaded with water, which is placed in structures to form a compact mass to
reduce percolation of water.
Purlin
A horizontal roof beam, perpendicular to the trusses or rafters, supports the roofing
material or the common rafters.
Quarrying
The surface exploitation and removal of stone or mineral deposits from the earth’s crust.
Quick setting cement
A cement which sets more rapidly than ordinary or rapid-hardening Portland cement.
Raft foundation
A continuous footing that supports an entire structure, such as a floor.
Rafter
A roof-supporting member immediately beneath the roofing material.
Ready-mixed concrete
Concrete mixed by a mechanical method at a central mixing plant and distributed for
used to various jobs.
Reinforced concrete
It is a structural concrete reinforced with no less than the minimum amounts of pre
stressing tendons or non pre stressed reinforcement specified in this chapter.
Relaxation
A loss of a prestress in a tendon, caused by its own creep under stress. Since creep is
uncertain, manufacturing g of tendons may be asked to undertake the expense of
making 100 hour constant-strain tests of their tendons.
Resilience
The strain energy, stored in an elastic material per unit of volume. The modulus of
resilience is the greatest quantity of energy per unit volume which can be stored in a
material without permanent set.
Resistance factor
Civil Engineering Review
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Factors that accounts for unavoidable deviations of the nominal strength from the actual
strength and for the manner and consequences of failure.
Resultant of forces
A system of at most a single force and a single couple whose external effects on a rigid
body are identical with the effects of the several actual forces that act on that body.
Retaining wall
A wall designed to maintain differences in ground elevations by holding back a bank of
material.
Retarder
An admixture which slows up the setting rate of concrete, sometimes applied to
formwork so that when it is stripped the cement paste which has been in contract with it
can be removed by light brushing.
Revetment
Material, such as rock, concrete blocks, log cribbing, placed on the face of a river bank
to prevent or minimize erosion and to retain the earth.
Rigid frame
The structure in which the joints between the members are rigid so that stresses in one
member induce stresses in the other member.
Rigid-body dynamics
The study of the motions of a rigid body under the influence of forces and torques.
Rigidity
The resistance of a material to shearing and twisting.
Riveting
The permanent joining of two or more machine parts or structural members, usually
plates, by means of rivets.
Rocker
A support at the end of a truss or girder which permits rotations and horizontal
movement to allow for expansion and contraction.
Rock-fill dam
A dam constructed of loosely placed rock or stone.
Civil Engineering Review
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Rolling distance
Friction between rails and wheels. On level track it is the bulk of the resistance. For old
colliery tubs it may reach 50 kg/ton but for modern mine cars on good track it may drop
to 2 kg/ton.
Roof truss
A truss used in roof construction, it carries the weight of roof deck and framing and of
wind loads on the upper chord; an example is a Fink truss.
Rossi-Forel scale
This scale for the intensities of earthquakes, evolved by Rossi and Forel, grades
earthquake from 1 (very slight) to 10 (catastrophic). In a grade 8 earthquake, large
cracks appear even in ordinary houses and they may be damaged beyond repair.
Rubble concrete
Masonry consisting or large stones set in joints of 15 cm. of concrete and faced with
ashlar. Used in massive work such us dams.
Rupture strength
Strength limited by breaking or tearing of members or connecting elements.
Safety factor
Factor that accounts for deviations of the actual strength from the nominal strength,
deviations of the actual load from the nominal load, uncertainties in the analysis that
transforms the load into a load effect, and for the manner and consequences of failure.
Saint Vernant’s principale
The principle that the strains that result from application, to a small part of a body’s
surface, of a system of forces that are statically equivalent to zero force and zero torque
become negligible at distances which are large compared with the dimensions of the
part.
Scaffolding
A temporary platform for any construction purpose, including false work. Tubular
scaffolding with screwed coupler is very adoptable, bur prefabricated scaffolding is
quicker to erect even by unskilled people.
Secant modulus of elasticity
For materials like concrete or pre stressing wire which have a variable modulus of
elasticity (E), the value of E used must be either the slope of the tangent to the stress-
Civil Engineering Review
by: Engr. Earl John Villamora, RCE, REB
strain curve (as for elastic materials with a straight-line curve like mild steel up to the
yield point) or that of the secant.
Secondary beam
A beam carried by another beams, not carried by columns or walls.
