III. Explain in English

• non-structural reasons;

• the nearest equivalents;

• a very extravagant use of material;

• fireproof;

• a composite system;

• to have a great advantage;

• a good horizontal diaphragm;

IV. Discuss with your partner the following questions.

4. What were the nearest equivalents of the reinforced-concrete slab?

5. What can be said about the drawbacks of the earlier floor systems?

6. What was the alternative to these floor system?

V. Ask you r friend to prove that the reinforced-concrete slab has a great advantage over the most earlier systems. Use the following word combinations.

A good horizontal diaphragm;

To bind the walls or columns together;

To distribute any side loads;

Lesson 4

Leaning tower of pisa begins to be stabilized.

Read the text and say what strategies were proposed to reinforce the base of the leaning Tower of Pisa.

According to calculations by Paola Napoli, an engineering professor at Torino Polytechnic, the Leaning Tower of Pisa is predicted to fall over between 2030 and 2040. In a race against its inevitable demise, engineers began reinforcing the base of the tower in summer of 1992.

In 1975, a competition was held ways to shore up the tower, but ended without a decision on how to proceed. Shortly thereafter, city officials stopped the pumping of water from nearby wells, finding that it caused the Pisa Tower to tilt further.

Other complex preservations strategies proposed in 1988 called for temporarily supporting the tower by a pair of steel braces until hydraulic jacks could be embedded around the foundation to prevent further shifting. If that strategy failed, an underpinning structure of steel micropiles connected to brackets was to anchor the tower underground, transferring its load.

In 1992, a team of Italian engineers began implementing a simpler stabilization plan, suggested by Napoli, which applies a vertical force on the northern edge of the tower’s base, opposite its tilt. The stabilization team excavated down to the footing of the building and then poured concrete and lead shot into the foundation to counterweight the upended base. In three months, the engineers have managed reverse the tower’s position by 0,3 degrees, according to results unveiled at the International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering Conference.

Vocabulary

to predict – предсказывать

inevitable – неминуемый

demise – смерть, кончина

to proceed – происходить, действовать дальше

well – колодец

to tilt – наклоняться

temporarily – временно

jack – домкрат, рычаг, клин

to embed – вставлять, врезать

shifting – смещение, сдвиг

unveiled – объявленный

I. Choose the right synonym

1. The Leaning Tower of Pisa is predicted to fall over between 2030 and 2040.

a) designed b) decided c) foretold

2. A competition ended without a decision on how to proceed.

a) organized b) completed c) held

3. Other complex preservations strategies called for temporarily supporting the tower by a pair of steel braces.

a) demanded b) chose c) caused

4. The stabilization team excavated down to the footing of the building.

a) changed b) took c) hollowed out

5. According to results unveiled all the International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering Conference the engineers have managed to reverse the tower’s position by 0,3, degrees.

a) turn backward b) define c) create