This document provides information about alternative building construction systems, specifically cable structures and membrane structures. It defines cables and their uses in tension structures like suspension bridges and cable-stayed bridges. Membrane structures are described as thin, flexible sheets that can be used to construct pneumatic structures, tensile membrane structures, and cable domes. Examples are given of large-scale cable and membrane structures along with discussions of their materials, advantages, and disadvantages.

1. BTAB115
ARCH. JAY LAWRENCE P. MARTINEZ, UAP, PIA

2. Course Name:
BUILDING TECHNOLOGY 5
ALTERNATIVE BUILDING CONSTRUCTION SYSTEMS
Course Description
Construction methods and techniques
for different types of buildings
using any appropriate alternative building construction system.
Number of Units for
Lecture and Studio
Lecture – 2 units
Studio – 1 unit
Number of Contact
Hours per week
Lecture – 2 hrs
Studio – 3 hrs
Prerequisite/
Co-requisite
Building Technology -3
Course Objectives
At the end of the course, the student should be able:
1. to gain knowledge on the fundamental principles governing the
design, purpose and application of the different types of non-
conventional systems of construction.
2. to acquire ability to provide working details of the various types
of alternative building construction systems and systems
components.
3. to understand better the advantages of using such system.
4. to acquire working knowledge of the latest system of
construction available in the building industry.

3. Course Outline
Alternative Building Construction Systems
1. Cast-in- place and Pre-cast
1. Floor System and Roof Slab System
1. Flat Slab
2. Flat Plate
3. Ribbed Floor Slab
4. Waffle Slab
5. Lift Slab
6. Spanstress Floor System
7. Slipform Method
2. Wall Panel Systems
1. Flat type
2. Ribbed type
3. Window type and wall type
4. Tilt-up Wall Panel System
2. Prestressed Concrete
1. Pre-tensioning
2. Post-tensioning
3. Composite Construction Method
4. Cable/ Tensile Structures
5. Membrane Structures
6. Shell Structures
7. Pre-Engineered Buildings
8. Geodesic Structure
Studio Equipment Sample working drawing and detailed drawing documents

4. CABLE
STRUCTURES

5. A cable is a flexible structural component that offers
no resistance when compressed or bent in a curved
shape.
It is often used in engineering structures for support
and to transmit load from one point to another when
used to support suspension roofs, bridges and trolley
wheels, cables form the main load carrying element in
the structure.
Structural cables are made of a series of small
strands twisted or bound together to form a much
larger cable. Steel cables are either spiral strand, where
circular rods are twisted together and “ glued” using a
polymer or locked coil strand, where individual
interlocking steel strands form the cable.

6. TYPES OF CABLES
• Suspension type cables
• Stayed type cables

7. Suspension bridge
Is a type of bridge in which the deck
( the load –bearing portion) is hung below suspension
cables on vertical suspenders.
This type of bridge has cables suspended between towers,
plus vertical suspender cables that carry the weight of the
deck below, upon which traffic crosses. This arrangement
allows the deck to be level or to arc upward for additional
clearance.
The roadway is supported by vertical suspender cables or
rods, called hangers.

8. Cable –stayed bridge
A cable –stayed bridge has one or more towers ( or
pylons), from which cables support the bridge deck.
Have a structure with several points in each span
between the towers supported upward in a slanting
direction with cables, and consists of main towers,
cables, and girders.

10. ADVANTAGES
Good for medium span.
Greater stiffness than suspension bridge.
Can be constructed by cantilevering out
from the tower.
Horizontal forces balance so large ground
anchorages are not required.
Cable –stayed bridges take less time to
complete than other.
The cable –stayed bridge support itself.
It can use four different classes
Cable –stayed bridge

11. DISADVANTAGES
 Typically more expensive than other types of
bridge, except suspension bridge.
Cable –stayed bridges do have a maximum
length to consider.
The design option can become unstable in
specific environments.
It can be challenging to inspect and repair.
It is a design that can sometimes be susceptible
to rust or corrosion.

12. Strong and can span long distances
such as across the rivers.
Cost effective
Can be built high up
Has flexibility
Simple construction
ADVANTAGES
Suspension bridge

13. Soft ground issues.
Too flexible.
Cannot support high traffic.
DISADVANTAGES

14. COMPARISON

15. Suspension bridge
 normally limited to two
towers.
Suspension bridges
require more cables.
Construction time is
longer for suspension
bridges.
Possess less stiffness and
display larger deflections
when compared with cable
–stayed bridges.
Cable –stayed bridge
Lies in the fact that it
can be built with any
number of towers.
Require less cables.
Construction time is
less for cable -stayed
bridges.
Possess higher stiffness
and display smaller
deflections when
compared with

16. The deck of a
suspension bridge is
usually suspended by
vertical hangers, but the
structure is essentially
flexible, and great effort
must made to withstand
the effects of traffic and
wind.
Suspension bridge is
not made of cantilevers.
The greater inherent
rigidity of the triangulated
cable –stayed bridges,
compared with the
suspension type, makes life
easier for their designers
and builders.
A great advantage of the
cable –stayed bridge is that
it is essentially made of
cantilevers and can be
constructed by building out
from the towers.

