TOS 3: UNIT 3B

Load Bearing
PRINCIPLES OF LOAD Constructions
BEARING STRUCTURES Definition

Advantages

1. To Understand Load Transfer in Disadvantages

Framed Structures and Load Care in Design

Bearing Structures.
2. To Make Note of Cares to be
Taken When Designing Load
Bearing Structures.
TOS 3: Unit 3b: Principles of Load Bearing Constructions:
Types of structures
Considering the various purposes of having a structure, which is to support a horizontal
surface, which is occupied with lots of loads like dead load, upper wall loads, furniture, live
load etc., the support systems to these horizontal surfaces, called as slabs or floors, can be
broadly classified into:
1. Load Bearing Structures & 2. Framed Structures

1. Load bearing structure -

A structural system in which all the loads on the building are transferred to the foundation
through structural masonry walls.
Thus the method of load transfer in load bearing structure is:
Slab - Walls - Foundation
As clearly seen from the sketch below, the walls on the lower floor are quite heavily loaded as
they are carrying the load of the above floor / floors.

Fig. 1 - Load transfer in a load bearing structure

Fig. 1a - Foundation options for a load bearing structure

Since the entire load of the building is being transferred through masonry walls, those need
to be provided with a base foundation in its entire length, which results into a linear
foundation in the form of a strip, hence the term Strip foundation.

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Various materials like Brickwork, Stone masonry or Concrete can be used for foundation, as
shown in Fig. 1a above, but the overall foundation system remains the same.
2. Framed structure -
A structural system in which the loads are transferred to the foundation through a frame of
beams & columns, planned at specific locations. The walls in these structures act like
partitions and do not play any role in load transfer. They just carry their own weight and
transfer it to the horizontal members called as beams.
Thus the method of load transfer in a framed structure is:
Slab - Beams - Columns- Foundation
Only the columns on the lower floor are heavily loaded, but the beams carry the same load at
every floor.

Fig. 2 - Load transfer in a framed structure

Fig. 2a - Foundation options for a Framed structure

Since the entire load of the building is being transferred through columns, those need to be
provided with a base, which results into a foundation only at the base of the columns, in the
form of a pad, hence the term Isolated pad foundation.
Concrete is used for foundation, as shown in Fig. 2a above, with various shapes of pads,
depending on the load, site conditions, etc.

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 Principles of Load Bearing Structures:

It is very important to know the basic criteria for Design of Load bearing structures.
‘A load bearing structure can be defined as a structure or a building where all the loads
( Dead loads & Live loads) are transmitted to the foundation and ground by Masonry
walls.’
Depending on the type of building and the number of floors, load-bearing walls are designed
to the appropriate thickness to carry the weight above them. Without doing so, it is possible
that an outer wall could become unstable if the load exceeds the strength of the material
used, potentially leading to the collapse of the structure.
The primary function of this wall is to enclose or divide space of the building to make it more
functional and useful. It provides privacy, affords security, and gives protection against heat,
cold, sun or rain.

Fig. 3 - Load on the walls on the lower floors keep on increasing by gravity

The rules for load bearing construction require the thickness of structural masonry walls to
increase progressively toward the lower floors. The increase in wall thickness is necessary to
accommodate greater gravity loads at the lower floors.
Another important reason for progressively increasing wall thickness at the base is to
ensure stability against overturning by wind loads.

Masonry typically involves laying the masonry unit / building block in one layer at a time. A
binding material called as mortar is used to hold the blocks in place and provide them with
strength and stability.

Mortars can be of several types, but the broad classification would be cement mortars, lime
mortars and synthetic adhesives. Earth is also used as mortar in some parts of the world.
The advantages of load bearing masonry are:
• Load bearing masonry is solid, durable and fire resistant.

• By making use of various materials as building blocks like, brick, different types of stones,
concrete blocks, several colours and textures can be made available.
• The tools and equipment used are simple and low-tech.

• Does not require a great deal of preparation or fabrication in advance unlike framed structures.

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• Load bearing masonry has high compressive strength.

• Aesthetically attractive.

• It proves economical for small scale projects.

