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Load Bearing Masonry
Load bearing masonry is among the most ancient architectural technologies, yet continues to provide boundless opportunities for both traditional and modern design. A building using these monumental limestone components is dramatic in impact, and frequently economical to erect and maintain.
The Cistercian Abbey Church in Dallas, Texas provides a useful example of the benefits of specifying load bearing masonry.
Construction savings
Exterior and interior walls constitute approximately 15,000 square feet of limestone. Incredibly, these limestone walls were erected in thirty-one (31) working days. Savings resulting from this short construction time are manifested in:
1. Labor - Each limestone block carries a surface area of eighteen (18) square feet of exterior exposure and a like amount of interior exposure. This equates to thirty-six (36) square feet with each limestone block laid. A single trade performs both wall construction and finish-out. Further, because of the nature of load bearing masonry, a smaller work crew is required. These are the factors used to deliver an efficient "square feet per man-hour" computation.
2. Materials - Many of the materials required with conventional skeletal steel frame construction are not needed due to the nature of load bearing masonry. Some of these unnecessary items are structural steel, steel reinforcing, insulation, exterior skin and interior finish materials.
3. Overhead - The abbreviated construction period, fewer materials on the job-site and a reduced construction crew deliver savings in almost all overhead categories. Interest, equipment charged to job-site and all labor associated overhead costs would enjoy major reductions. Soft costs such as architectural fees are much reduced as a result of simplified designs and fewer detailed drawings.
Air conditioning and heating
This solid limestone wall construction is also energy efficient. Due to their mass, the limestone blocks on the chapel react slowly to temperature variations amounting to an internal resistance to change. This resistance creates a time lag which was beneficial in designing the HVAC (heating and air conditioning) systems. Heat stored in massive walls tends to be transmitted in low-load time and, in the chapel's case, actually reduced the required night HVAC requirements.
Sound transmission
The mass of the wall creates a barrier for sound transmission. The heavier the wall the greater its resistance to sound transmission. Load bearing walls are more difficult to set in motion by sound waves.
Load bearing masonry may be used for a variety of projects, including homes, commercial structures and perimeter walls. Please contact us for further details.
| Maximum Block Dimensions | ||
| W | H | D |
| 60" | 24" | 36" |
| Split-face or roughback on front and/or back faces, sawn on all other surfaces. | ||
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