How to install the reinforcement parts of steel for the beam practically?

To install the reinforcement steel of a beam needs some particular experience how to do that, and the people who needs this kind of experience should be the contractor and the site engineer, so it is not enough to know how to design or draw a reinforcement steel of a beam but also to have the experience how this reinforcement steel (bottom bars, middle bars, top bars, stirrups) will be installed in the beam as shown in the picture bellow.

Reinforcement of a beam

Here are the steps of how to reinforce a beam

1.       From the structure drawings of the beam we take the location and name of the beam such as B-1 for example.

2.       Then we go to the detailed drawings such as sections, longitudinal sections to make in a list of its diameter, number, shapes (bent or straight steel), and length of bars for the bottom, middle and top steel, and we do so for the stirrups like number, dimensions and spaces of the stirrups. 

3.       After we have the list for bars and stirrups of the specified beam we prepare them by multiple processes like bending of hooks, cutting the required lengths, and we do the same for the stirrups then we bring all these parts close to the beam location.

4.       We put the bottom, middle, top steel in their locations in the beam and that will be easy then we lift the bottom steel as closer as possible to the top steel from middle of the span of the beam by making it in a curvature shape with the help of a piece of wood left on two bricks or something equal as shown in the picture bellow, then we start to add the whole required number of stirrups for that beam from the smallest distance between the bottom and top steel  bars in the middle of the span which  we have made in purpose for this reason.     

A beam in the installation process

    

A beam in the installation process

5.     Finally we start arranging the required spacing between stirrups then tying these stirrups with the top bars of the beam, then we release the piece of wood that left the bottom steel to let it back to its original location in the beam, then we left the bottom steel on spacers to achieve the required cover of the concrete and start tying the bottom steel.

Finally, with the previous steps we are now qualified to reinforce a beam in the site and the beam now is ready to be casted with concrete.

By the way these steps are applicable for hidden beam and tie beams.

This article  written by Taha Mesleh working as an experience civil engineer in the field of building and contracting   , if you want to read similar articles visit:construction-and-architecture.plogspot.com