USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Reading > Town of Reading Massachusetts annual report 1942 > Part 4
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27
Building or Structure-Wherever in this code the word "building" is used, it shall be construed to mean building or other structure.
Garage-A building where one or more motor cars are kept or stored.
Public Building-Any building or part thereof used as a public or private institution, schoolhouse, church, theatre, special hall, public hall, miscellaneous hall, place of assembage or place of public resort.
Factory-Any building or part thereof where any manufacturing process is carried on.
39
Hotel-Any building intended, designed or used for supplying food and shelter to guests and having a general dining room or cafe or both and containing also more than ten sleeping rooms.
Mansard Roof-A roof formed with an upper and under set of rafters, the lower set more verticle than the upper.
Schoolhouse-Any building or premises in which public or private instruction is afforded to not less than ten pupils at one time.
Private Dwelling-A building intended, designed for, or used as the home and residence of not more than one family or household and no part of which structure is used as a store or for any business pur- pose.
Owner-As applied to a building or land shall include any part owner, joint owner, tenant in common or joint tenant of the whole or of a part of such building or land.
Repair-The reconstruction or renewal of a building or part there- of damaged by fire or other cause.
Gas Fitting-The work of putting together any fittings, pipes or fixtures or other appliances which are to contain gas for heat, light or power purposes and will be subject to inspection under existing laws.
DIVISION NO. 3-QUALITY OF MATERIALS
Section 1. In General-All materials shall be of such quality for the purposes for which they are to be used as to insure ample safety and security to life, limb, and property. The Building Inspector shall have the power to reject any materials which within his judgment are unsuitable and may require tests to be made by the architect, engineer, builder or owner. Any test thus required shall be made under the su- pervision or direction of the Building Inspector, and at the expense of the owner.
Section 2. Brick-Shall be of hard burned clay, sand-lime, or ce- ment and where used to sustain loads or where exposed to weather shall be hard and strong. Second-hand bricks shall be thoroughly cleaned before using. The absorption shall not exceed twelve per cent in forty-eight hours as an average, or more than fifteen per cent in any case.
Bricks tested for approval shall develop an average ultimate com- pressive strength of three thousand pounds per square inch - when tested flatwise. Average must be from at least five samples.
Section 3. Terra Cotta Floor Tile-When faced with Portland cement and tested on end shall give an average compressive strength of not less than twenty-five hundred pounds per square inch of net area.
Average strength to be computed from five tiles.
Section 4. Building Blocks-The term "block" as used in this
40
building code shall mean any shape of brick, concrete, or tile which forms a hollow or cellular wall.
Hollow and two-piece building blocks made of Portland Cement and suitable aggregates shall develop an ultimate compressive strength at twenty-eight days or when tested, of one thousand pounds per square inch of gross sectional area of the block as used in the wall and shall not fall below seven hundred pounds per square inch in any test, when testing at least four samples.
Hollow and two piece building blocks made of burned clay shall develop an ultimate compressive strength when tested of one thousand pounds per square inch on the gross sectional area of the block as used in the wall and no such unit tested shall fall below seven hundred pounds per square inch when testing at least four samples.
In the case of hollow building blocks the gross cross sectional area shall be considered as the product of the length by the width of the block. The allowable working stress for such block shall not exceed one hundred pounds per gross square inch.
The absorption of building blocks to be used for bearing or enclos- ing walls shall not exceed twelve per cent in forty-eight hours as an average or more than fifteen per cent in any case.
Section 5. Concrete Aggregates-The fine aggregates shall be sand or crushed screenings passing a one-fourth inch screen.
The coarse aggregate shall consist of gravel, crushed stone, slag or cinders retained on a one-fourth inch screen.
Cinders or slag may be used for aggregate only for walls of one- story buildings, for floor slabs, roof slabs, partitions, fireproofing, fire stopping, and filling.
Section 6. Sand-Sand or other fine aggregate for concrete shall be clean, free from loam, shale, alkali, organic matter or other deleter- ious substances.
Section 7. Stone-Stone for concrete shall be clean, hard and dur- able. For reinforced concrete it shall be of suitable size for the work and shall be small enough to allow the concrete to pass readily between and easily surround reinforcement and fill all parts of the forms.
Section 8. Gravel-Run of bank gravel shall be used only when and as approved by the Building Inspector.
