concrete terminology

1. The slab’s built-in “shoulder pads” over columns for extra strength.
4. The clean minimalist option—no beams, just vibes (and a lot of thickness).
5. When the slab, beams, and girders get poured together like one giant concrete smoothie.
6. The slab that refuses to choose a direction and spreads load both ways.
9. The slab that only likes sending its loads in one direction.
11. The little rectangular “belt” inside a beam that fights shear near the supports.

2. The steel skeleton that keeps concrete from embarrassing itself in tension.
3. The slab that looks like breakfast but costs like fine dining.
6. The post-tensioning element that pulls tight like a bowstring after the concrete hardens.
7. The system where concrete shows up on site like “I’m already done—just lift me.”
8. The upward curve that happens when post-tensioning says “gravity, not today.”
10. The failure mode where a column tries to escape upward through the slab.