Course Title: Building Construction and

Cost Estimation
Course Code: AG312

Course Coordinator
Name: Dr Jagriti Gupta
Designation: Assistant Professor
Department: Civil Engineering
Email ID: Jagriti.gupta@mygyanvihar.com
Lesson no: 5 Metals, Glass, Plastics, and
Timber.
Expected Course Outcomes
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
•Understand the properties and applications of key building materials and components, including their design and
construction techniques.
•Gain knowledge of agricultural and roofed building designs, sustainable practices, and conservation principles.
•Analyze construction economics, including cost estimation, cost control, and evaluation of planning alternatives.
•Apply economic methods like cost-in-use analysis, benefit-to-cost ratios, and payback period calculations to assess
investments in buildings and systems.
•By integrating theoretical and practical knowledge, students will develop skills for sustainable, cost-effective
construction practices and informed decision-making in real-world building design and construction projects.
Course Objectives:
•Understand Building Materials: Learn the properties, classifications, and applications of essential construction
materials like stones, bricks, cement, concrete, glass, metals, and timber.
•Master Building Components and Techniques: Gain knowledge of the design, construction, and finishing
methods for key building components such as floors, staircases, arches, and walls.
•Explore Specialized Building Design: Study the design and construction of agricultural buildings, sloped and
flat roofs, with a focus on conservation and modern design practices.
•Analyse Construction Economics: Develop skills in cost estimation, cost control, and evaluating cost-effective
design and planning alternatives in construction projects.
•Apply Economic Evaluation Tools: Use methods like cost-in-use analysis, benefit-to-cost ratios, and payback
period calculations to assess investments in buildings and systems.
Cement
Cement is a binder, a substance that sets and hardens and can bind other materials
together. Cements used in construction can be characterized as being either hydraulic
or non-hydraulic, depending upon the ability of the cement to be used in the presence
of water. Non-hydraulic cement will not set in wet conditions or underwater, rather it
sets as it dries and reacts with carbon dioxide in the air. It can be attacked by some
aggressive chemicals after setting. Hydraulic cement is made by replacing some of
the cement in a mix with activated aluminium silicates, pozzolanas, such as fly ash.
The chemical reaction results in hydrates that are not very water-soluble and so are
quite durable in water and safe from chemical attack. This allows setting in wet
condition or underwater and further protects the hardened material from chemical
attack (e.g., Portland cement).
Uses of Cement
• Cement mortar for Masonry work, plaster and pointing etc.
• Concrete for laying floors, roofs and constructing lintels, beams, weather-shed, stairs, pillars etc.
• Construction for important engineering structures such as bridge, culverts, dams, tunnels, light
house, clocks, etc.
• Construction of water-wells, tennis courts, septic tanks, lamp posts, telephone cabins etc.
• Making joint such as pipes-joints etc.
• Manufacturing of precast pipes, garden seats, artistically designed wens, flower posts, etc.
• Preparation of foundation, water tight floors, footpaths, etc.
Types of Cement
• Ordinary Portland cement
Ordinary Portland cement is the most common type of cement in general use around
the world. This cement is made by heating limestone (calcium carbonate) with small
quantities of other materials (such as clay) to 1450°C in a kiln, in a process known as
calcination, whereby a molecule of carbon dioxide is liberated from the calcium
carbonate to form calcium oxide, or quicklime, which is then blended with the other
materials that have been included in the mix. The resulting hard substance, called
'clinker', is then ground with a small amount of gypsum into a powder to make
'Ordinary Portland Cement'(often referred to as OPC). Portland cement is a basic
ingredient of concrete, mortar and most non-specialty grout. The most common use for
Portland cement is in the production of concrete.
• Rapid hardening Portland cement
• It is firmer than Ordinary Portland Cement
• It contains more C3S are less C2S than the ordinary Portland cement.
• Its 3 days strength is same as 7 days strength of ordinary Portland cement.
• Low heat Portland cement
• Heat generated in ordinary Portland cement at the end of 3days 80 cal/gm. While in low heat cement it is about 50cal/gm of
cement.
• It has low percentage of C3A and relatively more C2S and less C3S than O.P. Cement.
• Reduce and delay the heat of hydration. British standard ( B S. 1370 : 1974 ) limit the heat of hydration of this cement.
• Sulphate resisting Portland cement
• Maximum C3A content by 3.5% and minimum fineness by 2500 cm'/g.
• Firmer than ordinary pot land cement.
• Sulphate forms the sulpha-aluminates which have expensive properties and so causes disintegration of concrete.
• For this cement, the silage as obtained from blast furnace is used
• The clinkers of cement are ground with about 60 to 65 percent of slag.
• Its strength in early days is less and hence it required longer curing period. It proves to be economical as slag, which is a Waste
product, is used in its manufactures.
• Pozzolanic cement
• As per Indian standard, the proportions of Pozzolana may be 10 to 25 % by weight. Eg. Burnt clay, shale, Fly ash.
• This Cement has higher resistance to chemical agencies and to sea water because of absence of lime.
• It evolves less heat and initial strength is less but final strength is 28 days onward equal to ordinary Portland cement.
• It possesses less resistance to the erosion and weathering action.
• It imparts higher degree of water tightness and it is cheap.
• White Portland cement
• Grey colour of O.P. cement is due to presence of Iron Oxide. Hence in White Cement FeO, is limited to 1 %.
• Sodium Alumina Ferrite (Crinoline) NaAlF6 is added to act as flux in the absence of Iron-Oxide.
• It is quick drying, possesses high strength and has superior aesthetic values and it also cost lee than ordinary Cement
because of specific requirements imposed upon the raw materials and the manufacturing process.
• White Cement are used in Swimming pools, for painting garden furniture, moulding sculptures and statues etc.
• Coloured Portland Cement
• The Cement of desired colour may be obtained by mixing mineral pigments with ordinary Cement.
• The amount of colouring material may vary from 5 to 10 percent. If this percentage exceeds 10 percent, the strength of
cements is affected.
• The iron Oxide in different proportions gives brown, red or yellow colour.
• Colour
• The colour of stone along with its shape and arrangement of mineral constituents greatly influence its fashion and ornamental
value.
• A stone with uniform and the attractive colour is durable if its grains are compact.
• The engineer selecting the stone should be aware of the variation of colour of the stone after long exposure and in polluted
atmospheres.
• Strength:
• For the selection of stone as a building block, strength is an important property to be looked for.
• For any building block, minimum crushing strength should be 3.5 N/mm2 as recommended by Indian Standard Code.
• Hardness:
• When stone is used for flooring and pavement, this is an important property to be considered
• Coefficient of hardness should be less than 14, for building work stones.
• Coefficient of hardness should be at least 17, for road works.
• The stones used in floors and pavements should be able to resist abrasive movement caused due to the movement of men and
materials over them.
• Durability:
• When stone is used as aggregate for road works and railway ballast, this is an important property to be considered.
• The durability of the stone is significantly determined by its resistance to fire and weathering.
• Stones selected should be capable of resisting adverse effects of natural forces like wind, rain and heat.
• A good stone should not show wear of more than 2%.
• Expansive cement
• This type of cement is produced by adding an expanding medium like sulphoaluminate and a stabilizing agent to the
ordinary cement.
• The expanding cement is used for the construction of water retaining structures and for repairing the damaged concrete
surfaces.
• High alumina cement
• This cement is produced by grilling clinkers formed by calcining bauxite and lime. It can stand high temper lures.
• If evolves great heat during setting. It is therefore not affected by frost.

