Antoni Gaudí

Antoni Gaudí, 25 June 1852 – 10 June 1926, was a famed architect from Spain who was known for his unique and highly individualistic designs.  I was reading a recent article in National Geographic and came across a piece on him and his work, one being the Sagrada Familia, which has been under construction since 1882.  Gaudi designed his architectural wonders after nature as described in National Geographic, "He understood that the natural world is rife with curved forms, not straight lines. And he noticed that natural construction tends to favor sinewy materials such as wood, muscle, and tendon. With these organic models in mind, Gaudí based his buildings on a simple premise: If nature is the work of God, and if architectural forms are derived from nature, then the best way to honor God is to design buildings based on his work"

His work stuck out to me because it was unorthodox and out of the box.  Rather than building large quantities of his work, he would rather devote his life to, literally, to few pieces, such as the Sagrada Familia.  Being unorthodox, it is so simplistic that it makes perfect sense.  It follows the laws of nature, which are the most sound designs and structures, while also being aesthetically pleasing and beautiful. 

This is a picture of one of the 18 towers, 12 for the 12 apostles, 4 for the 4 evangelists, one for Mary and one for Jesus.  Notice the lifelike structural tendons and the shear size (men hanging from ropes)

The Sagrada Familia is not supposed to be completed until 2026, a full 144 years after its construction started.  Above is a picture of this wonder.  See <http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2010/12/big-idea/gaudi-text>

Green Roofs

After looking over the conceptual site plan drawing for the Academic and Student Affairs Building, I realized it was going to have a green roof.  Some of the benefits of green roofs include:

• Reduce cooling loads on building by fifty to ninety percent.  With Blacksburg climate this won't play as much as a factor as it would in a hot/dry climate such as Arizona, but is still cost efficient.  Evaporative cooling is the cooling of air through the evaporation of water.  Both simple and cost effective.
• Reduces storm water run off, using this water to irrigate the vegetation on the roof.
•  LEED points and filtering of pollutants out of the rainwater.

Below is a picture of a building in Japan with a green roofs:

A terraced roof top overlooking Fukuoka's Tenjin Central Park in Japan.

Detailed look at the green terraces. 

"Effluent follows the drainage system of a natural mountain. The system used as a base entails rainwater from the top floor (13th floor) permeating into the soil and following water paths, before permeating through to the step gardens on lower floors, before reaching the ground level."http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/07/green-roofs-fukuoka-japan.php

Raise the Roof

 On my way home from eating lunch in Downtown Blacksburg not long ago I glanced over in passing to see a house floating in the air, so I decided to turn around and check it out.  It was an older house, possibly built in the 1920-1940 time period (guess).  The foundation was made up of of approximately 12 concrete piers with dimensions that appeared to be 12"(l) x 12" (w) x 24" (h) which the house rested on (see picture below).

Located on Progress Street, downtown, behind the new Chipolte Restaurant

After being jacked up by locally owned Virginia House Movers, Inc. with hydraulic jacks placed under the floor joists and girders, large timbers were placed under for support (approximately 15).  This raised structure to an elevation to about 6-8 feet above ground.  The ground elevation in the rear of the house was lower than the front, so more timbers may have been used.  Placed on top of the timbers and under the floor joists are steel girders for carry the load to the structure from the floor joists to the timbers to the ground.  

This process has to be managed slowly and carefuly as to not damage the structural integrity of the existing structure.  Many hydraulic jacks have to be used, professionally, placed in strategic locations on load bearing points, and then lifted in sequence, slowly.  I did not see any damage or rotting occurring under the house, so I don't believe it was jacked up to do repairs.  There are many possibilities the homeowner has intended for this:  Repairs on joists/girders, adding a basement below grade (see code in Blacksburg), or even moving the house to a different location.  Judging by the sign, it appears that the latter will be occurring with this structure.  This is a common practice in Blacksburg.  I have personally seen 3 structures in the Downtown area that have been jacked up, one being the Alexander Black House, a Queen Anne Victorian architecture style located on Draper Road <http://www.blacksburg.va.us/Index.aspx?page=65>.  This site will give you a historic overview of the house and a time lapse video of the move.  The Alexander Black House was originally located where the Kent Square Parking Garage is now.

                                               

Wood Forming System for Retaining Wall

A wood forming system is being erected here by workers.  It is a labor intensive process and this wall took close to a week to erect.  Each tie has to be individually placed along with the vertical and horizontal forming lumber.  The vertical studs and sheathing are placed first.  Then the horizontal wales that will hold the snap ties are placed.  You can see the individual tie holders (wedges) being nailed to the wales by the workers.  This is explained in detail in the bottom picture.  Also, support members have been placed at an angle to keep the formwork structurally sound and the workers safe.  These ties maintain a predetermined space in relation to opposing forms. 

