Masonry Magazine October 1971 Page. 23
New System Gains In West
The following article is continued from page 6.
live load factor, the latter being 70 pounds per square foot in this instance. He reported that 8" Concrete Block can be used in the Block and Beam system when dealing with normal 20-foot and 30-foot spans, such as those most commonly encountered in the construction of Motels and Apartment Houses. However, since he was faced with an unusually long clear span of 38 feet, he needed a double 8" block for this roof-top parking lot. The versatility of the block manufacturer and the system was demonstrated by the fact that a special 16" high block was created to satisfy this requirement. Of course, in this instance the Block and Beam system was used in conjunction with bearing walls of reinforced concrete blocks. It can be used in combination with steel frames and tilt-up concrete but some of the disadvantages of dealing with cold joints cause the system's advocates to say, it's best used in conjunction with masonry bearing walls.
Architect Birge reports that speed of construction plus the fact that it's fireproof (and that means Fire Insurance savings) are the two big reasons for his use of Block and Beam. With four walls of block, with a Block and Beam roof that doubles as a parking lot floor, all that was needed to make the Golden Eagle Restaurant a completely fire-proof building was an easily applied fireproofing spray on the steel joists. This spray carried over the face of the block units also produced a good accoustical effect.
General Contractor of the Golden Eagle was Sam A. Bryant of Redding, California. In discussing details of the restaurant construction, Jack Bryant of that organization noted that the Golden Eagle Restaurant is Part I of a two-part complex planned. The second and larger portion of the complex is a four-story office building which will be integrated with the restaurant and roof-top parking.
In describing the handling of work in the Block and Beam system Bryant noted that the Masonry Contractor, Grokenberger and MeCormick, handled the placement of the Block, and that the General Contractor completed the floor with the pouring of the cement. The block were delivered to the site on pallets, moved on rollers to the masons who set them in place. In the Golden Eagle construction a double course of 8" x 8" x 24" block, as well as specially manufactured double-size 16" block were used. The masons favored the smaller unit for ease of handling.
The steel joists or beams, measuring 4%" in width were set on the block bearing walls on 28" centers, then the notched 24" block were set in place to complete the floor form. Of course, the steel beams and block lapped the grouted masonry wall and steel reinforcing aided in tying the walls to the Block and Beam floor. Flashing paper was used to seal the end block and assure against filling when the concrete pouring occurred.
Two 1" steel rebars were then set in the bottom of the trough, one on each side of the upright steel of the joist. Two 1½" steel rebars were then set in place on top of the blocks parallel to and about six inches from either side of the steel joist. All rebars were "bent" to tie into bearing walls. Finally a wire mesh was applied on top of the entire floor surface, and then the concrete topping was poured to a depth of 3" on top of the block. Fourteen days were required for curing about the same time as required for "poured-in-place" concrete. The contractor estimated that the total weight of the resulting monolithic floor created for the Golden Eagle runs about 230 tons.
He also noted that it required only three days to get the Block and Beam system up and ready for concrete for this building measuring 39'7" x 99'4".
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masonry
October, 1971
23