Re: Yew gonna die, boy! (a.k.a. redneck city) masonry tech 101

["Steve Bigelow" <sbigelow@sprint.ca>]

Fourkguy asks...
>Once saw a guy behind a Chinese restaurant working under his car supported
by
>plastic Coca Cola cases. Wonder which are stronger, coke cases or cinder
>blocks?

>From the Ontario Building Code 9.20.2.7 "Compressive Strength of Concrete
Units Exposed to Weather".
Minimum compressive strength over net area, solid or hollow Concrete block
15MPa, or about 2200 psi. So on a standard 8" block, 16" long, _evenly_
loaded (this is key) as they are when mortared in a wall, that's about
281,600lbs. About 140 tons....
They work just grand in stable, evenly loaded applications. Side loads,
impacts, shifting footings, and water infiltration/freeze-thaw, not so
good.
An axle, resting on a block web, _could_ have an area of under one quarter
square inch. The failure could be quite dramatic.

I use axle stands.

Steve Bigelow
Discreet Dungeons (Division of Bigelow & Pauly Masonry) 
Ottawa Ontario
'84 5ks "Audrey", proper German silver, Husco armrest/cupholder
'82 Coupe (previous)