Section 9. Cinders and Slag-Cinders shall be composed of hard, clean, vitreous clinkers reasonably free from sulphides, unburned or partly burned coal and ashes. Slag shall be clean and hard. Shall be of suitable size for the work.
Section 10. Portland Cement-Portland cement shall be a standard brand of American Portland cement.
Section 11. Lime-Lime shall be free from ashes, clinkers and
41
other foreign matter and shall not be air slaked.
Section 12. Lime Mortar-Lime mortar shall be made of slaked lime or hydrated lime with proper proportion of sand.
Section 13. Cement Lime Mortar-Shall be thoroughly mixed and made of one part Portland cement, not more than two parts slaked lime or hydrated lime and not more than eight parts of sand by volume.
Section 14. Portland Cement Mortar-Portland cement mortar shall be thoroughly mixed and made of one part Portland cement and not more than three parts of sand by volume. Lime, putty, or hydrated lime may be added to the amount equal to fifteen per cent of the volume of the cement.
Section 15. Concrete-Concrete shall mean an approved mixture of Portland cement, water, and fine and coarse aggregate.
Section 16. Mixing-Ingredients shall be thoroughly mixed, con- sistency shall be such that the concrete will entirely enclose the rein- forcement, but shall not be so wet as to cause separations of ingred- ients.
Section 17. Rubble Concrete-Rubble concrete is concrete noted above with large. stones added after depositing. There shall be not less than three inches of concrete between the stones and the forms and between the edges of adjacent stones. Stones shall be clean and wet when deposited.
Rubble concrete shall not be used in any projecting footing.
Section 18. Joints-Joints formed between portions of concrete placed at different times shall be located and made in such a manner as not to weaken the completed structure. Whenever fresh concrete joins concrete which is set or partly set, the surface of the old concrete shall be rough, clean, and thoroughly wet.
Section 19. Forms-Forms to contain concrete shall be tight and well braced and shall not be removed until the concrete has hardened sufficiently to carry its load, and any superimposed loads safely.
Section 20. Inspection-The Building Inspector may require and appoint a concrete inspector on the work and the inspector shall make daily reports to the Building Inspector on the progress of the work. Expense of concrete inspector to be borne by the person or persons responsible for the work.
Section 21. Steel, Wrought Iron, and Cast Iron-Steel, wrought iron, and cast iron for structural work shall be of a quality which, in the judgment of the inspector, is suitable for the kind of structural work which is to be employed.
Detailed drawings of all the different features of construction shall be filed with the Building Inspector and are to remain in the Town's possession.
42
The Inspector may also require that the calculations by the En- gineer shall be filed and remain in the Town's possession if the Inspec- tor deems best.
Section 22. Working Stresses for Cast Iron-Compressive stresses in hollow cast-iron columns shall not exceed values determined by the formula
P A
40L - equals 9,000
P r
in which - equals compression in pounds per square inch,
A
L equals length of the column in inches, and
r equals minimum radius of gyration of the column.
The maximum allowable ratio of L to r shall not exceed 90; except that when all allowable working stresses computed by the above for- mula are reduced one-third the ratio of L to r may be increased, but shall not exceed 120.
Cast-iron columns shall not be used in any case where the load is so eccentric as to cause tension in the cast iron; nor shall they be used for parts of the structural frame of buildings which are required to re- sist stress due to wind. Tensile stresses in the extreme fiber cast iron lintens or elsewhere, except in columns, shall not exceed 3000 pounds per square inch.
Section 23. Cast Iron Bases-Cast iron bases or shoes shall be planed on top. Bases which rest on structural steel members shall be planed top and bottom. The thickness of the metal shall not be less than one inch. The slope of outer edge of ribs shall not be less than forty-five degrees. If a side of the bed plate exceeds three feet in length a reinforcing flange at least three inches high shall be provided along such edge.
Section 24. Cast Iron Lintels-Cast iron lintels shall not be less than three-fourths of an inch in thickness and shall not be used for spans exceeding six feet.
Section 25. Concrete Filled Pipe Columns - Concrete filled pipe columns may be used as follows :
Pipe shall be new black steel known as standard. End shall be cut square to the axis, allowing maximum bearing on base plate. Pipe shall be perfectly straight and have an average yield point of not less than 33,000 pounds per square inch.
Columns made of "Light Weight" 31/2" or 4" tubes will be per- mitted where loads are light, but not where there is any eccentric load- ing.
43
Three inch O. D. filled columns shall not be used where length is over five feet.
