TABLE OF CONTENTS David J. Akers
Civil Engineer, San Diego, California
This section describes the basic materials used in building construction and discusses their common applications. As the world's population increases and consumes more of the natural resources, it is incumbent upon the civil engineer to use building materials that contribute to sustaining development instead of satisfying only the short-term need. Material selection should incorporate an evaluation of the amount of energy required to produce and deliver the material to the building site. This concept of "embodied energy" is evolving and variable. As an example, in the Pacific Northwest lumber would have an "embodied energy" of 1, but in the arid Southwest transportation raises the value several points. Examples of other materials are concrete (2-3), steel (4-6), and aluminum (80). For discussion purposes, materials used in similar applications are grouped and discussed in sequence, for example, masonry materials, wood, metals, plastics, etc.
Cementitious materials include the many products that are mixed with either water or some other liquid or both to form a cementing paste that may be formed or molded while plastic but will set into a rigid shape. When sand is added to the paste, mortar is formed. A combination of coarse and fine aggregate (sand) added to the paste forms concrete.
There are many varieties of cements and numerous ways of classification. One of the simplest classifications is by the chemical constituent that is responsible for the setting or hardening of the cement.
