MULUNGUSHI UNVERSITY

SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY

NAME: NELSON MICHAEL TEMBO

SN: 201702126

COURSE: MASONRY AND TIMBER

ATTETION: EGN. MUKANGA KALOLO

TITTLE: MASONRY CONSTRUCTION

ASSIGNMENT: ONE

DUE: 19th APRIL, 2022

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Content
1. Executive summary
2. Introduction
3. Stone masonry
4. Brick masonry
5. Composite masonry
6. Cavity walls
7. Lintels and arches
8. Conclusion
9. Reference

Executive Summary
Masonry construction is a construction technique which involves the construction of building
units with mortar, bricks, stone and concrete blocks. . Different type of materials can be used in
masonry construction. These materials can range from, stones, bricks and blocks, tiles, marbles,
granites, concrete, veneer, gabion, and polymers. Masonry Construction can be classified based
on construction materials used. In this article we are going to look at five categories of masonry
construction, namely; stone masonry, brick masonry, cavity walls, composite masonry, and
lintels and arches.

INTRODUCTION
Masonry construction is a construction technique which involves the construction of building units
with mortar, bricks, stone and concrete blocks. Different type of materials can be used in masonry
construction. These materials can range from, stones, bricks and blocks, tiles, marbles, granites,
concrete, veneer, gabion, and polymers. Mortar is used as a binding material in masonry
construction. It is a mixture of binding material with sand. These material can be cement, lime,
and soil (mostly clay)

Stone masonry
Stoney masonry is a type of masonry construction technique that uses stones and mortar as its
primary building materials. This construction technique is used for building wall, foundations,
floors, retaining walls, and aches. Natural stones are used for masonry construction. These stones
are cut and dressed into proper shapes. The stone used should be hard, tough, durable, strong and
weather resistance. The common stones used for masonry construction are limestone, sandstone,
granite, marble and laterite. Mortar is the second material used in stone masonry. It is a mixture of
lime and sand or cement and sand.

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Stone masonry can be classified into two categories, namely, Rubble and Ashlar. Rubble masonry
is a type of stone masonry where stones employed are either undressed or roughly dressed. The
masonry construction do not have a uniform thickness. The strength of rubble masonry highly
depend on the quality of mortar used and workmanship employed. On the other hand, Ashlar
masonry is a type of stone masonry that uses dressed stones that have uniform and fine joints. Each
stone is cut into uniform size and shape to fit with width of the walls.

Photo: stone masonry (source: theconstructor.org)

Brick Masonry
Brick masonry is a type of masonry construction that involves the use of bricks and mortar as
building materials. Lime, cement or mud mortar can be used as a bonding material in brick
masonry. The type of bricks used burnt clay bricks. It is done by placing bricks in mortar in an
orderly way.

Photo: example of an arch (source: theconstructor.org)

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Composite Masonry
This is a type of masonry construction which uses two or more building materials. Composite
masonry can be a combination of stone masonry with brick masonry, brick masonry with cavity
walls or any other construction materials. Composite masonry construction gives an aesthetically
appearance of a structure. It also reduces the overall cost of construction and makes strong and
durable structures

Composite masonry can be classified into five categories based on the combination of the building
materials.
1. Stone slab facing with brick backing
2. Stone facing with brick backing
3. Brick facing and concrete backing
4. Ashlar facing and brick backing
5. Ashlar facing and rubble backing

Cavity walls
A cavity wall is a double wall consisting of two separate walls, called skins or leaves of masonry
separated by an air space and joined together by metal. The inner wall is called an internal leaf
while the outer wall is called an external leaf. The space or cavity should be between 4cm-10cm.
The wall does no need any footing at the bottom, a strong concrete base is provided on which the
cavity wall is constructed. Cavity wall give better thermal insulation and are economically to
construct.

Lintel and Arches

Lintels are horizontal member placed across the opening of the door or a window. According to
(Ishani Trivedi, 2021) a lintel can be defined as “a horizontal structure provided across the opening
of a building structure to support load of the walls above it and transfer the load vertically to the
supporting wall.” Lintels can be classified

 Based on material used

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 1. Timber lintels
2. Stone lintels
3. Brick lintels and reinforced brick lintels
4. RCC Lintels
5. Steel lintels

Photo: example of a lintel (source: theconstructor.org)

Arches

Arches are curved member placed across the opening of the door or a window. According to
(Ishani Trivedi, 2021) an arch can be defined as “a curved structure constructed of wedge shaped
bricks, blocks or stones joint together with mortar provided across the opening of a building
structure to support load of the walls above it.”

 Based on material and workmanship

1. Brick arches
2. Stone arches
3. Concrete arches
 Based on shape of curved formed
1. Flat arch
2. Sem-circular arch
3. Segment arch
4. Reliving arch

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 5. Dutch or French
 Based on number of centres
1. One centered
2. Two centered
3. Three centered
4. Four centered
5. Five centered

Photo: example of an arch (source: theconstructor.org)

Reference
1. Masonryconstruction,2017.theconstructor,15.April,2022
<https://theconstructor.org/building/stone-masonry-construction-materials-and-
classification/36306/>
2. Stonemasorny,2015.civilengineeringweb,15.April,2022<https://www.civilengineeringwe
b.com/2020/09/types-of-stone-masonry.html>
3. Stonemasorny,2021.cementconcrete.org.15.April,2022<
https://cementconcrete.org/buildings/building-materials/stone-masonry/1959/>
4. IshaniTrivedi(2021), masonry construction. Available at:<https://youtu.be/63uDG001khQ
(Accessed: 16 April 2022)