Concrete filling shall consist of one part of Portland Cement, one and a half parts of sand, and three parts of gravel or broken stone, to be machine mixed. Proper density to be obtained by approved me- chanical agitation to be applied within one hour after depositing of the concrete. Samples of concrete shall test to at least 4800 lbs. per square inch ultimate. Under no circumstances shall pipe designed for columns be filled on the job.
Caps and bases shall be of structural grade of steel and shall be designed to properly carry the imposed load. Caps and bases shall be welded to column shaft where design calls for same.
Working strength of concrete filled pipe columns shall be deter- mined from the following formula (in general use throughout the coun- try) or any other formula acceptable to the Building Inspector which takes into consideration the added strength developed through the use of the two combined materials and which will show a factor of safety of at least three and one-half.
P-(Ac plus 12 As) (1600-24 1/d)
P-Safe carrying capacity in pounds.
Ac-Area of concrete in square inches.
As-Area of steel in square inches.
1-Length of column in inches.
d-Diameter of column in inches. Limit of length 40 diameters.
Eccentric loading shall be carefully figured wherever it occurs and, with computations for concentric loading, shall be submitted to the Building Inspector when a permit is desired. When such calculations are accepted by the Building Inspector no change shall be made from the make or size of column specified on the plans.
All concrete filled pipe columns shall bear the name of the manu- facturer plainly stenciled on them.
When required by the Building Inspector an applicant for a permit for construction including concrete filled pipe columns, shall employ an inspector satisfactory to the Building Inspector who shall inspect the filling of the columns and attach a permanent label to such columns in- spected and approved.
No concrete filled pipe columns will be accepted unless furnished by a manufacturer of concrete filled pipe columns who has made satis- factory strength tests at a recognized testing laboratory. Copies of these tests shall be filed with the Building Inspector.
44
Longitudinal steel reinforcement in concrete filled pipe columns when straight, symmetrically placed and faced for bearing at the ends shall be assumed to be integral with the shell and the radius of gyration of the combined metal cross section shall be used with the allowable unit stress of the weaker metal in computing the capacity of the col- umn.
A concrete filled pipe column when surrounded by an outer shell with one or more inches of concrete between shall be considered to have a one and one half hour fire rating. Should a higher rating be de- sired additional concrete shall be placed between inner and outer shell. This additional concrete and shell around a central load bearing column shall not be considered as adding to its working strength.
Section 26. Wood Construction-Where the Building Inspector deems it necessary intersecting timbers shall be carried on approved steel hangers.
All frames are to be properly mortised and dowelled, or bolted and spiked together, to the satisfaction of the Building Inspector.
No construction shall be approved until framing plans have been filed and approved by the Inspector.
Section 27. Timber-All timber for structural purposes shall be free from defects such as injurious ring or round shakes, and through shakes that extend to the surface, from unsound and loose knots and knots in groups that will materially impair the strength; rot, worm holes and defects caused by manufacture.
DIVISION NO. 4-BUILDING LIMITATIONS
Section 1. No buildings, except a manufactory, railway station, telephone exchange, stable, church, schoolhouse, hotel, garage or hall for public assemblies shall hereafter be erected, and no existing build- ing shall be altered or added to, thereby giving it a frontage of more than 50-feet, without one or more partition walls of brick or some in- combustible material, extending from the bottom of the cellar, or from a foundation wall through the roof and projecting at least 16" (inches). Such walls shall not be more than fifty feet apart throughout the length of the building. No existing building having a frontage of more than fifty feet shall be converted to a use not excepted by this section with- out at least one partition wall, constructed as described in this section. Provided, however, that any single dwelling house intended for one family may be extended more than fifty feet in one direction without such partition wall.
Section 2. All buildings hereafter erected within one hundred feet of an area bounded by a line beginning at the Junction of Salem and John Streets, thence running along John Street to Village Street con- tinuing to Washington Street. Thence turning and running along
45
Washington Street to High Street, thence along High Street to Mt. Vernon Street, thence along Mt. Vernon Street to Linden Street to Lowell Street, along Lowell Street to Salem Street, along Salem Street to John Street at the point of beginning, shall be constructed of brick, stone or concrete, and have slate, metal or composition roof-covering and metal gutters.
DIVISION NO. 5-LOADS
Section 1. Dead Loads-Dead Loads shall consist of the weight of walls, floors, roofs, and permanent partitions. The weights of vari- ous materials shall be assumed as follows :
lbs. per cu.ft.
