Safety and mansonry construction with Electronic Blueprint
Electronic Blueprint and ENVIROSPEC provide building specifications, details
and training on safe and sustainable buildings to architects, engineers and builders. Safety
during the construction of masonry is of paramount importance. The following specification is
intended to assist the structural engineer to determine the appropriate temporary bracing for
the particular application. Like all cement based products, masonry mortar takes time to cure
- meaning that masonry (clay brickwork or concrete blockwork) must be adequately supported
during the construction stage, to prevent collapse due to wind or accidental loads.
Masonry walls are normally supported in a building by the roof, upper floors (if any), piers
and cross-walls. During construction, some of these may not be present. Electronic Blueprint
provides tables setting out the suitable spacing of bracing to meet the various combinations
of terrain, shielding and topography described in AS 4055 Wind loads for housing. The builder
must construct temporary supports, making sure that they have sufficient strength and adequate
fixing to prevent collapse of the masonry.
In particular:
- Walls must the supported from both sides.
- Supports in compression must be thick enough to prevent buckling.
- Supports must be anchored firmly to the slab and to the masonry to prevent sliding.
- Supports should be designed by an experienced and qualified structural engineer.
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