COURSE INFORMATION
FACULTY OF ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGH
DEPARTMENT OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
LA 343
LANDSCAPE TECHNOLOGY - II
Spring
1429 - 1430
Dr. Hamdy Hamdan Abdel-Rahman
Associate Professor
February 2009
Instructor Information
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Name of the instructor: Dr. Hamdy Hamdan Abdel-Rahman
Office location: Room 421 CED Building
Office hours: Sat.& Tue. 13:00 – 15:00, Sun. & Mon. 12:00 - 13:00.
Contact numbers: Mobile: 0504650778
Office (and Fax): 6402000 ext. 66619
E-mail address: hamdyhar@kaau.edu.sa
Web page address: www.kau.edu.sa/hamdyhar
E-mail address for this course: latech343@gmail.com
Instructor’s profile:
o B.Sc. 1973 in Civil Eng. and M.Sc. 1978 in Structural Eng. from Assiut University,
Egypt.
o Ph.D. 1982 in Structural Eng., University of Wales, Swansea, U.K.
o 35 years of experience in teaching and research; 5 years in Egypt, 5 years in U.K. and 25
years in Saudi Arabia. The last 15 years at College of Environ. Design, KAU.
o Published (jointly) 13 refereed journal papers and 22 conference papers in the areas of
computer analysis and design of reinforced concrete structures and building materials.
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A welcome letter to the student:
Dear LA students, welcome to the second course of the Landscape Technology course
series. The first course of this series (LA242) dealt with construction materials, such as
metals, plastics, asphalt mixes, concrete, masonry and wood. In this course (LA343),
we are going to study wood structures. It is recommended that you read the chapter on
wood in LA242 notes to refresh your memory. This course deals with the technical
design and construction aspects of wood landscape structures such as wood decks. It
also deals with concrete or masonry walls such as free-standing and retaining walls.
The nature of this course is different from the previous one. This course will involve a
lot of calculations. For this reason you have to have a scientific calculator and keep it
with you in all lectures, tutorials and exams. The main part of the course which deals
with wood structures is accumulative. Each topic is dependent on the previous topics;
therefore try not to miss a lecture. If, for reasons beyond control, you miss a lecture
make sure you know what you missed before you come to the next lecture. You need to
attend all lectures, study well, solve class assignments and participate in discussions in
order to be able to do well in quizzes and exams and achieve good grade in the course. I
wish you all good luck.
Course Information
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Course name:
Landscape Technology II
Course number : LA 343
Course meeting times : Sun & Mon 18:00 - 19:40
Course meeting place : Studio LA 500, CED building
Course website address : Under Construction
Course prerequisites : LA 242
Course requirements : --Description of the course :
Investigating the methods of installation of hard materials in landscape construction with the
emphasis on structural concepts and the practical requirements of implementation. This will
involve the preparation of construction details, setting-out drawings and writing simple
specifications.
Course Objectives
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By the end of the term, students should be able to:
1. know the basic structural concepts in landscape construction,
2. design simple landscape wood structures and elements,
3. produce construction details drawings provided with simple specifications,
4. check the stability of free-standing and retaining walls and change dimensions if necessary.
5. know the components and design of fountain system and pool construction.
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Students are expected to demonstrate their learning through:
1. Solving class assignments.
2. Solving quizzes and Exams.
3. Participating in discussions and answering oral questions during lectures.
4. Students are encouraged to apply the knowledge they acquired during this course in their
studio projects.
Learning Resources
Course Notes:
Abdel-Rahman, Hamdy H. “Structural Design,” Course Notes LA 343, 2009 .
(Available at Fatima Bookshop, Al-Sulaimania St., Jeddah)
Additional References:
1. Landphair, H. and Klatt, F., Landscape Architecture Construction, 3rd Edition, New York,
Elsevier North Holland Inc., 1998.
2. Dines, N. and Harris, C., Time Saver Standards for Landscape Architecture, New York:
McGraw Hill, 1997.
3. Blanc, Alan. Landscape Construction and Detailing. New York: McGraw Hill, 1996
Course Requirements and Grading
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Grading Policy:
Class work
: 10 %,
Mid-term Exam: 25%,
Quizzes
: 10 %,
Final Exam : 35%.
Assignments: 10 %
Project
: 10%
Class work: assessment is based on keenness to attend all classes and be in time, participation
in discussions, ability to answer pop questions, ability and enthusiasm in solving class
assignments.
Quizzes: a number of quizzes at pre-announced times dealing with the material covered prior
to the quiz are held.
Mid-term exam: will include the material covered prior to the exam date. As an
encouragement, 5 bonus marks are available. This means that 55 marks will be available for
the student. He can achieve full mark of the exam if he gets 50 or more marks.
Final Exam: will cover most of the course material with concentration on the subjects covered
after mid-term exam. Again here 10 bonus marks are available to the student.
Assignments: Nearly one assignment every week will be required to be solved by the students.
These assignments will be first attempted at home, then worked in a tutorial class, finalized at
home and handed in before closing date.
Projects: Individuals and groups of students will be assigned certain tasks; for example,
collecting data, preparing power point presentation, ….etc.
