Exercise 3. Read and translate text A

Text A. SUSPENSION STRUCTURES (II)

This is the Federal Reserve Bank in Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1971-73, by Gunnar Birkerts. The written requirements for this building stipulated* that there would be a large area below the paving at ground level; within this covered area, free of supporting columns vans could deliver and pick up shipments**. This meant there could be no supporting columns coming down from any structure above, and Birkerts's solution to this dilemma was to carry the entire building on cables suspended from the tops of two towers much like a suspension bridge. The outer walls are rigid grids attached to the cables and all floor beams are fastened to these cable-supported wall grids all floor and wall loads are carried by the cables back up to the tops of the towers. With the towers being pulled in and down in this way, the tops would be drawn together. Spanning the top of the building there is a truss serving to keep the towers apart. Birkerts also provided for the construction of two arches atop*** the towers from which additional floors could be hung when it proved necessary to enlarge the building vertically. The outward lateral forces created by the arch carrying the added floors will counteract some of the inward lateral forces created by the lower floors hanging from the cables.

Buildings can also be suspended by cables from a single mast support and most buildings are built nowadays using such a suspension device in the cranes that lift materials. These have cables or steel rods from a central mast supporting the end of the boom of the crane. A striking example of this technique as the principal structure of a building is the West coast Transmission Building, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, 1968-69, by Rhone and Iredale, architects, with Bogue and Babicki, engineers. In this building the floors are suspended by cables coming out from the central core that rises above the topmost floor.

* – stipulate – ставить условием

** – shipments – погрузка, груз

*** – atop – наверху

Exercise 4. Translate the words:

van, technique, tower, mast, grid, deliver, area, floor, attach, fasten, proof, lateral, add, rod, boom, crane, lift, enlarge, outer, load, create, rigid, truss, device, single, material, pull, example.

Exercise 5. Choose the right translation from column A to column B:

A: grid, technique, attach, central core, van, boom, device, floor, cable, support, lateral, truss, load, area, pave, structure, solution, deliver, pull.

B: решетка, решение, прикреплять, доставлять, технология, центральный ствол со стояками инженерных сетей, устройство, фургон, стрела, перекрытие, опора, нагрузка, кабель, боковой, конструкция, ферма, зона, мостить, тянуть.

Exercise 6. Are these meanings correct or incorrect? Correct the mistakes:

mast – мачта

level – этаж

area – зона

van – ванна

structure – конструкция

grid – сеть

tower – башня

truss – трест

lateral – боковой

boom – кран

device – устройство

attach – прикреплять

beam – луч

mast – должен

Exercise 7. Translate the following word combinations:

ground level, entire building, outer wall, rigid grid, floor beam, cable-supported wall grid, floor load, wall load, outward, lateral force, lower floor, single mast support, suspension device, steel rod, central mast, crane boom, central core, topmost floor.

Exercise 8. Underline the word which is unnecessary:

steel, iron, wood, cement, concrete, floor.

floor, wall, ceiling, partition, load.

column, truss, beam, girder, van.