BUILDING

CONSTRUCTION
II

CHAPTER 01:
CONVEYING SYSTEMS

Class I systems
01 STAIRS AND RAMPS
02 ELEVATORS
03 ESCALATOR

Class II systems
01 Dumbwaiters
02 Vertical conveyors

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Vertical circulation systems may be divided into two classes. Class I systems are intended
for movement of both people and goods and include ramps, stairs, escalators, and elevators Class
II systems, including dumbwaiters and vertical conveyors, in contrast, may not be used for move-
ment of people.

Class I systems
Class I systems may be divided into two subclasses, A and B.

• Class A systems can be used by people both under normal and emergency conditions as a
means of egress.
• Class B systems used for emergency evacuation of a building.

01 STAIRS AND RAMPS

1.1 RAMPS
When space permits, a sloping surface, or ramp, can be used to connect different levels or
floors. Ramps are especially useful when large numbers of people or vehicles have to be moved
from floor to floor. So they are frequently adopted for public buildings, such as railroad stations,
stadiums, and exhibition halls. 2
• Ramps have been built with slopes up to 15% (15 ft in 100 ft) DEBRE MARKOS
• 8% is a preferred maximum. UNIVERSITY
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fig 01. a Typical ramp combined with stair

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Guard - an inclined element parallel to the flight direction
that protects the users from falling
Slope - the inclination angle of the flight
Terminology
Landing - a horizontal platform/surface where
one flight ends and another starts.
Flight - an inclined surface that transports one
from floor to landing or vice versa.
● For all inside ramps, guards/vertical protec-
tive barriers should be provided along the edges
of ramps and along the edges of floor open-
ings over ramps, to prevent falls over the open
edges.

● Powered Ramps
In some buildings, such as air terminals, in which pedestrians have to be moved speedily over
long distances, traffic may be transported on a moving walk, a type of passenger-carrying pow-
ered device on which passengers stand or walk.
● Powered ramps, however, must be incapable of operation in the direction opposite to normal
exit travel.
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● Powered ramps resemble escalators in construction.
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01 STAIRS AND RAMPS

1.2 STAIRS
• Less space is required for stairs than for ramps, because ???
“Steeper slopes can be used”
DEFINITION:
Series of steps which provides access from one floor to another is called a stair, and the part of
the building accommodating ’the stair is known as stair case
In buildings ,stairs have two main functions

01. that of normal every day access from floor to floor

02. they must provide an easy and rapid escape from the upper
floor in case of emergency(as fire or earthquakes).
• Exterior stairs generally range in slope from 20 to 30
• Interior stairs from 30 to 35 in Degrees

“ Even if most buildings have other means of access between

floors as elevators(lift) or moving stair case they must have also 5
stairs” DEBRE MARKOS
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Types of Stairs
01 Straight stairs
02 Circular stairs
03 Curved stairs
04 Spiral stairs
Straight Circular Curved
A. Half turn stair stair stair stair
the stair which turns through 180 degree is known as half turn stair.
Half turn stairs are further classified into two types
(a) Dog-legged stairs (b) Open well stairs

(a) Dog-legged stairs

• A half turn stair with no space between its flights is known as dog- legged stair
• This type of stair is suitable where the width of the stair case is limited and is
commonly used for single or double storeyed modern buildings.

(b) Open well stairs

• A half turn stair with a space (called well) between its flights is known as open well stair

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• This stair is also known as an open well stair when the well left between the flights is of
DEBRE MARKOS
rectangular shape. If, the space for this type of stair is limited, a short flight is introduced on the UNIVERSITY
narrow side of well with two quarter-space landings 2010 E.C
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Types of Stairs
NB.
Bifurcating stair. :-The stair having its bottom flight wide which is
divided into two narrow flights at the landing at right angles in the
opposite directions is called a bifurcating stair

fig 01.1 Bifurcating stair

material used for construction
Dog-legged Circular the stairs are classified into the
stair stair following five types

• Wooden Stairs
• Stone Stairs
• Metal Stairs
• R.C. Stairs
• Brick Stairs 7
Straight
stair Spiral DEBRE MARKOS
stair UNIVERSITY
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Cantilevered Bifurcated stair