Composition of Cement Clinker:

The various constituents combine in burning and form cement clinker. The compounds formed in the
burning process have the properties of setting and hardening in the presence of water. They are
known as Bogue compounds after the name of Bogue who identified them. These compounds are as
follows: Alite (Tricalcium silicate or C3S), Belite (Dicalcium silicate or C2S), Celite
(Tricalciumalluminate or C3A) and Felite (Tetracalciumalumino ferrite or C4AF).
Various tests on cement:
Basically two types of tests are under taken for assessing the quality of cement. These are either field test or lab tests. The current section describes these
tests in details.
• Field test:
There are four field tests may be carried out to as certain roughly the quality of cement. There are four types of field tests to access the colour, physical
property, and strength of the cement as described below.
• Colour
The colour of cement should be uniform.
It should be typical cement colour i.e. grey colour with a light greenish shade.
• Physical properties
Cement should feel smooth when touched between fingers.
If hand is inserted in a bag or heap of cement, it should feel cool.
• Presence of lumps
Cement should be free from lumps.
For a moisture content of about 5 to 8%, this increase of volume may be much as 20 to 40 %, depending upon the grading of sand.
• Strength
A thick paste of cement with water is made on a piece of thick glass and it is kept under water for 24 hours. It should set and not
crack.
Laboratory tests:
Six laboratory tests are conducted mainly for assessing the quality of cement. Following are these tests:

