Sitework Flashcards
The unauthorized extension of a building, or part thereof, on the property or domain of another.
Encroachment
A depression in a curb providing vehicular access from a street to a driveway on private property.
Curb Cut
The minimum required distance from every structure to the property lines of a lot, established by a zoning ordinance to provide for air, light, solar access, fire separation and privacy.
Setback
A perimeter line established on the drawings or elsewhere in the contract documents defining the boundaries of the site available to the contractor for construction purposes.
Contract Limit
Work done at a site in preparation for a construction project, such as excavation, sheeting, shoring, and grading.
Sitework
The geographic location of a construction project, usually defined by legal boundaries.
Site
A legal right held by specified persons or the public to make limited use of the land of another, such as a right-of-way.
Easement
Waste earth and rock overlying a useful mineral, deposit, bedrock, or a deposit of sand, gravel or rock needed for construction.
Overburden, Burden
A small pit dug to examine the existing soil conditions and determine the depth of the water table at a proposed building site.
Test pit
One of a number of boards set horizontally with vertical stakes to support the strings outlining the foundation plan of a proposed building.
Batter Board
The act or ceremony of breaking ground for a new construction project.
Groundbreaking
The excavation and embankment of earth in connection with an engineering operation.
Earthwork
The digging and removal of earth from its natural position, or the cavity resulting from such removal.
Excavation
A steel rod attached to a deadman, a rigid foundation, or a rock or soil anchor to prevent lateral movement of a retaining wall or formwork.
Tieback
Any of a number of timber, steel, or precast concrete planks driven vertically side by side to retain earth or prevent water from seeping into an excavation.
Sheet pile, Sheath Pile
A number of boards joined together side by side to retain the face of an excavation.
Lagging
A steel H-section driven vertically into the ground to support horizontally sheeting or lagging.
Soldier Pile, Soldier Beam
A system of shores for bracing or supporting a wall or other structure.
Shoring
A temporary supporting strut, esp one placed obliquely against the side of an excavation, formwork, or structure.
Shore
An inclined shore for supporting a wall.
Raker, Raking Shore
A horizontal strut fixed between and supporting two walls above ground level.
Flying Shore
A watertight enclusure constructed underwater or in water-bearing soil and pumped dry to allow access for construction or repairs.
Cofferdam
To remove water from an excavated job site, usually by draining or pumping.
Dewater
An unwanted flow of water and solid matter into an excavation, due to excessive outside water pressure.
Boil, Blow
A perforated pipe driven into the ground for pumping out collected ground water.
Abyssinian Well
A perforated tube driven into the ground to collect water from the surrounding area so it can be pumped away, as when loweing a water table or preventing an axcavation from filling with groundwater.
Wellpoint
A funnellike device with a pipe or tube for depositing concrete underwater.
Tremie
A concrete wall cast in a trench to serve as sheeting and often as a permanent foundation wall, constructed by excavating a trench in short lengths, filling it with a slurry of bentonite and water to prevent the sidewalls from collapsing, setting reinforcement, and placing concrete in the trench with a tremie to displace the slurry.
Slurry Wall
To raise an existing grade with earth, stone or other material, or the quantity of material used in building up the level of an area.
Fill
Ground that has been raised to a higher level by filling with hard rubble, such as stone or broken brick.
Made Ground, made-up Ground
A pit from which sand, gravel or other construction material is taken for use as fill in another location.
Borrow Pit
The cutting, filling and shaping of earth in preparation for finish grading.
Rough Grading
The precise grading of an area after rough grading to prepare for paving, seeding or planting.
Fine Grading
A stake marking the amount of cut or fill required to bring the ground to a specified level.
Grade Stake
Fill materail that is placed in layers, compacted, and tested after each compaction for moisture content, depth of lift, and bearing capacity before additional layers are palced.
Controlled Fill
A smooth parabolic currve in the vertical plane for connecting two grades of different slope in order to avoid an abrupt transition.
Vertical Curve
An embankment constructed across sloping ground with a steep drop on the downside.
Bench Terrace
An excavating operation in which the excavated material is moved to another location and used as fill.
Cut and Fill
The ground elevation at any specific point on a construction site, esp where the ground meets the foundation of a building.
Grade, Grade line
The elevation of the original ground surface before excavation or grading begins.
Existing Grade, Natural Grade
The elevation of drives, walks, lawns, or other improved surfaces after completion of construction or grading operations.
Finish Grade, Finished Grade
Occurring or situated below the surface of the ground.
Below Grade
To refill an excavation with earth, stone, or other material, esp the space around exterior foundation walls.
Backfill
The prepared earth surface upon which a pavement, concrete slab, or foundation is built. A subgrade should be stable, drain well, and be relatively free of frost action,.
Subgrade
A short beam passed through a wall as a temporary support while the foundation or part beneath is repaired, altered or strengthened.
Needle, Needle Beam
An upright timber for supporting a dead load during the structural alteration of a building, esp one of two supports for a needle.
Dead Shore
A system of supports that enables an existing foundation to be rebuilt, strengthened, or deepened, esp the additional support required when a new excavation in adjoining property is deeper than the existing foundation.
Underpinning
A shallow depression formed by the intersection of two ground slopes, often designed to direct or divert the runoff of surface water.
Swale
Something that drains or flows off, such as rain that flows off the land in streams.
Runoff
The surface and subsurface drainage of a site in order to prevent the collection of excess surface water or groundwater.
Site Drainage
The grading and surfacing of a site in order to divert rain and other surface water into natural drainage patterns or a storm sewer system.
Surface Drainage
The water beneath the surface of the ground that supplies wells and springs, consisting largely of surface water that has seeped down.
Groundwater
The process by which groundwater is absorbed into the water table.
Recharge
The underground surface beneath which the earth is saturated with water.
water table
A water table of limited area, held above the normal water table by an impervious layer.
Perched water Table
A wall or other structure intended to eliminate or reduce percolation through porous strata.
Cutoff
A drain placed between the source of water and the area to be protected.
Curtain Drain, Intercepting Drain
A perforated pipe installed in porous fill to draw off groundwater.
Underdrain
A drainage trench filled to ground level with loose stones or rock fragments.
French Drain
A drain or channel passing under a road or sidewalk.
Culvert
A reinforced concrete culvert having a rectangular cross section.
Box Culvert
A concrete or masonry retaining wall at the inlet of a drain or culvert.
Headwall
A concrete or masonry retaining wall at the outlet of a drain or culvert.
Endwall
An underground network of piping for conveying groundwater to a point of disposal, such as a storm sewer system. Excess groundwater reduces the load-carrying capacity of a foundation soil and increases the hydrostatic pressure on a building foundation.
Subsurface Drainage
A drain for collecting surface water or rainwater from a basement floor or paved area.
Area Drain
A drainage pit lined with gravel or rubble to receive surface water and allow it to percolate away to absorbent earth underground.
Dry Well, Absorbing Well
A covered hole through which a person may enter a sewer or drain.
Manhole
A receptacle for the runoff of surface water, having a basin that retains heavy sediment before it can pass into an underground drainpipe.
Catch Basin
A sewer for conveying rainfall drained from roofs and paved surfaces.
Storm Sewer, Storm Drain
A sewer conveying both sewage and rainfall drained from roofs and paved surfaces
Combined Sewer
A drain connecting a building storm drain to a storm sewer, combined sewer, or other point of disposal.
Building Storm Sewer, House Storm Sewer
A building drain for conveying rainwater, groundwater, or similar discharge to a building storm sewer or a combined sewer.
Building Storm Drain, House Storm Drain