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DEBRE MARKOS
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Circular stair Spiral stairs 2010 E.C
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Terminologies

• Step - The combination of a tread and a riser supported

by a string is called a step.
• Tread - The horizontal top surface of a step on which foot is placed while going up or coming
down a stair
• Riser - The vertical face of a step
• Going or run - The horizontal distance between any two adjacent risers in a stair
• Rise - The vertical distance between any two adjacent treads in a stair is called rise.
• Bull nose step - The step with one or both ends rounded This type of step is generally provided
at the bottom of a flight and remains always projecting beyond the face of the newel post.
• Nosing - The projecting edge of a tread beyond its riser in a step. The line joining nosing of all
steps in a flight is known as line of nosing.
• Pitch or slope - The angle between the line of nosing and the floor or landing of a stair.
• String or stringer - The inclined support to which the ends of treads and risers of a stair are
fastened.
• Hand rail - An inclined member at a convenient height projecting above steps of a stair to pro-
vide assistance and safe guard to the users.
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Terminologies

• Balusters - The vertical members provided in between the steps and the hand rail .
These members act as intermediate support to the hand rail.

• Newel or newel post - The post provided at the bottom, top and at the turning points in a stair
to supports the hand rail

• Soffit - The under surface of a stair is called soffit.

• Landing - The horizontal platform provided in between any two flights of a stair.

A landing which provides 90° turn in the layout of a stair is known as quarter space landing,
and if the turn is through 180°, it is called half space landing
• Head room - The height between the line of nosing to the soffit of a flight or ceiling of roof im-
mediately above, is called head room.

The following rules should be followed for finding a suitable relation between going and rise of steps
in stair
(i) (2 x Rise) + (Going), in cm=55 to 60cm
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(ii) Going x Rise, both in cm=400 to 410 cm
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The following dimensions of going and rise are generally used for different buildings

(a) Residential buildings :
- 25 cm X 16 cm

(b) Public buildings such as theatres, colleges, banks etc;

- 27 cm X 15 cm or 30 cm X 14 cm

(c) Industrial buildings:-The going should not be less than 25cm and rise not more than 19 cm.

Pitch of the stair - The pitch or slope of the stair should not be more than 40 degree and
should not be less than 25 for comfortable ascend and descend

Length of flight - The number of steps in a flight should not be more than 12 otherwise it
becomes difficult to move up down the flight.

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Construction of Stairs
>R.C STAIRS
> CASE 01 : STRING STAIR
• Reinforced concrete stairs are
widely used in almost all types of
> CASE 02 : INCLINED SLAB STAIR
buildings.They are
» strong
» hard-wearing >CASE 03 : CRANKED SLAB STAIR
» fire-resisting and
» make possible a large > CASE 04 : STRING BEAM STAIR
variety of forms.

• Non-skidding materialsmust be
> CASE 05 : CANTILEVER STAIR
used for the finishing of stair and
landings, to prevent the sliding of
leg.

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Construction of Stairs
>R.C STAIRS

> CASE 01: STRING STAIR

• Construction technique where landing is
supported by load bearing wall hence stair
flight is span from floor to landing and landing
to floor.

•The strings may span between landings to

support the flights

• The presence of the strings allows using a

thinner flight than in the case of slab type there
fore this stair has somewhat lighter weight

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Construction of Stairs
>R.C STAIRS

> CASE 02 : INCLINED SLAB STAIR

• In the case of when the span of the flight is
verylong,the stair can be designed with out-
strings.

• The string will be supported by Trimmers

or also called support beams at the edge of
the Landing and edge of top/bottom slab.

• The flight is designed to act as a slab span-

ning between the trimmers on a distance that
is measured on a horizontal line between the
centres of the trimmers.The effective depth is
the waist thickness of the slab.
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Construction of Stairs
>R.C STAIRS

> CASE 03 : CRANKED SLAB STAIR

• This type of stair doesn’t has trimmers.In-
this case,the top and bottom landings,together
with the flight are designed as an individual-
structural slab spanning between enclosing-
walls or frame.

