A method of constructing a building is disclosed, including selecting a standard dimension less than a wide-load trucking permit limit and designing a building on a grid defined by the selected standard dimension. The building includes a plurality of prefabricated elements, wherein each prefabricated element has a width correspond to the selected standard dimension. The plurality of prefabricated elements includes a wall panel, a roof panel, a laterally resistive frame, and a rebar cage. The method includes fabricating each of the plurality of prefabricated elements at a manufacturing plant and transporting the elements by truck to a building site. The method includes constructing intersecting grade beam footings at the building site and pouring a slab between the intersecting grade beam footings. The grade beam footings include the rebar cage and have a uniform width and depth, the grade beam footings and the slab having contiguous upper surfaces.

In an exemplary embodiment, a system for making tied block mat with a border includes a mold having an array of mold cavities; and a hopper that receives a hardenable paste and is spaced from the mold to receive a sheet of mesh material therebetween, the hopper having an opening for depositing the hardenable paste into selected mold cavities, the hopper forming a filling zone with the mold wherein the hardenable paste flows through the opening into the selected mold cavities, and a blocked zone where the hardenable paste is prevented from entering other selected mold cavities of the mold; whereby the tied block mat is formed wherein the hardenable paste in the selected mold cavities becomes embedded in the sheet of mesh material in the filling zone, and a border is formed in the blocked zone where the hardenable paste is blocked from entering the other selected mold cavities.

The present application discloses a construction method for pouring concrete in a karst cave. Concrete streaming is pumped into a hollow passage of a drill stem, then opens the one-way openable sealing cover with a pre-tensioned spring on a reaming drill bit and enters the karst cave to complete pouring of the concrete. When the karst cave is relatively low, low-slump plain concrete mixed with quick-setting agents is injected through a drilling rig and the hollow drill stem to form a concrete pier; when the karst cave is relatively high, the hollow drill stem is sleeved into a thin-walled steel shell, and the thin-walled steel shell is synchronously sunk into the drilled hole while drilling, enters the karst cave and is socketed into a stable rock stratum, then concrete is pumped into the thin-walled steel shell from the bottom of the pile, and finally, a reinforcement cage is inserted to form a cast-in-place pile. Compared with the existing karst cave treatment methods, the construction method according to the present application can greatly reduce the consumption of materials, improve the mechanization of construction, simplify the construction process, shorten the construction period and reduce the engineering cost, and the cast-in-place pile with thin-walled steel shell, formed when the karst cave is relatively high, can further improve the bearing capacity of the foundation.

The disclosure is related to a method for forming structures in a liquid, preferably underwater using a flowing, settable material, wherein the material used has a density which is substantially equal to the density of the liquid in which the structure is formed as well as a system for such method and structures formed.

Soil-displacement drill (1) for soil-displacing drilling in a surface (10) in order to form a foundation pile (2), comprising a drill pipe (3), a drill head (4) at an end of the drill pipe (3) with several flap leaves (5) which are pivotable between a closed position for closing off the end of the drill pipe (3) and an open position for making this end freely accessible and one or several closing elements (6) to keep these flap leaves (5) in their closed position and prevent pivoting of the flap leaves (5) which are configured to fail during drilling into the surface (10) in such a way that these closing elements (6) do not impede pivoting of the flap leaves (5). In addition, the present invention relates to an assembly of a drill head (4) and one or several closing elements (6) for such a soil-displacement drill (1), a method for soil-displacing drilling and a method for converting a soil-displacement drill (1) to form such a soil-displacement drill (1).

The rapid consolidation and compaction method comprises (i) first driving a hollow pipe, (ii) driving a pipe with a removable end plate after filling and compacting the sandy material in it, through the hollow pipe, to required depth, creating high excess pore-water pressures in the range of 50 to 300 KPa in clayey soils, (iv) pulling out the pipe section leaving behind the removable end plate and thereby installing porous displacement piles which allows dissipation of the excess pore-water pressures horizontally to the porous displacement pile, in which the excess water flows out vertically to the ground surface, and (v) the length of the drainage path is reduced to half the spacing between adjoining porous displacement piles, allowing rapid consolidation resulting in increase in density. Installing the porous displacement piles in the layer of loose to medium dense sand layer results in the instantaneous increase in its density.

A method of rehabbing reinforced concrete pilings while in service and without the requirement to demo or otherwise gain access over the ends of an existing column. Design adopts modern environmentally responsible fiber reinforced polymer rebar and other FRP stirrups uniquely shaped into spiral sections requiring only side access for placement, designed to permanently encase the piling with a totally non-rusting non-metal reinforcement lateral containment cage featuring preformed circumference stirrups that mechanically interlock vertically and lateral adjustability to control density. The spiral stirrups extending fully 360-degrees around an existing piling with an additional overlap of at least 45 degrees.

A manhole cover assembly comprises a base frame, the base frame comprising a base body and a base flange extending laterally outward from the base body. The assembly further comprises a top frame, the top frame comprising a top body disposed annularly about at least a portion of the base body, a top flange extending laterally outward from the top body, and a lip extending laterally inward from the top body.

Extensible shells and related methods for constructing a support pier are disclosed. An extensible shell can define an interior for holding granular construction material and define a first opening at a first end for receiving the granular construction material into the interior and a second opening at a second end. The extensible shell can be flexible such that the shell expands when granular construction material is compacted in the interior of the shell. A method may include positioning the extensible shell in the ground and filling at least a portion of the interior of the shell with the granular construction material. The granular construction material may be compacted in the interior of the extensible shell to form a support pier.

A retaining wall system includes a face panel having a first end beam and a second end beam extending in parallel to the first end beam. The face panel extends a height defined from the first end beam to the second end beam when the face panel is oriented in an upright position. The face panel further includes a backfill side and is configured to retain a backfill material on the backfill side of the face panel. The retaining wall system further includes a support leg having a bracket for receiving the first end beam therein and an extension platform transversely oriented to the height of the face panel when the first end beam is received within the bracket. The extension platform extends away from the bracket and is configured to anchor the face panel in the upright position.