The disadvantages of load bearing masonry are:

• Load bearing masonry has a high self- weight, because of thick walls, thus reducing internal
utility area on the lower floors.
• Load bearing structures have restrictions of height, as the thickness of walls on the lower
floors increases enormously.
• Planning of openings like doors and windows needs to be meticulously planned, as the
structural load carrying wall is rendered weak, because of holes in the form of openings.
Large openings cannot be planned. Also the openings cannot be planned at the corners.
• Load bearing masonry by its nature, is a time consuming construction technique. Laying brick
after brick, course upon course is a tedious process.
• Requires skilled masons.
• Load bearing walls are very good in compression, but have very low tensile strength which
can fail during earthquakes, if preventive techniques are not adopted. Most deaths in
earthquakes around the world have occurred in load bearing masonry buildings.
• Load bearing masonry, especially brick masonry is porous and needs to be protected from
water.
Design considerations for load bearing structures

1. Adequate amount of walls to be planned for bearing the load - Large room spans to be
avoided.

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2. Both external and internal walls can be load bearing. Walls of longer lengths should be
avoided to prevent lateral bending of the walls. Cross walls need to be planned.
For longer walls, thickening the wall at regular intervals with the use of attached piers is
required. But a more stable and recommended option is to have cross walls.

3. The building should be well proportioned. Irregular and unsymmetrical plans should be
avoided. Considering building proportions, the length of the building should not exceed
4 times it’s width.

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4. Since the entire load of the building is being transferred to the foundation through walls, it
is very important to plan walls on the above floors, so that they rest exactly over the walls on
the lower floor. This is very important to maintain a vertical continuity of a structural member.

5. Openings in load bearing structures, weaken the load carrying capacity of the wall.
But openings being inevitable part of any building, they need to be planned in a regular &
symmetrical manner. Large openings to be avoided. Openings need to be planned away from
the corners / junctions of walls.
The figure below describes the basic requirements of planning openings in load bearing walls.

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 Comparison of a load bearing structure with a framed structure

Materials used as building blocks

Brick, stone, concrete blocks & mud / soil blocks - all bound together with lime / cement
mortar as binding material.

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EVOLUTION OF STANDARD LOAD BEARING CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUE

Behaviour / Failure of masonry walls under various loads:

1. Vertical load

Fig. 4 - Buckling of masonry walls with vertical loads

On account of vertical loads, the masonry wall tends to buckle outward or inward. Because of
this buckling, the convex phase of the wall undergoes tension. Since any masonry wall is
extremely weak in tension, this buckling needs to avoided. Also because of buckling, the
upper and lower ends of the wall undergo a lateral shift, which also needs to be resisted.
Structural solution:
1. To prevent buckling, the wall needs to be thick enough to reduce the slenderness. Also the
needs to be constructed in parts by having a tie at the lintel level, which discontinues
the height & thus reduces the slenderness of the wall.
2. To prevent lateral shifting of the ends, a tie at the floor level is provided.
2. Load from sloping roofs

Fig. 5 - Outward buckling of masonry walls with loads from sloping roofs

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Any sloping (pitched) roof gives a horizontal thrust (because of the horizontal force
component) to the masonry at the eaves level (the point where the roof gets connected to
the wall).
Structural solution:
To prevent this horizontal thrust, at tie member in the sloping roof needs to be provided at
the eaves level, so that the outward buckling of the masonry wall is prevented.

3. Earthquake loads

Fig. 6 - Shifting of masonry walls based on their inertia during earthquake

A load bearing structure is vulnerable to failures not only because of the dead & live loads, but
also because of the lateral directional earthquake loads. Most of the load bearing structures
fail during earthquakes due to this shifting of masonry walls because of inertia of the wall.
As clear from Fig. 6, the initial rectangular profile of the masonry gets transformed into
somewhat a parallelogram profile, depending on the direction of shifting. This causes serious
cracks near the opening corners along the shorter diagonal. Fig. 7 below shows the combined
effect of both the possibilities from Fig. 6.