> CASE 04 : STRING BEAM STAIR

• This type of stair uses stringer beams that
start from floor to landing and from landing to
floor.
STRING
> CASE 05 : CANTILEVER STAIR BEAM
STAIR
• a stair uses a spine wall/shear wall in the 15
well that supports landings on both sides with
DEBRE MARKOS
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02 ELEVATORS
• An elevator is a hoisting and lowering mechanism
equipped with a car or platform that moves along
guides in a shaft, or hoistway, in a substantially
vertical direction and that transports passengers
or goods, or both, between two or more floors of a
building.

• Passenger elevators are designed primarily to

carry persons
> Hospital elevators are also passenger
elevators but employ special cars, suitable in size
and shape for transportation of patients in stretchers
or standard hospital beds and of attendants accom-
panying them.

• Freight elevators carry freight, which may be

accompanied only by anoperator and persons nec-
essary for loading and unloading it. 16
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02 ELEVATORS
Types of elevators

01. ELECTRIC ELEVATOR

•The electric elevator is moved via an electrically powered machine

that drives a hardened steel traction sheave over which the wire
ropes are suspended.
•Types of an electric elevator
(a) electric elevator with driving machine at top of hoist-
way
(b) electric elevator with driving machine in basement

02. HYDRAULIC ELEVATOR

•Hydraulic elevator cars are raised and lowered by an oil pumping

system, which actuates a plunger or piston
• frequently used for passenger elevators serving up to four or five 17
floors and for low-rise freight service DEBRE MARKOS
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01. ELECTRIC ELEVATOR

These elevators typically operate at
speeds greater than 500 feet per min-
ute.

The combined weight of the elevator

car and the counterweight presses the
cables into the grooves on the drive
sheave, providing the necessary trac-
tion as the sheave turns.

To reduce the load on the motor, the

counterweight is calculated
to match the weight of the car
and a half-load of passengers. As
the car rises, the counterweight
descends,balancing the load. This
reduces energy consumption
because the motor is required to lift
no more than the weight of half a car
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load at any time.
DEBRE MARKOS
Gearless traction Geared traction UNIVERSITY
electric elevators 2010 E.C
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02. HYDRAULIC ELEVATOR

Hydraulic elevators are used exten-

sively in buildings up to five or six
stories high. These elevators—which
can operate at speeds up to 46 me-
ters (150 ft) per minute—do not use
the large overhead hoistingmachinery
the way geared and gearless systems
do.

A typical hydraulic elevator is pow-

ered by a piston that travels inside a
cylinder. An electric motor pumps oil
into the cylinder to move the piston.
The piston smoothly lifts the elevator
cab. Electrical valves control the re-
lease of the oil for a gentle descent

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COMMON ELEVATOR TERMS

Annunciator : An electrical device that indicates, usually by lights, the floors at which an elevator
landing signal has been registered

Buffer : A device for stopping a descending car or counterweight beyond its bottom terminal by
absorbing and dissipating the kinetic energy of the car or counterweight.
Oil buffer The absorbing medium may be oil
Spring buffer the absorbing medium is spring

Car : The load-carrying element of an elevator, including platform, car frame,

enclosure, and car door or gate.

Car Frame : The supporting frame to which the car platform, guide shoes, car
safety, and hoisting ropes or hoisting-rope sheaves, or the plunger of a hydraulic elevator are at-
tached.

Car Platform The structure on which the car and its floor are mounted.

