Author: Mezie Ethelbert

Reading Time: 3 minutes When choosing the depth of footing for a given structure, the following points should be taken into strict consideration. Depth of Top Soil The footing should be located below top soil that consists of organic matters which decays.  In most cases, it is more ideal to remove all top soil before commencing the digging of foundation such that the top of the soil after removal of the organic top soil becomes the reference to the foundation depth. Depth of Frost Heave The footing should be placed at appreciable depth below frost depth which may be 1 m or more in…

Reading Time: 2 minutes Seasoning of timber refers to the processes used in reducing the moisture content of the timber as near as practicable to the mean value of the moisture content it is expected to attain in service. Thus, the reason for seasoning of timber is due to the effect of moisture on timber and these effects include: Strength Below fibre saturation point (moisture content of about 27 – 30%), all strength properties of timber except toughness increase with a decrease in moisture content. There is no noticeable effect for moisture changes above fibre saturation point. Moisture Exchange with the Atmosphere Wood is…

Reading Time: 2 minutes This article provides minimum facilities required in public buildings as sanitary facilities. General Instructions (1) There should be separate facilities for men and women. (2) Washbasins should be provided in equal numbers to WCs with one for every five urinals. (3) In most public buildings, a minimum of 2 WCs should be provided so that one may act as a reserve if the other is not functional. (4) Where there is only space for one toilet in a building, it should be a wheelchair-accessible unisex toilet, wide enough to accommodate a standing-height wash basin. Otherwise, at least one wheelchair-accessible WC…

Reading Time: 3 minutes When cracking occurs in reinforced concrete structures, clients became skeptical about the competence of Engineers, they imagine that something very serious is happening. Is this the case? According to CIRIA C660, cracking in reinforced concrete is not a defect. This view was drawn from the stipulation of Clause 7.3.1 of EN 1992-1-1 which states that cracking is normal in reinforced concrete structures subject to bending, shear, torsion, and tension resulting from direct loading or restraint to imposed deformations. Generally, the basis of reinforced concrete design is to control cracks in concrete. The reason is that concrete has low tensile strength.…

Reading Time: 4 minutes Two common problems soils encountered in construction work in Nigeria are collapsible soils and expansive soils. These soils are called problem soils because they have properties that cannot be safely and economically used for the construction of civil engineering structures without adopting some stabilization measures. With regard to major zones of Nigeria, the common problem soils in Nigeria are structurally unstable residual lateritic soils, black cotton soils (BCS) of north-eastern Nigeria, soft clay shale (attapulgite) of north-western Nigeria, peaty clays/organic clays/soils of Lagos, and clayey peat of Niger Delta region of Nigeria (Bolariwa and Ola, 2015). These soils are unique…

Reading Time: 2 minutes Preface This note is presented as a concise material for pile foundation design. There are lots of textbooks, materials, and videos available on pile foundation design. However, oftentimes, new designers are usually faced with the challenge of following the logical process of design due to the need to make references to numerous materials and different chapters of books. Even old designers often have this challenge too. This is usually a tedious process. The author intends to reduce this stress by presenting most of these requirements (according to the Eurocodes) in one logical order in this note. Attached also is a…

Reading Time: 3 minutes COREN Interviews use to have a duration of 20 to 30 minutes General Instructions on Appearance and Answering Questions Ensure you dress well. If you wear a corporate dress, ensure you put on a tie. If you wear agbada or traditional, ensure you put on a cap. Be bold and confident in answering questions even if you are not sure of the answer. Don’t be quick to respond to questions. Ensure you understand the question you’re being asked and use the right engineering terms when answering. General Instructions on likely Areas of Concentration for Questions (drawn from the COREN website)…

Reading Time: 2 minutes At the completion of the structural design of structural members of civil engineering structures, regardless of the area of reinforcement gotten, a certain minimum and maximum areas of reinforcement apply to ensure an economical, safe and robust structure. In addition to the minimum/maximum areas of reinforcement, there are also certain limitations applicable to the spacing of reinforcement where expedient. These can be found in the pages below congruent with the current Eurocode 2 (EC 2). Further Reading Bond, A.J., Brooker, O., Harris, A.J., Harrison, T., Moss, R.M., Narayanan, R.S., Webster, R. (2006). How to design concrete structures using Eurocode 2…