BTEC Level 3 National Construction and the Built Environment Student Book
Explain the different types of investigation used to provide information required for the design of foundations for low-rise buildings.
Explain the different types of foundation used for low-rise buildings.
Describe the principles of foundation design and how they impact on the choice of foundati...
Essay Unit 4 - Construction Technology BTEC Level 3 National Construction and the Built Environment, ISBN: 9781846906565
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Construction and the Built Environment
Unit 4 - Construction Technology
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Assignment 2 Unit 4 – Zuhaib
Mahadi
You must know the strength of the soil you're building on, prior to designing the building. Many methods can be
used to find out the strength of the soil.
Desktop Study
A desktop study consists of gathering online information and available records about the construction site which
can then be used to highlight potential hazards.
Online maps
If you like into online maps it may show watercourses near the site. Planning regulations are enforced when a
structure is going to be built next to a water course because it might be close to a floodplain. Some tree’s near the
construction site may have preservation order this can be found by referring to site maps and pictures. Historical
buildings are protected by law, if the desk study found these assets, archaeological digs must be done. This could
increase the project and delay it, the developer is required to pay more money for the work to be done.
Map of river courses in Birmingham the site could be close to a floodplain this would show danger areas(Flood
map for ordinary water courses in Birmingham city [33]. | Download Scientific Diagram (researchgate.net)
,Historical maps
These can provide important information on possible different contaminations in the soil on site by discovering the
industrial process used on site in the past. There might be obstructions underneath the ground which need to be
taken care of before construction has started. This can be done by finding out the size of earlier buildings near the
site.
Map of Birmingham 1894 shows earlier buildings which might be near the site (Birmingham Map 1894
(ramsdale.org)
Local authority archives
Archives are a good source of historical information about the local area. There are more than a million visits made
to the Local archive Centre yearly.They include old pictures of the area, old maps and other valuable information
that can be used to find out more about the site.
Local archive Centre with information about the local areaAbout legislation - Archives sector
(nationalarchives.gov.uk)
, Building and planning applications
This can be used in the desktop study. Local authority website might have an online planning application database,
where you can find out more about the planning application on a particular site and it will also show historical
planning applications. This will provide useful information about the address or site such as any restrictions
related to the site and planning conditions, it also reveals the type of application that has been previously used for
the site.
Online address search
You can enter a particular address or site into a search engine which will tell you the public documents connected
with that address such as what the previous building was used for, the average cost of properties in the area. It
might also show you previous site investigation reports.
Walkover Survey
This when you take a walk over the actual site, allowing you to physically gather information that will be used with
the desktop survey by enabling you to see existing structures, trees near the site. Evidence of the groundwater
levels and flooding. This can be recorded by drawing a sketch of the site.
Sketch made from a walkover survey (Reconnaissance Survey and Index Sketch in Chain Surveying (prodyogi.com)
Site investigation
Site investigation is done to gain information about the soil on site before a structure is built to avoid any
complications in the future. So, a site investigation is crucial when working on a construction project to make sure
money is not spent on removing things that could've been easily avoided beforehand.
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