Fig. 7 - Diagonal cracks near openings

Note: The cross arrows show the longer diagonals of the parallelogram

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Structural solution:
To prevent cracking of masonry at the corners, at tie member (of a different material than
masonry) needs to be provided at the lintel level. Similar tie is also recommended at the cill
level, but it does not totally work because of its discontinuity at the door.
Fig. 8 below shows the ties at floor level and lintel level.

Fig. 8 - Ties at floor lvl. and lintel lvl.

But the problem does not end at this point. As seen from Fig. 9 below, providing only
horizontal ties does not totally help. Earthquake loads (plate shifting) results into vertical
swaying (swinging) of the masonry, which is generally termed as rocking of pier.

Fig. 9 - Rocking of pier

Thus, it does mean that only horizontal ties would not be sufficient for stability of the
masonry. The walls also need ties in the vertical direction. Corner failure, as shown in Fig. 10
below, is a typical consequence of absence of vertical ties.

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 Fig. 10 - Corner failure

Fig. 11 - Load bearing construction with horizontal & vertical ties

Fig. 12 - Load bearing construction with horizontal & vertical ties

Fig. 11 & 12 above show the requirements of an ideal load bearing construction. With the use
of horizontal and vertical ties, this technique is also called as confined masonry construction.

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 Additional important requirements
Generally, the wall thickness needs to be proportionate with the height of the wall. But in
some cases, as per design considerations, the wall turns out to be too long & slender, such
that it results into lateral bending of the wall due to any of the loads on it.

Fig. 13 - Lateral bending of a long slender wall

Due to these loads, the wall tends to bend in the lateral direction in the outward or inward
direction, as shown in Fig. 13 above. To resist this lateral bending, an opposite force
perpendicular to the wall length needs to be provided. This can be achieved by thickening
the wall at regular intervals in the form of attached piers, as shown in Fig. 14 below.
But a more efficient option is to plan cross walls as shown in Fig. 15 below, throughout the
entire width of the room.
(Refer sketch for Point 2 in design considerations for load bearing structures above)
The advantage of having attached piers is, the room does not split into smaller rooms, which
happens with cross walls. Hence even if cross walls are more efficient than attached piers,
those need to merge with planning considerations.

Fig. 14 - Attached piers in a long slender wall Fig. 15 - Cross walls for a long slender wall

Summarized requirements of a load bearing structure:

• Thick walls - Min. wall thickness - 230 mm. or 1 brick thick
• Wall thickness to increase on the lower floors to take the load of the upper floors.
• No. of floors to be restricted to 2 - 3 so as not to have heavily thick walls on the lower floors.
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• Large room spans to be avoided.
• Regular / Symmetrical planning. Horizontal alignment of walls in plan to be achieved.
• Building length not to exceed 4 times the width.
• Walls on the upper floors to be planned exactly over lower floors.
• Minimum number and area of openings - Length / area of openings not to exceed 1/2 the
length / area of the wall.
• Openings to be regularly & symmetrically planned in verticality.
• Openings to be planned away from junctions in the masonry walls.
• Long slender walls to be avoided. Attached piers or cross walls to be provided.
• The masonry walls need to be tied at Lintel level, Floor / Plinth level and along vertical
junctions to prevent failure of walls from buckling, outward bending, cracks at openings,
horizontal shifting & rocking of pier due to earthquake / seismic loads.
• Through stones to be provided in stone masonry.
CONSTRUCTION OF TIES
In Brick masonry

Note: Ties are continuous throughout the wall length / height. Ties in the sketches are illustratively shown open
to understand embedded reinforcing bars details.

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Typical Load bearing structure in brick masonry – Terminology

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In Concrete block masonry

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Through stones in stone masonry

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 Suggested Theory Questions:
1. Explain the Advantages of Load Bearing Masonry
2. Explain the Design Considerations in Load Bearing Constructions w.r.t the following
a. Spans
b. Openings in External Walls and In Internal Walls
c. Lengths of Walls and Intermediate Piers.
d. Symmetry of Plans
e. Door Jambs
3. Compare between Load Bearing and Framed Constructions based on the following points
1. Basic Definition
2. Height Restriction
3. Flexibility in Planning and Construction
4. Wall Thickness
5. Openings
6. Vertical Continuity
4. Explain the Disadvantages of Load Bearing Masonry

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