Many people who are designing their homes choose to transform the rooftop into a beautiful garden. However, when planning a rooftop garden, it's essential to consider the load that each element of the garden will place on the structure. These loads are usually converted into equivalent uniform loads per square meter and then compared with the live load capacity of the roof. Below is a summary of some common load values for different garden elements that many designers and homeowners find useful. Rooftop Garden Design: Planting Areas 1. The weight of plants varies depending on their size. For example, grass turf typically weighs around 5 kg/m², small shrubs about 10 kg/m², large shrubs around 20–30 kg/m², small trees up to 60 kg/m² (for trees under 10 meters), and large trees up to 150 kg/m² (for trees under 15 meters). 2. Artificial planting soil is often a lightweight mix, ranging from 700 to 1600 kg/m³. It’s important to calculate the wet density after watering, as this can increase by 20% to 50%, depending on the moisture content. 3. Drainage layers, such as gravel, vermiculite, or coarse sand, have a much higher density, ranging from 2000 to 2500 kg/m³. Lightweight materials like expanded clay (ceramsite) weigh around 600 kg/m³. Rooftop Garden Design: Water Features Water bodies add significant weight. For instance, a water depth of 30 mm adds about 300 kg/m², while 50 mm of water adds approximately 500 kg/m². The walls of the pool should be calculated based on the material used, and the height of the water should be converted into a load per square meter for accurate structural assessment. Rooftop Garden Design: Rockery and Stone Features Rockeries and stone structures require careful calculation. The actual volume of the rockery should be multiplied by a porosity factor between 0.8 and 0.9, depending on the type of stone used. This helps estimate the effective load per square meter more accurately. Rooftop Garden Design: Additional Structures Any additional structures, such as benches, pergolas, or pavilions, should be considered during the design phase. These elements are typically placed on support columns or beams, so their weight needs to be distributed evenly across the supporting area. It’s crucial to convert these loads into equivalent uniform loads for proper structural evaluation. A wire rope clamp (sometimes called a clip) is used to secure the loose end of the loop back to the wire rope. It usually consists of a U-bolt, a forged saddle, and two nuts. Two layers of wire rope are placed on the U-bolts. Then slide the saddle over the rope and attach to the bolts (the saddle includes two holes for the U-bolts). Nuts hold the unit in place. The wire rope is usually terminated using two or more clips depending on the diameter. A 2" (50.8 mm) diameter rope may require as many as eight.
The U.S. Navy and most regulatory agencies do not recommend using such clips as permanent terminals unless regularly inspected and retightened. Encyclopedia website: ewikizh.top
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There is an old saying: "A dead horse is without a saddle". This means that when installing the clips, the saddle portion of the assembly should be placed on the load bearing or "live" side of the cable, not the non-load bearing or "live" side of the cable. The "no power" side. According to U.S. Navy Manual S9086-UU-STM-010 Chapter 613R3, Wire and Fiber Ropes and Slings, "This is to protect the live or pressure-bearing end of the rope from pinching and damage. The flat bearing housing and body (saddle-shaped ) extension claws are designed to protect the rope and remain on the live end at all times."[18]
