Page 215 - Design of Reinforced Masonry Structures
P. 215
DESIGN OF REINFORCED MASONRY BEAMS 4.79
FIGURE 4.19 Typical masonry beams and lintels. (Courtesy: NCMA.)
order to prevent concentrated compressive stresses at the edges of the opening. When nomi-
nal 8 × 8 × 16 in. concrete masonry units are used to build a lintel, it is customary to assume
the length of bearing on each support to be about 8 in. (half of 16 in.). Consequently, it is
a common practice to assume the effective span of a lintel as distance between the center
of these supports, that is, clear span (width of opening) plus 8 in. Practices in this regard
might vary, however. In the examples to follow, the effective span is assumed as the clear
span plus 8 in.