• Fineness – Sieve Analysis

• Compressive strength – Compressive Strength Testing Machine
• Consistency – Vicat Apparatus
• Setting time (Initial and Final Setting Time) – Vicat Apparatus
• Soundness – Le-Chatelier Apparatus
• Tensile strength – Universal Testing Machine
Concrete:
Concrete is a composite material composed mainly of water, aggregate,
and cement. Often, additives and reinforcements are included in the
mixture to achieve the desired physical properties of the finished
material. When these ingredients are mixed together, they form a fluid
mass that is easily molded into shape. Over time, the cement forms a
hard matrix which binds the rest of the ingredients together into a
durable stone-like material with many uses. The aim is to mix these
materials in measured amounts to make concrete that is easy to:
Transport, place, compact, finish and which will set, and harden, to give
a strong and durable product. The amount of each material (ie cement,
water and aggregates) affects the properties of hardened concrete.
Production of concrete
A good quality concrete is essentially a homogeneous mixture of cement, coarse and fineaggregates and
water which consolidates into a hard mass due to chemical action between the cement and water. Each
of the four constituents has a specific function. The coarser aggregate acts as a filler. The fine aggregate
fills up the voids between the paste and the coarse aggregate. The cement in conjunction with water acts
as a binder. The mobility of the mixture is aided by the cement paste, fines and nowadays, increasingly
by the use of admixtures. The stages of concrete production are: Batching or measurement of materials,
Mixing, Transporting, Placing, Compacting, Curing and Finishing.
Methods of curing:
While selecting any mode of curing the following two factors are considered:
• The loss of water should be prevented.
• The temperature should be kept minimum for dissipation of heat of hydration.
Methods of curing can be categorized into the following categories:
• Ponding
• Sprinkling
• Wet coverings
• Formwork
• Plastic sheeting
• Membrane curing compounds
• Steam curing
• Chemical curing: In this method water is sprinkled over the surface, after adding certain amount of some hygroscopic material (e.g. sodium
chloride or calcium chloride)
Properties Assessment of Concrete
• Water cement ratio and compressive strength
A cement of average composition requires about 25% of water by mass for chemical reaction. In addition, an
amount of water is needed to fill the gel pores. Nearly 100 years ago, Duff Abrams discovered the direct
relationship between water-to-cement ratio and strength, i.e., lesser the water used higher the strength of the
concrete, since too much water leaves lots of pores in the cement past. According to Abram’s law, the strength of
fully compacted concrete at a given age and normal temperature is inversely proportional to the water – cement
ratio. Here the water-cement ratio is the relative weight of water to the cement in the mixture. For most
applications, water-to-cement ratio should be between 0.4 and 0.5 lower for lower permeability and higher
strength. In concrete, very low water content result in very stiff mixtures that are difficult to place, representing
workability.
Workability
Workability is one of the physical parameters of concrete which affects the strength and durability as well as the
cost of labor and appearance of the finished product. Concrete is said to be workable when it is easily placed and
compacted homogeneously i.e without bleeding or Segregation. Unworkable concrete needs more work or effort to
be compacted in place, also honeycombs &/or pockets may also be visible in finished concrete. Definition of
Workability “The property of fresh concrete which is indicated by the amount of useful internal work required to
fully compact the concrete without bleeding or segregation in the finished product.”
• Workability Test
• Compaction factor test
• Flow table test
• Compressive Strength Testing
• Tensile Strength Testing
• Sulphate Attack Resistance Testing
• Permeability Testing
• Abrasion Testing
• Microscopic Analysis
1. Which of the following is NOT a type of cement?
a) Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC)
b) Portland Pozzolana Cement (PPC)
c) White Cement
d) Quicklime
Answer: d) Quicklime
2. What is the typical initial setting time of Ordinary Portland
Cement (OPC)?
a) 10 minutes
b) 30 minutes
c) 60 minutes
d) 120 minutes
Answer: b) 30 minutes
3. Which type of cement is most suitable for decorative works
like tile fixing and grouting?
a) OPC
b) PPC
c) White Cement
d) Hydraulic Cement
Answer: c) White Cement
4. What property of cement ensures long-term strength and
load-bearing capacity?
a) Durability
b) Workability
c) Fineness
d) Heat of hydration
Answer: a) Durability
5. Which type of cement is most suitable for large-scale
concreting works to reduce heat generation?
a) PPC
b) OPC
c) White Cement
d) High Alumina Cement
Answer: a) PPC