Secondary creep
The change in shape of a substance under a minimum and almost constant differential
stress, with the strain-time relationship a constant.
Section modulus
The ratio of the moment of inertia of the cross section of a beam undergoing flexure to
the greatest distance of an element of the beam from the neutral axis.
Seismic bracing
Reinforcement added to a structure to prevent collapse to deformation of building
elements as a result of earthquakes.
Seismic detector
An instrument that receives seismic impulses.
Seismic load
The force on a structure caused by acceleration induced on its mass by an earthquake.
Seismic response modification coefficient
Factor that reduces seismic load effects to strength level.
Seismic-force-resisting system
Is a portion of the structure designed to resist earthquake design forces required by the
legally adopted general building code using the applicable provisions and load
combinations.
Seismochronograph
A chronograph for determining the time at which an earthquake shock appears.
Seismogram
The record made by a seismograph.
Seismograph
Civil Engineering Review
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An instrument which measures the actual displacement of the ground with respect to
stationary reference point during earthquake.
Seismology
The study of earthquake.
Seismoscope
An instrument for recording only the occurrence or the time of occurrence (not the
magnitude) of an earthquake.
Service load combination
Load combination under which serviceability limit states are evaluated.
Setback
A withdrawal of the face of a building to a line or the rear of the wall below in order to
reduce obstruction of sunlight reaching the street or the lower stories of adjacent
buildings.
Shear buckling
Buckling mode in which a plate element, such as the web of a beam, deforms under
pure shear applied in the plane of the plate.
Shear center or center of stiffness
A point such that, when the plane of applied horizontal load passes through it, the
structure will deflect in the direction of the applied load without twisting. It may be inside
or outside the plan area of the structure.
Shear connector
Headed stud, channel, plate or other shape welded to a steel member and embedded in
concrete of a composite member to transmit shear forces at the interface between the
two materials.
Shear diagram
A diagram in which the shear at every point along a beam is plotted as an ordinate.
Shear failure
Also known as failure by rupture, failure in which movement caused by shearing
stresses in a soil mass is of sufficient magnitude to destroy or seriously endanger a
structure.
Shear fracture
Civil Engineering Review
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A fracture resulting from shear stress.
Shear modulus
Also known as modulus of rigidity and is ratio of shear stress and corresponding strain
in the elastic material.
Shear rupture
Limit state of rupture (fracture) due to shear.
Shear strength
The maximum shear stress which a material can withstand without rupture.
Shear wall
Wall that provides resistance to lateral loads in the plane of the wall and provides
stability for the structural system.
Shearing force
Two forces that are equal in magnitude, opposite in direction, and act along two distinct
parallel lines.
Shearing strain
The distortion that results from motion of material on opposite sides of a plane in
opposite directions parallel to the plane.
Shearing stress
A stress produced in an elastic body when the forces tend to cause the particles in one
section of a body to slide over those of the adjacent section.
Sheathing
Is a material encasing a pre stressing tendon to prevent bonding the tendon with the
surrounding concrete, to provide corrosion protection, and to contain the corrosion
inhibiting coating.
Sheet piling
Closely spaced piles of wood, steel, or concrete driven vertically in to the ground to
obstruct lateral movement of earth or water, and often to form an integral part of the
permanent structure.
Sheeting (sheathing)
Civil Engineering Review
by: Engr. Earl John Villamora, RCE, REB
Horizontal or vertical members of wood or steel placed in contract with earth, usually on
a vertical plane, for the purpose of retaining an earth bank in position.
Shoring
The method of temporarily supporting structures or sides of excavation by shores.
Short column
A rectangular section, the effective length of which does not exceed 12 times the least
lateral dimension.
Shrinkage crack
Cracks in a structure due to the normal shrinkage which may be expected of concrete.
Shrinkage loss
The loss of stress in the pre stressing steel resulting from the shrinkage of the concrete.
Silo
A large vertical, cylindrical structure made of reinforced concrete, steel, or timber and
used for storing grain, cement or other materials.
Slenderness ratio
The ratio of the length of a column L to the radius of gyration about the principal axis of
rotation.
Slender beam
A beam which would tend if overloaded to fail by buckling in the compression flange.
For concrete it applies to beams which are longer than 20 times their width. The
compressive stress in such a beam must be reduced in proportion to its slenderness
ratio.