Birch
42
Brickwork
120
Cement
94
Concrete, cinder, structural
108
Concrete, cinder, floor filling
96
Concrete, stone
144
Douglas fir
36
Earth
95
Granite
168
.Granolithic surface
144
Gravel
120
Limestone
150
Maple
42
Marble
168
Oak
48
Pine, southern yellow
42
Sandstone
144
Spruce
30
Terra Cotta (architectural) voids unfilled
72
Terra Cotta (architectural) voids filled
120
lbs. per
sq. ft.
Gravel or slag and felt roofing 6
Plastering on Metal Lath, exclusive of furring 8
Section 2. Live Loads-Live Loads shall include all loads except dead loads. All floor and stairs shall be of sufficient strength to bear safely the weight to be imposed thereon in addition to the dead load, but shall safely support a minimum uniformly distributed live load per square foot as specified in the following table :
46
lbs. per sq. ft. 100
Class of Building
Assembly Halls
Fire Houses
Apparatus floors
150
Residence floors
40
Garages
Private, not more than two cars 75
Private, more than two cars
100
Public 150
Grandstands
100
Hotels, lodging houses, boarding houses, clubs and hospitals
Public portions
75
Private portions 40
Manufacturing
Heavy
250
Light 125
Office buildings
First floor
100
All other floors 60
Public buildings
Public portions 100
Office portions 60
Porches and piazzas 40
Schools
Assembly halls 100
Class rooms, never to be used as assembly halls
50
Sidewalks
250
Or four tons concentrated, whichever gives the larger moment or shear.
Stables-Public or mercantile
Street entrance floor
125
Carriage and stall rooms 50
Stairs, corridors and fire escapes from assembly halls 100
Stairs, corridors and fire escapes except from assembly halls 75
Storage
Heavy 250
Light 125
Stores
Retail
125
Wholesale 200
Section 3. Slab, Arch and Beams to have sufficient strength to bear Live and Dead Load-Every plank, slab and arch and every floor
47
beam carrying one hundred square feet of floor or less shall be of suf- ficient strength to bear safely the combined dead and live load sup- ported by it.
Section 4. Live Load Reduction-In all buildings except garages, gymnasiums, storage buildings, wholesale stores and assembly halls, for all flat floor slabs of over one hundred square feet area, reinforced in two or more directions and for all floor beams, girders or trusses carrying over one hundred square feet of floor, the live load may be reduced ten per cent. For the same, if carrying over 200 square feet of floor, 15 per cent reduction. For the same if carrying over 300 square feet of floor, 25 per cent reduction.
These reductions shall not be made if the member carries more than one floor and therefore has its live load reduced according to the table below.
In public garages. flat floor slabs of over three hundred square feet of area, reinforced in more than one direction and for all floor beams, girders and trusses carrying over three hundred square feet of floor and for all columns, walls, piers, and foundations, twenty-five per cent reduction of the live load may be made.
In all buildings except storage buildings, public garages, wholesale stores for all columns, girders, trusses, walls, piers, and foundations :
Carrying one floor
no reduction
Carrying two floors
10% reduction
Carrying three floors 25% reduction
Carrying four floors
40% reduction
Carrying five floors 50% reduction 60% reduction
Carrying six floors
(No reduction allowed on snow loads).
Section 5. Roof Loads-(In addition to dead loads).
Vertical Load
Wind Load
Per Sq. Ft. of
Per Sq. Ft.
Horizontal Perpendicular
Projection to Surface
Pitch
Less than 4" per foot 30
4" to 8" per foot 15 10
8" to 12" per foot
10 15
More than 12" per foot 5 20
These two loads shall be figured both acting separately and to- gether.
Section 6. Wind loads on Vertical Surfaces per square foot
Up to 40' 0" in heights 10 1bs.
Portions 40' 0" to 80' 0" above ground 15 1bs.
48
Portions more than 80' 0" above ground 20 1bs.
If the resisting moments of the materials of construction are not sufficient to resist the moment of distortion due to wind pressure with- out exceeding the stresses of this by-law, additional bracing shall be introduced to supply the deficiency in the moment.
