Civil Engineering Today

  Identification of Timber The timber identification technique is the ability to identify one wood species from one another. 1. Identifying Wood Based on Solidity - Solidity is the characteristic of how solid the lumber is. Before we begin to identify the wood species, it is important to first confirm that it is actually solid wood or natural wood, and not manufactured by men. Here are some ways to do that : ·        The end-grain of man-made or manufactured lumber is easily distinguishable from the end-grain of natural lumber. ·        Real wood has growth rings clearly visible on freshly sawn surfaces. ·        Veneered wood usually has repeating grain patterns. ·        Check if it is plastic painted or printed to give a wood-like appearance. 2. Timber Identification Based on Color - Another quick and easy way of lumber identification is thr...

  Timber   Timber or Lumber is nothing but wood used for building and other engineering purposes. Timber, being a natural product available in abundance in India, is used for the construction of doors. windows, roofs, partitions, beams, posts, cupboards, shelves etc. Timber is a type of wood which has been processed into beams and planks. It is also known as “lumber” in US and Canada. Basically, timber or Lumber is a wood or firewood of growing trees. Any wood capable of yielding a minimum dimensional size can be termed as a timber or lumber. It is a stage in the process of wood production. Timbers are used for the structural purpose. Those woods which are adapted for building purposes are timbers. Finished timber is supplied in standard sizes for the industry. Timber is used for building houses and making furniture.   Timber is obtained from the trunk of trees. Trees give different types of timber which can be used for different kinds of works. A tree basically con...

  Classification of Pozzolanas Pozzolanas are classified as natural and artificial : 1. Natural pozzolanas -  All pozzolanas are rich in silica and alumina and contain only a small quantity of alkalis .  The following are some of the naturally occurring pozzolanas: ·  Clays and shales which must be calcined to become active. ·   Diatomaceous earth and opaline cherts and shales which may or may not need calcination ·  Volcanic tuffs and pumicites. Fine grained ashes form better pozzolana. However, tuffs solidified volcanic ash-may be ground to desired fineness for use. ·  Rhenish and Bavarian trass.   2.  Artificial Pozzolanas - Artificial pozzolanas is a man-made material that is a byproduct of industrial processes, such as burning organic materials like coal in furnaces to reclaim ash.  Some of the examples of artificial pozzolanas are: 1 . Fly ash 2.  Surkhi (burnt clay pozzolana) 3 . Rice husk ash 4 . Ground...