6. Which of the following is a type of concrete that uses steel

reinforcement?
a) Plain Concrete
b) Precast Concrete
c) Prestressed Concrete
d) Reinforced Concrete
Answer: d) Reinforced Concrete
7. Which property of concrete affects its ease of mixing,
placing, and finishing?
a) Strength
b) Durability
c) Workability
d) Porosity
Answer: c) Workability
8. Which type of concrete is commonly used in bridge girders
and beams?
a) Plain Concrete
b) Prestressed Concrete
c) Precast Concrete
d) Lightweight Concrete
Answer: b) Prestressed Concrete
9. What is the primary application of precast concrete?
a) Roofs and slabs
b) Factory-produced components like beams and panels
c) Piling works
d) Pavement construction
Answer: b) Factory-produced components like beams and panels
10. Which type of concrete is commonly used in low-load
structures such as pavements and pathways?
a) Plain Concrete
b) Prestressed Concrete
c) Reinforced Concrete
d) High-strength Concrete
Answer: a) Plain Concrete
11. What is the primary difference between river sand and M-
sand?
a) Color
b) Origin
c) Grain size
d) Mineral content
Answer: b) Origin
12. Which type of sand is considered eco-friendly due to
reduced riverbed mining?
a) River Sand
b) M-sand
c) Desert Sand
d) Gravel Sand
Answer: b) M-sand
Reference Books
1. "Building Materials" by S.K. Duggal
Publisher: New Age International Publishers.
2. "Engineering Materials" by S.C. Rangwala
Publisher: Charotar Publishing House.
3. "Building Construction" by B.C. Punmia, Ashok Kumar Jain, and Arun Kumar Jain
Publisher: Laxmi Publications.
4. "Construction Materials and Management" by Ghosh and Chakraborty
Publisher: PHI Learning.
5. "Civil Engineering Materials" by TTTI Chandigarh
Publisher: Tata McGraw Hill.
6. "Textbook of Building Materials" by P.C. Verghese
Publisher: PHI Learning.
• Research Papers: -
• Dr. Ravi. B., Shambhulingappa. F. Nallanavar “History & Growth of Cement industry in India – A
Study” 2022 JETIR January (2022), Volume 9, Issue 1 www.jetir.org (ISSN-2349-5162) JETIR2201559
Journal, f401- f408
• Anoop Singh Gaharwar, Naveen Gaurav, A P Singh, Hira Singh Gariya, Bhoora “A Review Article on
Manufacturing Process of Cement, Environmental Attributes, Topography and Climatological Data
Station: IMD, Sidhi M.P” Journal of Medicinal Plants Studies (2016); 4(4): 47-53
• Luca Lavagna and Roberto Nisticò An Insight into the Chemistry of Cement—A Review Appl. Sci.
(2023) , 13, 203. https://doi.org/10.3390/app13010203 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/applsci
• "History of cement". Www.understanding-cement.com. Retrieved 17 December (2018)
• Francis, A.J. The Cement Industry 1796–1914: A History, David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-7386-2, Ch.
5. (1977).
• Blezard, Robert G. (2004) "The History of Calcareous Cements" in Hewlett, Peter C., ed. Leaʼs
chemistry of cement and concrete 4th ed. Amsterdam: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann. pp. 1–24.
ISBN 9780080535418