Challenges of Car Pack Design in Nigeria

Problems of parking space in urban towns and in all places of large congregation is becoming a common issue around the world. Over the years engineers and architects have come up with a lot of solutions finding a way to create more parking spaces within minimum size of land by the design and construction of multi-storey car parks. This is line with the trend in modern cities all over the world of developing high-rise buildings as to overcome the challenges of urban over population, for optimal use of scarce land resources, as status symbol, etc. Standing on the advances made so far and the frequent problematics verified on existing multi-storey car parks, this research presents the design of a multi-storey car park for the mitigation of traffic challenges in public areas using Canaan land, Ota Nigeria as a case study. Canaan land, the seat of Faith Tabernacle in Ota, Ogun State of Nigeria is used as a case study because of the amount of vehicles that compete for parking space on Sundays or on other days of events. The research consist of the creation of the architectural drawings of the multi-storey car park with AutoCAD drafting and the modelling, structural analysis and design using the software Orion R16. The structural analysis and design were challenging but good results were obtained, approach for more innovative multi-storey car park identified

Compressive Strength Development for Cement, Lime and Termite-hill Stabilised Lateritic Bricks

This study evaluated the compressive strength of lateritic bricks stabilised with cement, lime and termite-hill, moulded with CINVA-Ram. The engineering characteristics and classification of the lateritic soil sample were determined, also the characteristic compressive strength of stabilised bricks as well as the unstabilised bricks were investigated after 7, 14 and 28 days of curing. The total number of bricks moulded was ninety and they were 290 mm x 140 mm x 90 mm in size. Each of the three stabilisers were added in varying proportions of 8%, 10% and 12% by weight of the lateritic soil for producing the bricks. Compressive strength test conducted after 28 days curing revealed that the cement stabilised bricks developed a rapid increase in strength than the lime stabilised and termite-hill stablised bricks. In all, the compressive strength increased with increasing proportion of the stabilisers. However, the unstabilised bricks developed strength which was more than the 10% termite-hill stabilised bricks after 28 days. It was deduced that cement stabilization is adequate where early strength is targeted on the field

Strength Characteristics of Concrete Beams Reinforced with Steel Bars of Equivalent Area but Different Diameters

Contractors occasionally substitute reinforcement bars during construction works, perhaps as a result of unavailability of the design-specified bars. As a result, this study have explored the basis, extent and the conditions for the mutual substitution of reinforcing bar groups of equivalent area but different bar diameters in reinforced concrete beams. A total of (20) concrete beams including the control beams were cast. These comprise (2) each of 100 mm×100 mm×500 mm and 150 mm×150 mm×750 mm beams as plain concrete (control beams) and (2) each of 100 mm×100 mm×500 mm and 150 mm×150 mm×750 mm beams were reinforced in turn with 20 mm, 16 mm, 12 mm and 10 mm bar diameters. The beams were subjected to centre-point loading using bending testing machine, in accordance with BS 1881-118 and with the load and compressive strain recorded to the point of failure. The results of the test beams showed that the greatest difference in the area of reinforcement between beams reinforced with 9Y12 bars (bar area = 1020 mm2) and 3Y20 bars (bar area = 943 mm2) is 7.5%. The results also showed that given the same area of steel in a cross section, the section with the greater number of bars has higher bending strength. It was also deduced that an increase in the area of reinforcement would cause a disproportionate increase in the strength of the beam

Influence of Steel and Bamboo Fibres on Mechanical Properties of High Strength Concrete

This paper evaluated the influence of steel and bamboo fibres on high strength concrete. Samples of concrete cubes, beams and cylinders cast with varying proportions of steel and bamboo fibres were subjected to compression, flexural and splitting tensile strength tests respectively. A total of sixty three cubes of 100mm x 100mm x 100mm, fourteen beams of 100mm x 100mm x 500mm, and cylinders of diameter 100 mm and length of 150 mm were tested. The results revealed that concrete containing 1.0% bamboo fibre produced the greatest effect on flexural strength (81% increase in strength), and also on splitting tensile strength (101% increase). However, it was discovered that bamboo fibre has little or no impact on the compressive strength of high strength concrete. Steel fibre-reinforced concrete generally produced an appreciable increase in compressive, flexural and splitting tensile strengths than the bamboo fibre-reinforced concrete

Simulated Combined Earthquake and Dead Load Lateral Resistance Building Systems using Nigeria Seismic Data

This study investigated the effects of combined earthquake and dead load on a simulated lateral load resistance building systems. An eight-floor level steel building was modelled in SAP2000, and analysed using seismic information obtained from an earthquake which occurred at Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria. The study was based on a selected magnitude of earthquake by considering the highest magnitude ever experienced in Nigeria which was within 4 – 4.9 (light earthquake category).The building was analysed under bracing and shear wall systems, and it was checked for a maximum deflection and inter-storey drift not exceeding 500 mm and 2% respectively. From the analysis conducted, it was inferred that eccentric bracings are better than concentric bracings in dissipating energy under seismic conditions, short link eccentric bracings provide more stiffness than long link eccentric bracings hence in order to quickly achieve the requirements of a maximum deflection of 500 mm or below and a maximum inter-storey drift of two per cent or below, short links bracings were used which require lesser number of elements compared to long link bracing thus leading to a more economical solution

Significance of Concrete Cover to Reinforcement in Structural Element at Varying Temperatures