18. Membrane structure are often used when
large spans need to be realized in
short time with a reasonable budget. In
the majority of the case, short
realization time means that the design
process is parallel to the realisation,
a high level of prefabrication and
short installation time.

19.  Are spatial structures made out of tensioned membranes.
-Membrane – A thin pliable sheet of material forming a barrier
or lining.
–wikipedia
 Can be devided into(3)
- Pnuematic structures
- Tensile membrane structures
- Cable domes

20.  Is a system of components that is supported by air
in the same manner that a ballon is supported by
air.

21. - Is a construction of elements carrying
only tension and no compression or bending.

23. LIGHT WEIGHT
Weight compared to area is less.
Low air pressure is required to balance
it.
SPAN
There is no theoretical maximum span.
To span a distance of 36 km for a
normal building is hard while such spans
are quite possible for pneumatics.

24. ECONOMY
Not expensive in case of temporary
structures.
SAFETY
More safer but proper care should be
taken.
They are fire resistance structures.

25. CONSTRUCTION AND DISMANTLING
Suitable for temporary constructions.
1 sq. Km area can be brought down in 6
hours and can be establish in less than
10 hours.
NATURAL LIGHTING
Around 50% - 80% of sunlight can be
obtained.

27. POLYESTER
FIBERGLASS ETFE
NYLON STEEL CABLES BALLASTS

28. •Light weight
•Covers large spans without
internal supports
•Rapid assembly and have low
initial and operating cost.
•Portability
ADVANTAGES

29. •Need for continuous maintenance
of excess pressure in the
envelope.
•Relatively short service life.
•Continuous operation of fans to
maintain pressure.
Cannot reach the insulation values
of hard-walled structures.
DISADVANTAGE
S

30. Tensile
Structure

31.  A tensile structure is a construction of
elements carrying only tension and
no compression or bending. The term tensile
should not be confused with tensegrity , which
is a structural form with both tension and
compression elements. Tensile structures are the
most common type of thin-shell structures.
A tensile membrane structure is most often used
as a roof, as they can economically and
attractively span large distances.

33. •PVC (Poly Vinyl Chloride) coated
polyester cloth
•PTFE ( Poly Tetra Fluro Ethlene )
(Teflon) coated glass cloth.
EXTERIOR

34. •Cottons are most economical and
are available wide range of
colors. Due to their
susceptibility to staining and
shrinkage they are ideally suited
for short term use or where a
softer and more natural texture is
required.
INTERIOR

35. •Silicon coated glass cloth is
being used for its high fire
resistance and low relative fore
toxicity but tends to attract
dirt.
INTERIOR
•Pure glass meshes can be used in
exhibition halls when fire
standards are very stringent. Some
ceiling systems demand open meshes
that allow water sprinkler systems
to operate through them.

36. The Millennium
Dome
Created as an
exhibition space to
mark the 2000
millennium, the dome
has a floor plan
diameter of 365m, one
meter for each day of
the year and the
structure is supported
by 12 masts,
representing the
months of the year.
Time is an important
reference in this
structure as it is built
at Greenwich.

37. Denver International
Airport
Completed in 1994 and is
the World’s third largest
airport. The Teflon
coated fiberglass roof of
the airport is designed to
resemble the peeks of
the Roch=ky Mountains in
winter, capped with
snow. The tensile
structure has stood the
test of time and the
structure hasn’t
completely failed under
the extreme weather
conditions that it
experiences.

39.  A tension dome is a structural system that uses the tensile
strength of materials rather than the compression qualities
of usual domes.

40. The cable dome was first
proposed by Geiger and first
employed in the roofs for the
Olympic Gymnastics Hall and the
Fencing Hall in Seoul (Geiger,
1986). Due to their innovative
forms and lightweight, cable
domes have become popular as
roofs for structures including
arenas, stadiums and sport
centers over the past two
decades.

41. MATERIALS
OF CABLE DOMES
A typical cable dome consists of
ridge cables, diagonal cables, hoop
cables, vertical struts, an inner tension
ring and an outer compression ring. To
ensure the structural feasibility,
continuous cables are often subjected to
tension and individual struts subjected
to compression. The rigidity of the dome
is a result of self-stress equilibrium
between cables and struts.

42. La Plata Stadium
in Argentina Tao-Yuan County
Arena in Taiwan

43. Let me know if you
have questions or
clarifications.