Slender column
A column of rectangular section, the effective length of which exceeds 12 times the
least lateral dimensions.
Slot weld
Weld made in an elongated hole fusing an element to another element.
Slump test
Civil Engineering Review
by: Engr. Earl John Villamora, RCE, REB
Determining the consistency of concrete by filling a conical mold with a sample of
concrete, then inverting it over a flat plate and removing the mold, the amount by which
the concrete drops below the mold height is measured and this represents the slump.
Slurry
Any fluid mixture of fine solids and water, particularly one which contains cement or
bentonite.
Soldier beam
A structural steel section driven vertically into the ground to support a horizontallysheeted earth bank.
Solum
The ground below the lowest floor of a building.
Sonograph
An instrument for recording sound or seismic vibrations.
Space frame
A three-dimensional steel building frame which is stable against wind loads.
Spandrel
The part of a wall between the sill of a window and the head of the window below it.
Specified minimum tensile strength
Lower limit of tensile strength specified for a material as defined by ASTM.
Specified minimum yield stress
Lower limit of yield stress specified for a material as defined by ASTM.
Spiral reinforcement
Is continuously wound reinforcement in the form of a cylindrical helix.
Splice
Connection between two structural elements joined at their ends to form a single, longer
element.
Splitting Tensile Strength
It is the tensile strength of concrete determined in accordance with ASTM C 496 as
described in “Specification of Lightweight Aggregate for Structural Concrete”.
Civil Engineering Review
by: Engr. Earl John Villamora, RCE, REB
Spread footing
A wide shallow footing usually made of reinforced concrete.
Stability
The resistance of a structure to buckling, sliding, overturning, or collapsing. A structure
can be tested (on paper) for stability by verifying that it tends to return to its original
state after being disturbed.
Stalk
The vertical part of a reinforced-concrete retaining wall.
Stanchion
A structural steel member, usually larger than a strut, whose main function is to
withstand axial compressive stresses.
Static friction
The force required to move one of the bodies when they are at rest.
Static moment
A scalar quantity (such as area or mass) multiplied by the perpendicular distance from a
point connected with the quantity (such as the centroid of the area of the center of
mass) to a reference axis.
Statics
The branch of mechanics which treats of force and force systems abstracted from
matter and of forces which act on bodies in equilibrium.
Stepped footing
A widening at the bottom of a wall consisting of a series of steps in the proportion of one
horizontal to two vertical units.
Stiffened element
Flat compression element with adjoining out-of-plane elements along both edges
parallel to the direction of loading.
Stiffener
Structural element, usually an angle or plate, attached to a member to distribute load,
transfer shear or prevent buckling.
Stiffness
Civil Engineering Review
by: Engr. Earl John Villamora, RCE, REB
The ratio of a steady force acting on a deformable elastic medium to the resulting
displacement.
Stiffness coefficient
The ratio of the force acting on a linear mechanical system, such as spring to its
displacement from equilibrium.
Stirrup
Is reinforcement used to resist shear and torsion stresses in a structural member;
typically bars, wires, or welded wire fabric (plain or deformed) bend into L, U or
rectangular shapes and located perpendicular to or at an angle longitudinal
reinforcement.
Strain
Is the extension per unit length of the material stressed. A change in the length of
something because of a force acting on it.
Strain energy
The potential energy stored in a body by virtue of an elastic deformation, equal to the
work that must be done to produce this deformation.
Strength, Design
Is the nominal strength multiplied by a strength-reduction factor.
Strength, Nominal
It is the strength of a member or cross section calculated in accordance with provisions
and assumptions of the strength designed method of this chapter before application of
any strength-reduction factors.
Strength intensity
Stress at a point in a structure due to treasure resulting from combined tension
(positive) stresses and compression (negative) stresses.
Stress ratio
The ratio of minimum to maximum stress in fatigue testing, considering tensile stresses
as positive and compressive stresses as negative.
Stringer
A long horizontal member used to support a floor or to connect uprights in a frame.
Structural analysis
Civil Engineering Review
by: Engr. Earl John Villamora, RCE, REB
The determination of stresses and strains in a given structure.
Structural component
Member, connector, connecting element, or assemblage.
Structural Concrete
It is all concrete used for structural purposes, including plain and reinforced concrete.
