Dive into the intricacies of a cementation plan and discover the importance of structural grids. This article explores how they play a key role in communications between structural engineers and regulatory agencies.
Key Insights:
- Structural grids are essential in construction documents, commonly used to indicate specific areas in calculations for regulatory agencies. They are used universally in commercial construction and increasingly in residential construction.
- Grid systems in plans not only facilitate easy referencing and localization of problem areas, but they also serve as a communication tool between on-site workers and office personnel.
- Dimensions in cementation plans are anchored to the grids to further improve clarity and facilitate understanding. The dimensions serve to provide more detailed information about specific elements, like chimneys, in the plan.
This is our foundation plan. The foundation plan refers to the concrete that is being built here. When you look at this drawing, you will see numbers in the grid.
We are showing the grid numbers from 1 to 8 at the top, and from A to H along the side. When the Structural Engineer sends their calculations to the regulatory agency, they must indicate specific areas.
They have to do this because they have made structural calculations. For example, this wall segment would be the wall along Grid 2 between Grids A and C. So they would refer to that information in their calculations. In Residential construction, it is increasingly common to see structural grids included in a set of drawings.
In Commercial construction, you always see structural grids indicated in the construction documents. One of the major advantages of having grid systems in the plans is that if I have a problem in a specific area of the drawing, I can be on the job site talking to someone in their office, and they can say, “Where is your problem?” I can reply, “It is between Grids 3 and 4 and Grids C and D, ” and they can easily locate that area.
Another thing you’ll notice in this drawing is that the floor plan is shown as a background in the structural drawing. It is grayed or ghosted, which means it appears as a light reference. This helps facilitate conversations when coordinating with other team members. Therefore, structural grids are very important.
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You can see in this area that I have my detail references. So, Detail 9 will show this condition at the base and will appear on Sheet S1.3. The first time we see that detail is on this page.
It was Sheet S1.3. You can see the symbols right here for different section cuts. I also have a description that discusses the condition of the concrete floor, and again here I am showing a section.
Through that wall, there is a detailed section—again, it would be Detail 1 on Sheet S4.1. Earlier sheets such as Sheet S2.1, include foundational notes. You will also find references in the foundation notes themselves.
They are pointing to other details for more information. So instead of mentioning all the information in a single note, they indicate which detail to look at for a complete explanation of what’s occurring on this page. So this is our foundation plan.
If you could please take a moment to look at the drawing, you will also notice that in terms of dimensioning, we have dimensions anchored to the grid.
As necessary, we are anchoring, for example, the chimney dimensions to this Grid here. So let’s enlarge the image.
Observe that for a moment. Again, this helps with the visualization and communication of information between the Structural Engineer and the regulatory agency.
Again, we have the structural grids, and the dimensions are anchored to the grids. And again, we are using structural grids. They are used all the time in Commercial construction, and increasingly in Residential construction.