Drop edge beam - need help with the plan

Hi guys,

I'm not sure if Drop edge beam needed on the fill part of slab. According to this http://www.anewhouse.com.au/2013/07/drop-edge-beams/ it's needed on the fill part. But my builder included drop edge beam on the garage side and porch step down area and told me that DEB is not needed on the master bed side where there is fill area. Instead they asked me to put retaining wall on the master bed side. But according to north-west elevation there is fill area in that part of the slab which needs to be supported by Drop Edge Beam? Any suggestion would be appreciated.

I have attached here the plan.

Seems like ...
Could also be for another reason such as anchoring (?) The beams are going into the solid/stable undisturbed soil. As an anchor they'd have no effect in fill. They could be what will keep you house stable ... so best in solid/compact earth, not loose 'uncontrolled' fill. I'm interested in this too.

We had 1m deep DEB on our whole raft slab (running like checkerboard pattern through house). We're on highly reactive clay that can move as much as 75mm. [We also had extra piers going another metre down where we added uncompacted fill. But that's another issue]

After talking to the builder several times they agreed to include DEB in North-West elevation. By including DEB, no retaining wall would be needed on that part of boundary. They are doing fill batters in the front yard beside porch although I asked to include DEB there also as that is also fill area and the soil is reactive type (H1). Anyone knows if battered fill would be ok for the soil type considering any future erosion?

My advice is for you to contact a local engineer
Have him Visit the site &
1. Explain the code requirements
2. Pros and Cons for Various options available for retaining
3. Help you with an optimized cost efficient solution
Sorry, I am in Perth and there is only so much one can do on Forums, Blogs and with old engineering technology

Thanks StructuralBIMGuy for your advice.

Hi guys,

I have an updated plan which includes drop edge beam to the porch and bed1.

New Plan with North-East Elevation


New Plan with North-West Elevation


Battered fill in the front yard has been removed!


including drop edge beam has resulted in more steps to the porch, and the battered fill is removed from the front yard.

Just wanted to know -
- How the new plan looking?
- Isn't battered fill part of standard cut/fill in a sloping block? I'm not sure how the landscaping of front yard would look like.

Hi jahangir
The stairs are orientated the wrong way?
They should go up from the front which draws the visitor into the house.
Make it a feature wide at the bottom narrowing at the top..get my gist
Once the elevation is sorted out then you can address the DEB, footings retaining, etc
BTW most drawings are now Modelled in 3D software ie Revit, Archicad, Vws,etc , so you can view the building from different angles, rotate, slice, measure, extract quantities, analyse, simulate future erosion (Multiphysics), etc.
Clients don't have to own the software to view the Design & results, there are also free viewers,
eg 3D pdf that you can use I generally send my Clients 2D & 3D models in PDF of the design and engineering details
Ask you designer, engineer and builder about Building Information Modelling (BIM)
If you arent given BIM you arent getting the FULL PICTURE (That is yet another problem- TOPIC)

3D PDF here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laL1dW2WRvA
My engineering and Simulation BIM details Here
https://plus.google.com/u/2/communities ... 2205285216

Hi StructuralBIMGuy,

Thanks for the info. Regarding the stairs : I think they put it on the garage side as the garage is stepped down and you can easily walk to the stairs?

What do you think about the included DEB in the porch and bed1. With that the house might look like -



or




So, I'm not sure how the landscaping would look like as there is a big steps from the porch to the front yard.

If you Study the steps properly the site plan doesn't match the elevation with the number of steps?
Also the middle landing lines up with the wall?
My point is if its done in 3D you can consider alternate options, views and they will be accurate!
I always make stairs a major feature, its what brings you into the house and transcending levels.
Sorry I don't do or comment on landscaping others may

Could someone explain what the following means?

1. battered fill?

2. Drop edge beam? is it vertical or horizontial beam?

3. contour lines? 22-0 , 22-2, 22-4, 22-6 what does this means?

1. Battered fill is usually fill that is placed to a slope from say the edge of your house up to where natural ground has been cut. Some councils have maximum slopes and may require a geotech report.

2. DEB is a vertical beam usually integrated into the main slab to cope with cut ground.
Here is an example from Brian Ashworths excellent site...
http://anewhouse.com.au/2013/07/drop-edge-beams/

3. Contour lines on a survey are usually to AHD ( Australian Height datum ) and represent the height above sea level 22.0 = 22 metres, 22.4 = 22.4 metres etc. You can work out the slope of your land at a certain point by measuring the distance between two of these lines on your contour survey or site plan with a scale ruler and the height.

Stewie

thanks Stewie for sharing your knowledge.

"If you Study the steps properly the site plan doesn't match the elevation with the number of steps?
Also the middle landing lines up with the wall?" - Not sure what you mean here. Could you explain the two things a bit here?

I asked the builder. They don't provide 3D drawing.

http://s1166.photobucket.com/user/struc ... sort=3&o=0

Thanks a lot StructuralBIMGuy. Where it says in the site plan that it's 3 steps?

http://s1166.photobucket.com/user/struc ... sort=3&o=0

Thanks again. Really appreciate your effort

No Problems..you really must insist on your drawings and documentations being correctly coordinated
and your Designer/Engineer/Builder also must explain these options , processes, benefits, cost implications, etc,etc
so you are able to understand them and make informed decisions