Text b.

With a great number of plants producing precast reinforced concrete elements in our country and abroad it is a rapid growth of precast concrete products. Particularly they are wall panels, slabs, beams to serve a multitude of building needs. This industry has a task to maintain and improve the quality of the products. A lot of excellent work has already been done to raise the standards of this industry to their present level.

First of all a well-designed plant must be established in the given area. A careful appraisal of the potential requirements provides valuable information for determining the size of the plant which should be built. A number of economic considerations deserve a particular attention. The following general aspects should be kept in mind when designing a plant. The plant floor level should be not 6 inches above the general grade of the yard to assure. In addition, concrete yard runways should be slightly above the level of the surrounding yard so that they will remain free of pebbles and other obstructions that might interfere with the operation of trucks or other equipment. The yard should slope away from the main building in all directions if possible. Adequate space should be allowed at sides and in front of machines and casting beds.

Then, a well-designed plant must have sufficient capacity for the normal output plus reasonable margin for a possible increase. All raw materials are elevated into overhead storage bins. The materials may move by gravity from the bins to the mixers and molding machinery without re-elevating. With such an arrangement the mixers are located on a separate floor level directly above the molding machinery. In large plants producing precast-concrete elements the molded units are delivered from the molding machinery to high-pressure steam curing autoclaves for further treatment.

Exercise 9. Translate from English into Russian. Define the syntax functions of the underlined words.

1. Modern steel, and beams of these mate­rials can span significant distances.

2. Stone and solid concrete have less tensile strength than fibrous wood.

3. This was done by the Romans, as well as in modern times.

4. The central opening of the gateway to the Akropolis in Athens had to accommodate the passage.

5. The iron bars are at the top of the beam, not the bottom, where they would be expected.

6. The tensile strength of the material will be exceeded.

7. A wooden beam over a given span can carry a load that would crack a stone beam carrying the same load.

8. The solution adopted by the architect, Mnesikles, was to hollow out the beam to reduce its own weight.

9. This was done by the Romans, as well as in modern times, by placing iron (and now steel) rods in the formwork.

Exercise 10. Translate the words:

противостоять, напряжение при растяжении, пролет, перекрывать расстояние, прочность при растяжении, растрескиваться, прочность при сжатии, опалубка, железобетон, уменьшать, железный брус.

Exercise 11. Note in the texts of this unit:

1. Passive Voice

2. Noun groups

3. Modal verbs

4. ed-forms

5. ing-forms

UNIT 4

Exercise 1.Translate the auxiliary words:

first, second, because of, as, much, during, by, until, unless, would, either.

Exercise 2. Words to be remembered:

masonry wall – каменные стены

arch – арка

wedge-shaped voussoir – клиновидный (клинчатый) кирпич

blocks of stone – слои камня

subject (v. n.) – подвергаться воздействию, предмет

eliminate – устранять

generate – производить

distribute – распределять

wooden framework – деревянный каркас (опалубка)

keystone – замковый камень

lay out – укладывать, раскладывать планировать

increase – увеличивать

structural form – конструкционная форма

restrain – ограничивать

arched bridge – арочный мост

feet of the arch – опоры арки

bedrock – подстилающая порода, скальное основание

bear down – опираться на

Exercise 3. Read and translate text A.