Industrial Structure
A structure designed to fulfill a specific function in
industry or to support or house equipment, raw materials, or communication
lines. In modern industrial construction, more than 25 percent of the total
cost of construction and installation work is attributed to industrial
structures. There are more than 100 different types of industrial
structures. They are conventionally divided into the following major groups:
1. structures to support and house production machinery,
including foundations for equipment and machines, bases for installing
industrial apparatus, caissons, and racks.
2. Transportation structures, including overpasses,
unloading and crane platforms, and tunnels for conveyors
3. Communication structures, including conduits and
pipelines for electrical power networks and for transmitting raw materials,
tunnels, power transmission line towers, communication line poles, illumination
masts, and chimneys;
4. Tanks for gaseous and liquid products and bulk materials
and structures for ventilation, drainage, and water and gas supply systems,
including bunkers, gasholders, oil storage tanks, silos, water towers and
pressure reservoirs, spray ponds, cooling towers, settling reservoirs, water
intake works, and sewage treatment plants;
Industrial structures are most characteristic of the
chemical, metallurgical, and mining industries. Their use is rising as
a result of the increasing tendency to place industrial equipment in the open
areas outside industrial premises and the increasing concentration of equipment
in industrial plants. Most industrial structures are mainly reinforced-concrete and steel structures, including supports, platforms,
chimneys, silos, and tanks. In some cases, structures of bonded wood are
suitable for platforms and ventilating towers. Increased efficiency in the construction of industrial
structures is achieved by using prefabricated and by standardization of the
entire structure or its separate elements. Standard designs have been developed
for many industrial structures, which make possible the employment of advanced
technical ideas and the most efficient use of existing production facilities in
the construction industry.