DIVISION NO. 6-EXCAVATING
All excavations shall be protected, by sheet piling if necessary, by the persons causing same to be made, that the adjoining soil shall not cave in by reason of its own weight. It shall be the duty of the owner of every building in the process of construction or alteration to furnish or cause to be furnished such support to adjoining buildings or prop- erty that they shall not be endangered by any excavation. All per- manent excavations shall be protected by retaining walls. In case of any failure to comply with the provisions of this by-law, the Inspector may enter upon the premises and may furnish such support as the cir- cumstances may require. Any expense so incurred may be recovered by the town from the persons required by law to furnish the support.
DIVISION NO. 7-FOUNDATIONS
Section 1. In General-Foundation loads of every building, except temporary structures, shall be carried down to satisfactory bearing ma- terial by means of properly designed walls, piers, grillages or piling, which shall be so designed and located as to permit the loads they transmit to be distributed over the bearing area with a unit intensity not exceeding the allowable value given in this building by-law.
Every foundation shall be carried down at least four feet below any adjoining surface exposed to freezing and no footing shall be started on soil which is in a frozen condition.
Any brick, terra cotta, or concrete block wall in the basement or cellar used to carry loads shall have a footing of stone or concrete not less than 10" thick and four inches wider than the wall. Small stones shall not be used.
Section 2. Soil Values-In the absence of satisfactory tests of their sustaining power, the maximum allowable bearing values of the various kinds of satisfactory bearing material shall be as follows :
Tons per sq. ft.
Solid ledge rock
100
Shale and hardpan 10
Gravel, compact sand and hard yellow clay 6
Wet or dry sand or coarse or medium grains, hard blue clay mixed or unmixed with sand, disintegrated rock 5
Medium stiff or plastic clay, mixed or unmixed with sand or fine-grained dry sand 4
49
3
Fine wet sand (confined)
Soft clay protected against lateral displacement 2
Section 3. Definitions-(a) Solid Ledge-Naturally formed rock, such as granite and others of similar hardness and soundness, normally requiring blasting for removal.
(b) Shale-Laminated slate or clay rocks removable with more or less difficulty by picking.
(c) Hardpan-A thoroughly cemented mixture of sand and pebbles, or of sand, pebbles and clay, with or without a mixture of boulders and difficult to remove by picking.
(d) Gravel-A natural uncemented mixture of coarse or medium grain sand with a substantial amount of pebbles measuring one-fourth of an inch or more in diameter.
(e) Sand (compact). Requiring picking for removal.
(f) Sand (loose). Requiring shoveling only.
(g) Sand (medium grain). Individual grains readily distinguished by eye though not of pronounced size.
(h) Sand (fine grained). Individual grains distinguished by eye only with difficulty.
(i) Hard Clay. Requiring picking for its removal.
(j) Disintegrated Rock-The residual deposits of decomposed ledge.
(k) Medium Clay-Stiff and plastic but capable of being spaded.
(1) Soft Clay-Putty-like in consistency and changing shape readily under relatively slight pressure.
The materials described in items c, d, e, f, g, i, j and k shall be in relatively thick beds if full loading value is used. Otherwise if under- laid by a softer material, the value assigned to that material shall be used.
Foundations may be of brick, stone or poured concrete, or concrete blocks.
All foundation walls below grade shall be figured as retaining walls.
Rubble stone shall be allowed where the building does not exceed forty feet in height and the foundation wall is less than ten feet in depth. No rubble wall shall be less than eighteen inches in thickness. All rubble stone walls shall be bonded by through courses laid in one- half cement and one-half lime mortar.
DIVISION NO. 8-THICKNESS OF MASONRY WALLS
Section 1. Walls to be Strong Enough-The thickness of masonry walls shall be in all cases, irrespective of the requirements of this sec- tion, sufficient to keep the stresses in the masonry within the working stress prescribed by this code.
A-In Masonry walls, Brick shall be considered standard.
B-Walls of reinforced concrete may be reduced 4" to not less than 8".
50
C-Walls of Terra Cotta blocks to be increased 4" over brick and not less than 12".
D-Walls of concrete, or cinder blocks shall not be considered in any case for party walls.
Section 2. Single or Two Family Dwellings-For single family or two-family dwellings not over three stories high with wooden floor beams spanning not more than fifteen feet, all exterior, party, bearing and fire walls shall be not less than twelve inches thick for that portion between the ground and the first floor and not less than eight inches thick above the first floor, provided, however, that the ends of floor timbers on opposite sides of the wall shall not be nearer than eight inches to each other.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.