Structural engineering
A branch of civil engineering dealing with the design of structures such as buildings
dams and bridges.
Structural frame
The entire set of members of a building or structure required to transmit loads to the
ground.
Struts
Compression member for carrying the reactions from one side to the other side of the
excavation.
Subcontract
A contract made with a third party by one who has contracted to perform work or service
for a while or part performance of that work or service.
Subgrade
The soil or rock leveled off to support the foundation of a structure.
Super structure
The part of the structure that is raised on the foundation.
Suspension bridge
A fixed bridge consisting of either a roadway or a truss suspended from two cables
which pass over two towers and are anchored by backstays to a firm foundation.
Sway brace
One of a pair of diagonal members designed to resist horizontal forces such as wind.
System equilibrium
A system is said to be in equilibrium when its components are in stable equilibrium
under static loading.
Civil Engineering Review
by: Engr. Earl John Villamora, RCE, REB
Tectonics
The science and art of construction with regard to use and design.
Teflon
A very hard but resilient material used in place of asbestos, very etc.
Tendon
A steel element such as wire, cable, bar, rod or strand, used to impart pre stress to
concrete when the element is tensioned.
Tensile modulus
The tangent or secant modulus of elasticity of a material in tension.
Tensile rupture
Limit state of rupture (fracture) due to tension.
Tensile strength
Is the property possessed by a material which enables it to withstand a force acting
upon it with a tendency to break it by tearing.
Tensile yielding
Yielding that occurs due to tension.
Tensiometry
A discipline concerned with the measurement of tension or tensile strength.
Tension-Controlled Section
It is a cross section in which the net tensile strain in the extreme tension steel at
nominal strength is greater than or equal to 0.005.
Tensometer
A portable machine that is used to measure the tensile strength and other mechanical
properties of materials.
Test pile
A pile equipped with a platform on which a load of sand or big iron is placed in order to
determine the load a pile can support without setting.
Tie
Civil Engineering Review
by: Engr. Earl John Villamora, RCE, REB
Is a loop of reinforcing bar or wire enclosing longitudinal reinforcement. A continuously
wound bar or wire in the form of a circle, rectangle or other polygon shape without reentrant corners is acceptable.
Tie rod
A structure member used as a brace to take tensile loads.
Tied concrete column
A concrete column reinforced with longitudinal bars and horizontal ties.
Toe of fillet
Junction of a fillet weld face and base metal. Tangent point of a rolled section fillet.
Torquemeter
An instrument to measure torque.
Torsion
Strength of material under twisting moments of components.
Torsional buckling
Buckling made in which a compression member twists about its shear center axis.
Torsional modulus
The ratio of the torsional rigidity of a bar to its length. Also known as modulus of torsion.
Torsional rigidity
The ratio of the torque applied about the centroidal axis of a bar at one end of the bar to
the resulting torsional angle, when the other end is held fixed.
Torsional yielding
Yielding that occurs due to torsion.
Toughness
Is the property of a material which enables it to withstand bending or torsion without
fracture.
Transfer
Is the act of transferring stress in pre stressing tendons from the jacks or pre tensioning
bed to concrete member.
Transom
Civil Engineering Review
by: Engr. Earl John Villamora, RCE, REB
A window above a door.
Transverse reinforcement
Steel reinforcement in the form of closed ties or welded wire fabric providing
confinement for the concrete surrounding the steel shape core in an encased concrete
composite column.
Tremie
An apparatus for placing concrete underwater, consisting of a large metal tube with a
hopper at the top end and a valve arrangement at the bottom.
Trestle
A series of short bridge spans supported by a braced tower.
Tribometer
A device for measuring coefficient of friction, consisting of a loaded sled subject to a
measurable force.
Truss
A frame, generally of steel, timber, concrete or a light alloy, built from members in
tension and compression.
Truss bridge
A fixed bridge consisting of members vertically arranged in a triangular pattern.
Trussed beam
A beam stiffened by a steal tie rod to reduce its deflection.
Turnbuckle
A sleeve with a thread at one end a swivel at the other or with threads of opposite hand
at each end so that by turning the sleeve connected rods or wire rope will be drawn
together and tightened.
Two-way slab
A concrete slab supported by beams along all four edges and reinforced with steel bars
arranged perpendicularly.
