THE EFFECT OF REINFORCED CONCRETE ON SAFETY OF RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS IN NIGERIA

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Residential Building:  This is defined as the building which sleeping accommodation is provided for normal residential purposes. It is provided with or without cooking or dining or both facilities. Residential building includes one or two story or multi-family dwelling, lodging or rooming houses, dormitories, and apartment houses.

The residential building can be owned by an individual or co-operative association. Each resident or resident household has membership in the co-operative association. In non-equality co-operative members have occupancy right to a specific suite within the housing co-operative as outlined in their “occupancy agreement” or “proprietary lease” which is essentially a lease. In ownership co-operatives occupancy rights are transferred to the purchaser by way of the title transfer.

The major function of the residential building is for the accommodation, both for private and the public users.

Due to th aforementioned reasons, there is need for well construction of the residential structure, with the materials that will be capable of resisting both direct and indirect forces and the weathering effects, not just for a moment but for the long lasting time, hence the use of concrete is being adapted.

Concrete can be defined as a hard, strong construction materials consisting of sand, conglomerate gravel, pebbles, broken stones, or slag in a motor or cement mixture. It is also known as the mass formed by the coalescence or particles.

Concrete could also be defined as the mixture of gravel, pebbles or broken stone with cement or with tar, etc, used for sidewalks, roadways, foundations, etc and especially for submarine structure.

Some many issues has lead to the construction of different types of building like bungalow and high rise building in order to save money.

According to an economist that says human wants is unlimited and that there are limited resources with which wants can be satisfied. And this has lead to the absolute maximization and utilization of the said available resources to man which include fixed and liquid assets. This is one of the reasons why the conservation of land to safe place was adapted, which led to the construction of high rise building in town and mostly in well developed countries, for the fact that human being resides in, and other valuables are kept in these buildings; safely of the structure under all forces that may be applied must be guaranteed.

Recently, reinforced concrete has proven to be the cheapest retail that can effectively resist these forces like (wind force, direct force and indirect force) and other force that may be applied within the building, which can be found into various shape.

The need for the forces stability of this structure under these factors has brought a challenge to the engineer; hence the reinforced concrete design is concern.

AIM AND OBJECTIVE

The reinforced concrete uses extra materials like steel bars, wooden beams or fibers, along with a wire frame to help mold the concrete and ensure the safe construction under the worst condition of the force that may be applied within and outside the building.

The reinforcement interacts with the concrete, strengthening it and providing support houses and other structures. The concrete provide shielding for the steel so it doesn’t corrode as quickly and together they are a common component in the modern construction.

Therefore, this project is aimed in ensuring the safety of life and property based on the use of limit state design code (BS 8110) in understanding the problem that is involved in design and resolving same appropriately. It also aimed in knowing the members of the structure and its weight and the steps taken in achieving the internal and external forces and proper way of applying the reinforcement for the proper structural stability.

Its objective includes knowing that concrete tends to be brittle, breaking easily under sudden stress and crumbling under the influence time and weather. This makes it difficult to use traditional concrete structures intended to hold a large amount of weight or last a long time. Reinforced concrete on the other hand can hold much more weight and does not wear as easily. Hence most structure built today use reinforced concrete.

Uses

The reinforced concrete is used in large scale construction such as bridges and skyscrapers. It was first created for building construction in the mid 1800s, and soon spread across both Europe and America. Most major building built by the beginning of the 1900s was created with reinforced concrete.

Consideration: Reinforced concrete   is subjected to the same principles as normal concrete, and the quality depends on the mixture of the cement and how well it is set. The extra material used will also cost more, especially if steel bars are used instead of wood or recycled fiber alternatives. However, the glass and fiber alternatives can present difficulties on their own by becoming weaker in a fire.

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