J.O Construction

Welcome

Welcome to my Consruction and Structures 2 blog. My name is Josh O'Meara and throughout the semester I will be learning about structures and the construction industry and will use this blog to show a few case studies. My first Case study is where I work casually known as Bunnings Warehouse Mentone. It is quite an efficient structure with a simple design, long spans and minimal members. The Warehouse is dominated by steel and has spans of around 40m. The area of the building is 300m2 and I have proposed that they install large watertanks as this is a substancial catchment area.

Los Angeles International Airport's Tom Bradley International Terminal is going GREEN

L.A's Tom Bradley International Terminal is undergoing a US$723.5 million renovation and reconstruction to extend the facilities and make it comply with the new environmental standards set by LEED. The facility being designed by Leo A. Daly will cover an area of 967,000 sq. ft. and is hoped to be completed by 2010. The structure will require enormous spans as it is an international multi-carrier terminal used by 36 airlines. Although it is still in the developemental phase it is almost certain that portal frames will be adopted to achieve the large spans required. To minimise the Embodied energy, recycled materials will be largely used and 75% of the demolished materials will either be recycled or reused. 100% of its energy usage will come from renewable energy and will be relatively self-sufficient in its water use. This building marks true progress and shows that some economic giants are starting to listen to environmental experts. Information has been gathered from the following websites http://www.bdcnetwork.com/articleXml/LN598968224.html http://www.syska.com/Aviation/projects/lax.html

Antoni Gaudi

Gaudi is considered by many to be their favourite architect and this is largely due to his ultimate uniqueness and the sculptural qualities he brought out through materials. Like many masters his major influence was nature and it was his observation and analysis of this which inspired most of his designs. He was also a passionate Catalonian and Chrisitain which can also be seen in his often symbolic architecture. His architecture is famous for its orgainc forms which create spaces not like any other. His use of colour is also one of his major considerations and together with the forms often create a fantasy dream like environment. Apart from being amazingly artistic Gaudi also had a great understanding of engineering principles and materials and used this knowledge to achieve forms which few others have done. Gaudi often integrated the parabolic arch and hyperboloid structures into his designs. While designing Gaudy would observe the forces of gravity and related catenary principals. He would often design many of his structures upside down by hanging various weights on interconnected strings or chains, using gravity to calculate catenaries for a natural curved arch or vault.

Gaudi's Building I will use most in my design

The building I will be using for my design is not one of Gaudi's major buildings, in fact it is small and relatively unknown. The building is known as The School of Sagrada Familia and was constructed as a school for the workers on the Basilica's site. Our projects brief is to design a large spanning warehouse, so it might seem strange to choose this small building as my inspiration. The reason for choosing this building is that its structural principals are simple and effective and with the use of modern materials could be adapted to make a large area. The design was made on a tight budget and Gaudi created an ingenious solution which although simple structurally creates an engaging and fluid form. Gaudi's design covers an area of 24x12m. The walls are made up of two layers of Catalonian bricks which are layed verticly but in an undulating profile giving the thin wall grater stability. The roof is also undluating but is achieved using simple techniques. Through the middle of the building runs a T-beam which is supported internally by 3 steel columns. Long rafters are then supported by this centrally placed T-Beam and the angles are adjusted with distance to create the wave effect. The ends of the rafters are obviously supported by the walls in which have to be set at the height appropriate for the rafters angle.

Here is a rough sketch looking at the building from a side elevation. Gaudi had an ability to take the emphasis away from his structure by decorating it or having unusual forms that are so interesting that one does not think about its structural role. Nature was a great inspiration for Gaudi and some of his columns broke out into a tree form as can be seen earlier in my blog. In my design the columns will branch out giving greater structural support, as well as aesthetics. The brickwork will end at the point where the structural members start to branch out. From here to the roof will be largely glass supported in timber frames. Although these would have to be custom made to suite the curves, the use of repetition would mean that the costs don't skyrocket. The glass will allow in ample light for the workers.

Article review

A fascinating insight into what could be the future of agricultural production. Dr. Dickson Despommier envisions sky scarper farming to be the solution to many of the worlds problems. The skyfarms would be basically 100 percent self sufficient and could feed 50 000 people annually using only a city block. The idea is that by freeing much of the agricultured land, it could be revitalised with native vegitation and be a potential solution to tackle global warming. I recommernd everyone to read this article as it is truely fascinating and gives great insight into what the future may hold. My greatest concern about this noble proposition is that it will allow another major step in population growth. As the world population continues to grow the once replanted forests would again need to be cut down to compensate for the ever growing demands and the problems are only magnified.

Video review

Sustainablity has become the most important issue facing humanity. A great contributor to the problems are from the building industry and general everyday life. New materials need to be invented with much lower environmental impacts. A new biodegradable plastic has been developed by CSIRO using wheat. The product is strong and durable but will breakdown in the compost in around 50 days. Wheat is an abundant and cheap resource in Australia. This information may seem some what irrelivant to contemporary construction but if this is not the future their is no future and we must demand new products to deal with societies new concerns. At the website below is a short clip of the wheat polymer

Construction

Due to the high density nature of the construction site as well as the fact that trains remained to run at the led to the need for everything to be pre-manufactured off site. It was a very difficult building to errect as the construction crew only had a few hours every night to get the cranes all in the right place and connect the sections one by one. The first phase was to prepare the foundations and pour the enormous reinforced concrete footings. Then the large reinforced concrete columns were all set in place where the steel sections could be readily connected. These sections as can be seen in this first photo were constructed in Geelong and transported via rafts. They were then moved into place ready for the cranes. Once all trains had ceased the cranes bounced into action with small crews aligning them precisely in their place and bolting them into place.

The building drew a great deal of controversy for a number of reasons. The first was that it was extremely excessive, excessive in its costs, time of errection, interference with the transportation system, environmental impacts and was arguably not fit for its purpose. The board were undeterred and wanted the station to become a symbol of Melbourne. Everyone of the undulations are different, creating a ligistical nightmare for the engineers as well as exacerbating the costs and difficulty of construction. The peaks of the roof act as vents to release the trains fumes. Although an ingenious idea they didn't work effectively and this caused further scepticism. Personally I can admire the engineering and construction achievement of the building but feel that the design fails to a large extent. The varying curves resulted in every component needing to be unique adding more problems then what it achieves aesthetically. In this modern age with all known about sustainability it is difficult to believe that such a structure could be built when its required functions were relatively simple to achieve. Before this building I was unaware of the amount of pollution that trains release and this is perhaps the main reason that most train stations are left uncovered. I find the structure to be heavy and does not allow enough light is let in meaning that artificial lights need to run 24/7. I like the look of it externally but I believe that it could have been designed much more intelligently and at a quarter of the environmental and economical costs.