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Expectations from students:
Students are expected to have responsible behavior and good manners as directed by Islamic
teachings and University regulations. The use of mobile phones as calculators is not allowed.
Students are advised to co-operate and share knowledge with their colleagues but severely
warned not to steal other people’s efforts either by copying assignment solutions or trying to
cheat in exams. Students are encouraged to ask their teacher at any point during lecture. The
teacher will answer their question at the right time either immediately or after covering a
certain point. Students are also encouraged to ask their teacher during tutorials and in his
office.
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Student responsibilities to the course:
Students are required to get the course notes, to attend the lectures and to give good attention
during lectures, ask the teacher if there is something they do not understand, study the lectures
at home and attempt the solution of class assignment before coming to the class. During
tutorials they are expected to ask their teacher to check their solutions and continue solving the
assignment. If there is any difficulty, they can ask their teacher. Sometimes the teacher forms
groups of students to discuss part of the assignment between them. In case of absence, the
student is required to find out, study and prepare all the materials or assignments that he
missed due to his absence. Students are advised to submit assignment solutions in time and
give enough attention to clarity and neatness of their solutions and presentations.
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Expectations for each assignment:
As explained above, students are expected to try to solve the class assignment before coming
to the class. During tutorials he can get his solutions checked out and carry on solving the rest
of assignment problems. Students are severely warned against copying solutions of other
students. Copies of all assignment solutions should be kept in a folder by the student. The
original should be submitted in time to be checked and evaluated by the teacher.
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Important rules of academic conduct:
1. The university academic regulations concerning student absence are applied.
2. Absence excuses should be issued from College student affairs section.
3. If the student misses a quiz due to absence; he will lose the grade of this quiz. No make-up
quizzes are given to absent students. In case of excused absence, the quiz is not counted in
the average quiz mark.
Detailed Course Schedule
Week
#
1
2
Date
Topic
Oct., 4th.,
2009
Registration
Oct., 5.
Introduction to the course
Oct., 19
I. Design of Wood Landscape Structures
1. Structural Design of Wood Deck Frames
1.1 Framing system
1.2 Design loads
1.3 Wood species
1.4 Design procedures
2. Design of Beams
2.1 Basic Principles of Statics:
2.1.1 Structural terms – definitions
2.1.2 Types of stress
2.1.3 Moment of a force
2.1.4 Bending Moment in beams
2.1.5 Structural classification of
beams
2.1.6 Maximum moments and
deflection of typical beams
2.1.7 Principle of Superposition
Tutorial
Oct., 26
2.1.8 Moment of Inertia (I) and
Section modulus (S)
Oct., 27
2.2 Structural Properties of Materials
2.2.1 Strength of materials
2.2.2 Stress-strain diagram
2.2.3 Beam failure
2.2.4 The flexure formula
Oct., 11
Oct., 12
Oct., 18
3
4
Nov., 1st
Nov., 2
Nov., 8
7
What is Due?
Buy Notes
Notes
Pages:
1-6
7 - 12
13 - 19
Assignment -1

19 - 21
Quiz (1)
Assignment -2
21 - 27
28 - 33
2.3 Design of Beams Based on Strength
5
6
Reading
Ass.
Quiz (2)
Assignment -3
Tutorial
2.4 Calculation of Beam Deflection
Nov., 9
Tutorial
Nov., 15
3. Design of Vertical Members (Columns)
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Buckling of wooden columns
3.3 Maximum axial loading for buckling
3.4 Maximum axial loading on column
33 - 39
40 - 45
24 - 30
Quiz (3)
Assignment -4
Quiz (4)
Assignment -5
Week
#
Date
Nov., 16
Topic
3.5 Design of column sections
3.6 Other column Sections
Tutorial
Reading
Ass.
What is Due?
46 - 48
Mid-term vacation, prepare for Mid-term Exam
Dec., 6
8
Dec., 7
9
Dec., 13
Dec., 20
5. Detailing of Wood Structures
Dec., 27
11
Dec., 28
Jan.,3 rd
2010
Jan., 4
Jan., 10
13
Jan., 11
Jan., 17
14
15
Jan., 18
Jan., 24
Jan., 25
February
1st , 2010
Quiz (5)
Assignment -6
Revision
Mid-term Exam.
Dec., 21
49 - 56
Tutorial
Dec., 14
10
12
4. Deck Frame Design Example
II. Masonry and Concrete Structures
1. Principles of reinforced concrete
design
2. Free-standing walls
Free-standing wall example
1 - 56
57 - 61
62 - 63
64 - 72
Assignment -7
Tutorial
3. Retaining walls
3.1 Types of retaining walls
3.2 Stability principles and
calculations
3.3 Retaining wall examples
73 - 82
Quiz (6)
Assignment -8
83-87
Quiz (7)
Tutorial
4. Detailing of Free-standing and Retaining
Walls
III. Fountain and Pool Design
1. Introduction
2. Equipment
3. Estimating Water Volumes over Weirs
4. Basic Hydraulics of Fountains
88 - 92
83 – 95
Assignment -9
95 - 96
Quiz (9)
Tutorial
5. Pool Construction and detailing
Revision
Final Exam.