Ultimate bearing capacity
The average load per unit of area required to produce failure by rupture of a supporting
soil mass.
Civil Engineering Review
by: Engr. Earl John Villamora, RCE, REB
Ultimate load capacity
The maximum load which a pile can carry before failure of ground when the sol fails by
shear or failure of pile materials.
Ultimate strength
The tensile stress per unit of the original surface area, at which a body will fracture, or
continue to deform under a decreasing load.
Ultimate stress
Final, last: Ultimate stress means the stress at which failure occurs.
Ultimate tensile stress
The maximum load that a specimen of the material can sustain under tension divided by
the original cross sectional area of the specimen.
Unbonded tendon
Is tendon in which the pre stressing steel is prevented from bonding to the concrete and
is free to move relative to the concrete.
Unbraced length
Distance between braced points of a member, measured between the centers of gravity
of the bracing members.
Underpin
To strengthen the foundation of something: The wall leaning; it will have to be
underpinned.
Under-pinning
The process of supporting the existing structure for renewing or repairing the lower
walls or foundations. The adding of new permanent support to existing foundations, to
provide either additional capacity or additional depths.
Unstiffened element
Flat compression element with an adjoining out-of-plane element along one edge
parallel to the direction of loading.
Vacuum concrete
Concrete poured into a framework that is fitted with a vacuum mat to remove water not
required for setting of the cement, in this framework, concrete attains its 28-day strength
in 10 days and has a 25% higher crushing strength.
Civil Engineering Review
by: Engr. Earl John Villamora, RCE, REB
Verandah
A covered area with at least one side open to outside with the exception of 1 m. high
parapet on the upper floors to be provided on the open side.
Vicat needle
An apparatus used to determine the setting time of cement by measuring the pressure
of a special needle against the cement surface.
Wale
Beam either horizontal or vertical, put in contact with sheeting or other beams to hold
them in place.
Warren truss
A truss having only sloping members between the top and bottom horizontal members.
Water cement ratio
Ratio of water to cement in a concrete mix or cement mortar.
Web
In a member subjected to flexure, the portion of the section that is joined to two flanges,
or that is joined to only one flange provided it crosses the neutral axis.
Web buckling
Limit state of lateral instability of a web.
Web compression buckling
Limit state of out-of-plane compression buckling of the web due to a concentrated
compression force.
Web crippling
Local failure of web plate in the immediate vicinity of a concentrated load or reaction.
Web sidesway buckling
Limit state of lateral buckling of the tension flange opposite the location of a
concentrated compression force.
Weep holes
Openings left in retaining walls, aprons, linings, foundations, etc., to permit drainage
and reduce pressures.
Civil Engineering Review
by: Engr. Earl John Villamora, RCE, REB
Well point
Perforated pipe sunk into sand to permit the pumping of ground water and the exclusion
of sand.
Well point system
A system of well points laid in an excavation area both in plan and at different elevations
with a view to facilitating pumping of sumps or local depressions of water for laying
foundations of structures.
Wobble Friction
In pre stressed concrete, is friction caused by unintended deviation of pre stressing
sheath or duct from its specified profile.
Yield (of concrete)
The factor obtained by dividing the volume of the mixed concrete as laid and measured
in situ by the volume of the coarse aggregate used. Sometimes expressed as the
volume of concrete per unit quantity of binder.
Yield moment
In a member subjected to bending, the moment at which the extreme outer fiber first
attains the yield stress.
Yield point
The lowest stress at which strain increases without increase in stress.
Yield strength
Is the specified minimum yield strength or yield point of reinforcement in MPa.
Yield stress
The lowest stress at which extension of the tensile test piece increases without increase
in load.
Yieldin
Limit state of inelastic deformation that occurs when the yield stress is reached.
Yielding (plastic moment)
Yielding throughout the cross section of a member as the bending moment reaches the
plastic moment.
Yielding (yield moment)
Civil Engineering Review
by: Engr. Earl John Villamora, RCE, REB
Yielding at the extreme fiber on the cross section of a member which the bending
moment reaches the yield moment.
Young’s modulus
The ratio of a simple tension stress applied to a material to the resulting strain parallel to
the tension. Also known as modulus of elasticity.
Civil Engineering Review
by: Engr. Earl John Villamora, RCE, REB