Use of reinforced brickwork for crack free loadbearing construction

Abstract

Brickwork is usually used for single storey construction in Sri Lanka. It can also be used for loadbearing two storey construction. However, a majority of these structures suffer from the drawback of the formation of cracks few years after the construction. A majority of these cracks are due to thermal movement, creep and shrinkage of brick walls. Generally, these cracks are of small crack width. Nevertheless, those impair the serviceability of the structure since any cracks in brick walls cast doubt in the minds of the occupants about the safety of the structure. This is specially true for loadbearing two storey houses. It is possible to use reinforced brick work to minimise these cracks. It is shown that reinforced brickwork can be effectively used to take flexure and direct tension to minimise the occurrence of cracks. Extra cost involved with such use of reinforced brickwork is not appreciable.