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Civil Engineering & Construction vocabulary · Structures and Loads

Live load

Meaning in civil engineering & construction, with examples

nounCommon term

In civil engineering & construction, live load means: The load from things that move or change over time, such as people, furniture, vehicles and stored goods. It is also called imposed load.

In Turkish: hareketli yük

How it is used

Design codes give minimum live loads for each type of use, with lower values for homes than for offices, shops or archives. It is abbreviated LL or Q in calculations.

Example sentences

  1. If the office becomes an archive, the live load will be much higher.

  2. The car park deck was designed for a live load of 2.5 kN/m².

Common collocations

  • imposed load
  • design live load
  • live load reduction
  • floor live load
  • dead loadThe permanent weight a structure always carries: its own self-weight plus fixed items such as floor finishes, walls, ceilings and fixed equipment.
  • loadA force that a structure has to carry, such as its own weight, people and furniture, wind, snow or an earthquake. Engineers usually express it in kilonewtons (kN).
  • slabA flat, horizontal concrete element that forms a floor or a roof. It carries the loads on its surface and passes them to beams, walls or columns.
  • deflectionThe amount a beam, slab or other member bends or moves under load, measured as a distance, usually at the middle of the span.

More terms: Structures and Loads

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