Kaplan Lesson 2, Site Assessment and Site Work Flashcards
Which of the following will most
effectively divert subsurface water away from a building’s foundation?
A. Place the foundation below the water table
B. Modify the contours of the site during finish grading
C. Install drainage tiles adjacent to the bottom of footings
D. Provide a bed of coarse gravel at the perimeter of the foundation
C. Subsurface water should be diverted away from a building’s foundation by means of drainage tiles laid in a gravel bed. Foundations should be placed above, not below, the water table (A), and contours are modified during rough, not finish, grading (B).
If the loads of a proposed structure are high relative to the bearing capacity of the soil, one would likely provide A. a mat footing. B. continuous wall footings. C. combined footings. D. shallow spread footings.
A. A mat footing distributes vertical loads over the entire building area and is used when soil conditions are poor.
- A system of piles may be appropriate for supporting a structure when
A. moisture in the soil is detected.
B. the piles can be placed below ground water level.
C. dense earth makes conventional excavation difficult.
D. the surface soil has low bearing capacity.
D. When upper soils have low bearing capacity, piles may be used to transmit a building’s loads to deeper, firmer soils.
Frost line refers to the level of earth?
A. at which the soil bearing value is affected by weather.
B. at which the building foundation should be located.
C. below which the footings will not freeze.
D. below which the soil does not freeze.
D. below which the soil does not freeze.
For a structure with very heavy loads resting on dense earth, which of the following would be most appropriate? A. Boat footings B. Jetted piles C. Wood piles D. Structural steel piles
D. Boat footings are used where the underlying soil has a low bearing capacity, jetted piles are rarely used, and wood piles are used for light to moderate loads. The only appropriate choice is structural steel piles.
Placing load on a footing results in? A. reduced soil bearing capacity. B. differential settlement. C. a reduction of the soil's void volume. D. shrinkage of the soil.
C. As load is placed on a footing, it compresses the soil and reduces the soil’s void volume. Although this results in settlement, it is not necessarily differential settlement.
The principal purpose of all soil exploration and testing is to determine the A. bearing capacity of the soil. B. intrinsic character of the soil. C. depth of the water table. D. depth of the bedrock.
B. This is a question in which all the answers are at least partially correct. However, the most inclusive answer is B, to determine the character of the soil.
The design of a surface drainage system for
a residential development is based on a five-year storm. During a review, the drainage system is found to be incapable of handling the expected runoff. Therefore, it should be
A. changed to a subsurface system.
B. changed to employ non erosive materials.
C. designed for a 10-year storm.
D. designed for a 100-year storm.
C. If design for a 5-year storm is found to be inadequate, one must design for a more severe storm, such as one that would likely occur every l 0 years. Designing for a I 00-year storm would be excessively cautious, while using a subsurface system or non-erosive materials would not necessarily handle a greater amount of runoff.
In the residential development of the previous question, runoff might be reduced by using
A. flat roofs, rather than sloped roofs, on the residential units.
B. wider roof eaves on the residential units.
C. more paved areas.
D. greater areas of vegetation.
D Roof slopes and eave widths are irrelevant, because during a storm, the same amount of water eventually drains off all roof areas. However, runoff may be reduced by using greater areas of vegetation that permit storm water to seep into the ground.
All of the following describe the general climatic characteristics of an area, EXCEPT A. temperature. B. topography. C. humidity. D. wind velocity.
B. Topography is the shape of the ground surface, not an element of climate.
An underground permeable material through which water flows.
An Aquifer
What materials are generally good aquifers?
Sand, gravel, sandstone, and some limestones.
The measure of heat transmission.
U-factor
The ability of a material to store heat.
Thermal Inertia
A drilled pile transmits its load to the soil by…
Skin friction