Hoistway A shaft for travel of one or more elevators. It extends from the bottom of the pit to the 20
underside of the overhead machine room or the roof. A blind hoistway is the portion of the shaft DEBRE MARKOS
UNIVERSITY
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Controller
Driving
Machine
sheave
Hoist-
way Hoist
Door operator
Rope
Car

Car guide Counter

rails weight

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Spring DEBRE MARKOS
buffer PASSENGER UNIVERSITY
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COMMON ELEVATOR TERMS

Counterweights : A counterweight usually is made up of
cut steel plates set in a steel frame.
Moving up as the car moves down and down when the car
Car Counter
moves up.Purpose -for maintaining traction between the hoist-
guide rails weight
ing ropes and the driving sheave.
rails
Hoist Elevator Operating Systems
Rope Hoist
The method of actuating elevator control is called elevator op-
Ropes
eration
A. Car-Switch Operation
Car B. Signal Operation
C. Automatic Operation

Counter
Car guide weight
rails
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FREIGHT DEBRE MARKOS
ELEVATORS UNIVERSITY
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03 ESCALATORS
• Escalators or powered stairs are used when it is neces-
sary to move large numbers of people from floor to floor.
They provide continuous movement of persons and can thus
remedy traffic conditions that are not readily addressed by
elevators.

• Escalators are used to connect airport terminals, parking

garages, sports facilities, shopping malls, and numerous
mixed-use facilities

• An escalator consists of articulated, grooved treads and

risers attached to a continuous chain moved by a driving
machine and supported by a steel truss framework

• Escalators also include a handrail on each side of the

steps that moves at the same speed as the steps balus-
trades, or guards, that enclose the steps on each side and 23
support the handrails; brakes; control devices; and threshold DEBRE MARKOS
plates at the entrance to and the exit from the treadway. UNIVERSITY
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a Typical anatomy of an Escalator 24

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Spiral Escalator

Each step is formed by a grooved tread

portion connected to a curved and
grooved riser. The tread and riser assem-
bly is either a single die-cast piece or is
assembled to a frame.

capacities of 5000 and 8000 persons

per hour, although observed capacities,
even in heavy traffic, rarely exceed 2000
and 4000 persons per hour, respectively.

Escalators typically operate at 90 or 120

ft /min, as needed for peak traffic, and
are reversible in direction.

Escalators usually are installed in pairs—

one for carrying traffic up and the other
25
for moving traffic down
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Fire Protection of Escalators

An escalator not serving as a required exit should have its floor openings enclosed or protected as
required for other vertical openings. Acceptable protection,as an alternative, is afforded in build-
ings completely protected by a standard supervised sprinkler system by any of the following.

• Sprinkler-vent method
• Spray-nozzle method
• Rolling shutter method
• Partial enclosure method

Escalator trusses and machine spaces should be enclosed with fire-resistant materials.
Ventilation should be provided for machine and control spaces

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04 CONVEYERS AND
PNEUMATIC TUBES
• When there is a continuous flow of materials, such as mail or other documents to be distrib-
uted throughout a multistory building, conveyer systems may provide an economical supplement
to elevators.

• Two types of conveyer systems are employed in commercial buildings

A. Selective vertical conveyer
B. Tracked conveyer system

SELECTIVE VERTICAL CONVEYER

• moves plastic tubs from one floor to another, automatically loading and unloading at pre-
selected floors. The tubs typically are made to carry mail and small supplies and have payloads
of up to 50 lb each. A typical selective vertical conveyer installation is similar to an escalator

TRACKED CONVEYER
• permits both vertical and horizontal document distribution. This system employs self-
powered cars, which travel over a track system that allows ‘‘switching off’’ at selected station 27
locations. DEBRE MARKOS
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04 CONVEYERS AND
PNEUMATIC TUBES
Pneumatic Tubes
•These are also used to transport small loads within buildings. Units are moved through tubes
under air pressure or suction, or both. Items to be transported are carried inside cylinders slightly
smaller in diameter than the tubes.

MAIL CHUTES
• Used in multistory buildings for gravity delivery of mail from the various floors to a mailbox in
the main lobby

• a mail chute is simply a vertical, unpressurized,rectangular tube. With permission of the Post
Office, one or more chutes may be installed in office buildings more than four stories high and in
apartment buildings with more than 40 apartments.

• Usually made of 20-ga cold-formed steel, with a glass front, and supported by vertical steel 28
angles, a chute is about 3 8 in in cross section. In the front of the chute, available in a lobby in DEBRE MARKOS
each story, a slot is provided for insertion of flat mail. UNIVERSITY
2010 E.C