Laboratory-Based Productivity Study on Alternative Masonry Systems

Abstract

Masonry construction over the last century has undergone radical changes that have led to specific improvements in construction performance due to the advent of large-sized blocks, innovative methods like surface-bonded masonry, partially grouted masonry, and dry-stacked/mortarless masonry using interlocking blocks. This paper outlines relative productivity assessment of conventional and interlocking-block masonry with different construction methods. To measure the utilization of time by the members of the team, work sampling (adopting the 5 min rating technique) was used. The frequencies of occurrences of each work category, namely direct, indirect, and noncontributory, have been established. Due to the variation in the noncontributory work component for different methods of construction, the net output has been expressed as output per productive hour. Productivity enhancement of 80–120% was observed for dry-stacked masonry and 60–90% more for thin-jointed and mortar-bedded interlocking-block masonry than that of conventional masonry.