Load-bearing wall
A load-bearing wall or bearing wall is a wall that is an active structural element of a building, which holds the weight of the elements above it, by conducting its weight to a foundation structure below it.
Load-bearing walls are one of the earliest forms of construction. The development of the flying buttress in Gothic architecture allowed structures to maintain an open interior space, transferring more weight to the buttresses instead of to central bearing walls. In housing, load-bearing walls are most common in the light construction method known as "platform framing". In the birth of the skyscraper era, the concurrent rise of steel as a more suitable framing system first designed by William Le Baron Jenney, and the limitations of load-bearing construction in large buildings, led to a decline in the use of load-bearing walls in large-scale commercial structures.
Description
A load-bearing wall or bearing wall is a
History
Application
Depending on the type of building and the number of floors, load-bearing walls are gauged to the appropriate thickness to carry the weight above them. Without doing so, it is possible that an outer wall could become unstable if the load exceeds the strength of the material used, potentially leading to the collapse of the structure. The primary function of this wall is to enclose or divide space of the building to make it more functional and useful. It provides privacy, affords security, and gives protection against heat, cold, sun or rain.[5]
Housing
In housing, load-bearing walls are most common in the light construction method known as "platform framing", and each load-bearing wall sits on a wall sill plate which is mated to the lowest base plate. The sills are bolted to the masonry or concrete foundation.[6]
The
Skyscrapers
Due to the immense weight of
See also
- Column – in most larger, multi-storey buildings, vertical loads are primarily borne by columns / pillars instead of structural walls
- Tube frame structure – Some of the world's tallest skyscrapers use load-bearing outer frames – be it single tube (e.g. the old WTC Twin Towers), or bundled tube (e.g. the Willis Tower or the Burj Khalifa)
References
- ^ "How to Identify a Load-Bearing Wall". Lifehacker. Retrieved 2020-06-26.
- ^ "Load-bearing wall". www.designingbuildings.co.uk. Retrieved 2020-06-26.
- S2CID 233611245.
- .
- ^ "7 FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS A BUILDING WALL SHOULD SATISFY". CivilBlog.Org. 2015-07-08. Retrieved 2020-05-31.
- ^ "What is Platform Framing? (with pictures)". wiseGEEK. Retrieved 2020-06-26.
- ^ "Burj Khalifa, Dubai | 182168". Emporis. Archived from the original on August 5, 2011. Retrieved 2018-09-17.