Block and buidling construction using same

Claim 1

A building construction comprising a plurality of intersecting walls, said walls including a plurality of stacked courses of hollow blocks, a plurality of said blocks having a pair of spaced-apart sidewalls, a pair of cross webs having top and bottom surfaces joining said sidewalls and defining a full cavity therebetween, a pair of extended sidewall sections projecting from at least one said cross web and defining a half cavity therebetween, a pair of flanges extending inwardly from the end of said sidewall sections and provided with opposed distal surface portions adjacent a rearwardly facing shoulder, each said flange including an outer face disposed substantially normal to the running length of said sidewall section and having a width substantially equal to twice the thickness of each said sidewall section, said web top surfaces in a plane disposed substantially below that of said sidewalls to provide a recess thereabove and having transverse grooves therein adjacent one said sidewall and extending below the plane of said web top surfaces, said blocks of vertically adjacent courses longitudinally staggered with respect to each other whereby the full cavity of one said course block is vertically adjacent upper and lower disposed pairs of abutting block half cavities thereby providing a plurality of adjacent vertical cavities of equivalent cross-sectional area throughout the vertical extent of said walls, a horizontal reinforcing element disposed within said grooves in said webs with its periphery passing immediately adjacent said flange distal surface portion, a plurality of vertical reinforcing elements each extending alternately through full and half cavities of vertically adjacent blocks of said courses of blocks, each said vertical reinforcing element passing through said half cavity being captivated intermediate said flange shoulder and cross web and between said block sidewall and said horizontal reinforcing element thereby restricting the lateral position of each said vertical reinforcing rod as it passes through said full cavities of the vertically adjacent blocks, a body of poured concrete filling said vertical cavities throughout the vertical extent of said walls to provide a plurality of adjacent uninterrupted reinforced concrete columns and said poured concrete extending laterally between the spaced apart vertically adjacent block cross webs to fill said recesses and interlock adjacent said columns.