ARC161A/BT5

"Alternative building" refers to construction methods that differ from mainstream modern architecture. They often
use natural building materials, with a strong emphasis on sustainable design.

Cast-in-place concrete is transported in an unhardened state, primarily as ready-mix, and placed in forms. Ready
mixed concrete is proportioned and mixed off the project site.

USES AND APPLICATIONS

 Most foundations and slabs-on-ground

 Walls, beams, columns, floors, roofs
 Large portions of bridges, pavements, and other infrastructure.

Pre-Cast Concrete

The concept of precast (“prefabricated”) construction includes those buildings where most structural components
are standardized and produced in plants in a location away from the building, and then transported to the site for
assembly.

Flat slab is a reinforced concrete slab supported directly by concrete columns without the use of beams. Flat slab is
defined as one sided or two-sided support system with sheer load of the slab being concentrated on the supporting
columns and a square slab called ‘drop panels

The flat plate is a two-way reinforced concrete framing system utilizing a slab of uniform thickness, the simplest of
structural shapes. A flat plate is a one- or two-way system usually supported directly on columns or load bearing
walls.

Ribbed slabs are made up of wide band beams running between columns with narrow ribs spanning the orthogonal
direction. Normally the ribs and the beams are the same depth. A thin topping slab completes the system. Waffle
slabs tend to be deeper than the equivalent ribbed slab.

Waffle slabs have a thin topping slab and narrow ribs spanning in both directions between column heads and band
beams. The column heads or band beams are the same depth as the ribs.

Lift-Slab Construction is a precast method of construction of slab on the ground and then lifting it to the structure.
A type of pre-casting used in building construction involves casting floor and roof slabs at or near ground level and
lifting them to their final position, hence the name lift-slab construction.

WHAT IS A SPAN-STRESS FLOOR SYSTEM?

This method speeds up construction, and saves on expensive equipment, since it takes cranes out of the way. Span-
stress prestressed Concrete T-Joist Floor and roof system are more compact and lightweight.

WHAT IS A SLIPFORM METHOD?

Slipform is similar in nature and application to jump form, but the formwork is raised vertically in a continuous
process. It is a method of vertically extruding a reinforced concrete section and is suitable for construction of core
walls in high-rise structures – lift shafts, stair shafts, towers, etc.