This paper evaluated the significance of concrete cover for reinforcement in structural elements at varying temperatures. Sixty samples of 320 mm x 150 mm x 100 mm concrete beams reinforced with 10 mm main bars and 6 mm nominal reinforcement were cast in the laboratory in four batches. Each batch contains fifteen samples with concrete cover for reinforcement varied at 10 mm, 15 mm, 20 mm and 25 mm respectively. After 28 days of curing, the beam samples were subjected to simulated fire in the laboratory furnace at temperatures ranging from 50 oC (122 ºF) – 700 oC (1292 ºF) in steps of 50 oC. Thereafter, the samples were allowed to cool to room temperature. Subsequently, samples of reinforcement were removed from the beam samples and tested with the universal material testing machine. Results of tensile tests on reinforcements showed that ultimate tensile strength of steel decreased with increasing temperatures. The greatest loss in strengths of steel reinforcements was recorded for beams with 10 mm concrete cov-er, which reduced from a value of 592.0 N/mm2 at room temperature to 224.50 N/mm2 at a terminal temperature of 700oC (1292 ºF), which represented a 62% reduction in strength

Use of Advanced Plastic Materials in Nigeria: Performance Assessment of Expanded Polystyrene Building Technology System

The provision of affordable residential houses for the masses in the developing nations has been a mirage over the years and the future does not portend good as the cost of adopting conventional concrete material technologies is escalating while so many environmental issues like climate change are being raised in the recent times.To circumvent this poor housing provision trend, some innovative construction materials and technologies are being introduced to facilitate unique modular designs, reduction of labour, decline in the depletion of exhaustible materials,savings of time and fund. One of such materials is the expanded polystyrene. The introduction of advanced plastic materials and in particular the expanded polystyrene building technologies in the Nigerian constructionindustry will be a very useful and brilliant initiative that will aid the reduction of cost of construction and facilitate access to affordable houses for the masses.This researchaims at studying the applications of this innovative plastic material in the Nigerian building industry with special regard to the performance perception by the clients and the end users. A building estate where expanded polystyrene building technology has been predominantly used in Abuja is considered as a case study. Questionnaires were distributed among clients and residents of the building estate and statistical tools were used to analyse the data collected. Great satisfaction verified among the clients and residents and the high ranking performance confirmed for recyclability, reliability, versatility and moisture resistance of EPS building products all herald a great future for the applications of this advanced building products in the Nigerian building industry

Characterization of ceramic waste aggregate concrete

There is a growing interest in using waste materials such as ceramics as alternative aggregate materials for construction. While other ceramic product wastes such as sanitary wares and electrical insulators have been extensively investigated, not much findings are available on ceramic wall and floor tiles wastes. Thus, the current study focuses on the mechanical characterization of waste ceramic wall and floor tiles aggregate concrete. Ceramic wastes sourced from construction and demolition wastes were separated from other debris and crushed using a quarry metal hammer. Ceramic tiles were sieved into fine and coarse aggregates in line with standards. Other materials used were gravel, river sand, cement and potable water. Workability of the fresh concrete was checked through slump test, and concrete cubes of 150 mm dimensions and cylinders of 100 mm � 200 mm were cast in the laboratory. After 24 h of casting, the concrete samples were demolded and were cured by immersion in water tank at temperature of 22 �C. The compressive and split-tensile strengths of the hardened concrete samples were determined after curing them for 3, 7, 14 and 28 days. Results showed that both the compressive strength and split tensile strength increased appreciably with the curing age than the conventional concrete

Challenges of Car Pack Design in Nigeria

Problems of parking space in urban towns and in all places of large congregation is becoming a common issue around the world. Over the years engineers and architects have come up with a lot of solutions finding a way to create more parking spaces within minimum size of land by the design and construction of multi-storey car parks. This is line with the trend in modern cities all over the world of developing high-rise buildings as to overcome the challenges of urban over population, for optimal use of scarce land resources, as status symbol, etc. Standing on the advances made so far and the frequent problematics verified on existing multi-storey car parks, this research presents the design of a multi-storey car park for the mitigation of traffic challenges in public areas using Canaan land, Ota Nigeria as a case study. Canaan land, the seat of Faith Tabernacle in Ota, Ogun State of Nigeria is used as a case study because of the amount of vehicles that compete for parking space on Sundays or on other days of events. The research consist of the creation of the architectural drawings of the multi-storey car park with AutoCAD drafting and the modelling, structural analysis and design using the software Orion R16. The structural analysis and design were challenging but good results were obtained, approach for more innovative multi-storey car park identifie

Structural Evaluation of Lightweight Concrete Produced Using Waste Newspaper and Office Paper

The construction industry consumes a large amount of non-renewable resources. On the other hand, more waste paper ends up in landfill or dump sites than those recycled. Consequently, recycling waste paper for use as a construction material constitutes a step towards sustainable development. This research effort aims at determining the density, water absorption capacity, compressive strength and fire resistance of papercrete produced using waste newspaper and office paper in order to ascertain their suitability for use as a building construction material. For each of the mix proportions considered, the bulk density, water absorption, compressive strength and fire resistance of papercrete made with newspaper were found to be higher than those made with office paper. The water absorption and fire resistance of papercrete were found to be high and increased with increasing waste paper content while the bulk density and compressive strength of papercrete were low and decreased with increasing waste paper content. Papercrete was recommended to be an effective and sustainable material for the production of lightweight and fire-resistant hollow or solid blocks to be used to make partition walls of especially high-rise buildings. Mix proportions were recommended for production of hollow and solid blocks using papercrete