Finished wall and "catwalk" for workers to pour the concrete down into the formwork, via boom or bucket.  I believe a concrete bucked hoisted by crane was used on this wall to place the concrete.  The conceptual drawings of the front of the building show this area being back-filled and the entrance being at the same elevation as that of McBryde and Holden Hall.  However, the backside of the the Academic and Student Affairs building will be at a lower elevation, similar to that of the ICTAS I building seen in this picture. 

Snap Tie detail drawing.  Note that the formwork is made from plywood and dimension lumber.  The entire assembly is fastened together with removable clamps.  Form ties between opposite plywood panels separate them and hold them against the pressure of wet concrete.

Academic and Student Affairs Building

After excavation of the southern side of the site, the hill was covered with tyvek or similar material to combat erosion and keep the hill intact while the retaining wall is formed at placed.  Below are pictures of the southern side.   

Workers placing formwork.  Most, if not all the caisson holes have been drilled and prepped.  Notice the hill covered with tyvek as discussed earlier.  Column rebar is being spliced into the caisson piers (top of picture).

Workers splicing column rebar into the piers/caissons that have been drilled. 

Caisson/Pier formwork

Rain, mud, and other debris will get into the drilled hole for the piers.  Pictured above are workers mucking out the hole with a shovel and air hose.  Notice the safety caps so the workers won't get impaled. 

Slab has been poured for the southernmost retaining wall.  Columns have been spliced/tied into the caissons and safety caps have been placed on all rebar.

Continued forming of slab formwork and working mucking out the caisson hole with shovel and airhose. 

About Me

I am currently an undergraduate in Building Construction at Virginia Tech.  I grew up in Bluefield, WV and after graduating high school, I attended Virginia Tech for three years before I decided I wasn't ready for college.  I attended college more because it was the social standard rather than it was something that I really wanted to do and I will tell you the truth, I enjoyed the social aspects of it immensely.  After three years, I decided to join the Army, which was one of the best decisions I've ever made.   

After three months of basic training in Fort Jackson, SC, I attended Advanced Individual Training in Fort Belvoir, VA where I studied Geospatial Engineering for 22 weeks.  After AIT, I decided that I wanted to jump out of perfectly good airplanes and attended Jump School down in Fort Benning, GA for the next four weeks.  It was here where I overcame my fear of heights and started pushing my body to limits that I didn't think I was capable of. 

After graduating from Jump School, I was assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division located in Fort Bragg, NC.  I was then assigned to 3rd Brigade Combat Team and stayed with 3BCT for the next four years, which included two tours and a total of 27 months in Iraq. 

My favorite experience while in the Army (and most excruciatingly painful) was volunteering for Special Forces Assessment and Selection (SFAS) which is an intense two week initial test to become a member of the Army's Special Forces community.  I can not speak much about the specifics of the training, but I will tell you that they take your body and mind to the limit.  We received on average 2 and 1/2 hours of sleep per night and were given three Meals Ready to Eat (MRE) per day.  The kick was that we had 15 minutes to eat them, where you have to run 5 minutes to the eating area, open up your MRE and choke down what you can in 5 minutes, and use the other 5 minutes to get back to formation.  It was the culmination of things such as simply eating a meal and sleep deprivation that beat your body down after a couple of days.  That combined with the physical training that lasted upwards of 20 hours per day took a toll on your mind and body.  It was a humbling experience to be stripped of everything you have - your confidence, your energy, your stamina, your sleep, your food, your everything. There's a simplistic beauty to have absolutely nothing and nowhere to go but up - strangely enough I felt empowerment.  And to see where you can take yourself from having absolutely nothing in the middle of nowhere and work together with a team of soldiers to accomplish something bigger than you was the best experience of my life.  What I learned at Camp Mackall over those 14 days I used for the rest of my Army career and continue to use now.  And you ask what the outcome was:  On day 13, I couldn't walk with equipment on my back and what I volunteered for, I had to make a choice to voluntarily withdrawal from due to a left shoulder/back injury.  Maybe I'll go back someday.      

After five years in the Army, I decided that I was ready to move on and attend college because it was something that I wanted to do, not because everyone else was doing it.  I returned from Iraq in November, 2009 and started life back at Virginia Tech as a Student in January, 2010 and here I am. 

Academic and Student Affairs Building (cont.)

 Southernmost formwork and concrete placement of the southernmost retaining wall is ongoing.  

Slab on grade with #4 rebar.  Notice the horizontal keyholes for between the vertical rebar to help the newly poured retaining wall bond better to the slab.  Also, horizontal dowels are placed at every construction joint on the slab-on-grade.  These are usually spaced every 10-15 meters.

Picture of a crane (appears to be 50-ton) that is owned and operated by Commercial Steel Erection (CSE) based out of Roanoke, VA.  CSE is a subcontractor hired to rig and erect the steel structures on site (http://www.cseonline.net/index.php).  Many cranes have been used on site, each for different uses, including a larger crawler crane that is capable of lifting larger structural steel members such as the caissons.  This crane is being used to erect and place the vertical members of the southernmost retaining wall.  

Workers placing formwork.  Pictured here are tiebacks