What is defined as PER SUPERFICIAL FOOT in old building codes?

[camptadma]

Many archive building codes state floor and roof loads to be per superficial foot.
What is the exact definition of a superficial foot.
Phrases change over time. It is reasonable to conclude that per superficial foot is now stated as per square foot, but I need to connect the two to appease a legal interpretation.
Thanks in advance for any help.

As a reference, see the last comment in the following closed thread
thread507-271552

 

[fel3]

I did two searches on Google, first for ["per superficial foot"] and then for ["superficial foot" definition]. The latter search gave

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superficial_foot

as the first hit. It looks like a "superficial foot" is the same as the "board foot" (i.e. 12"x12"x1"). The Wiki article mentions its use in Australia and New Zealand, but the first search found numerous uses in the United States as well.

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"Is it the only lesson of history that mankind is unteachable?"
--Winston S. Churchill

 

[camptadma]

I appreciate the help.

I found a UNC website - Dictionary of Units of Measure

http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/dictS.html

that states super foot and superficial foot both equal square foot.

Architectural design standards from the 1930s give no reference to superficial feet.

 

[Denial]

Confirming fel3's advice:[ ] when applied to timber, the term "super foot" is a measure of volume, not area.

 

[camptadma]

Therein lies the need for legal clarification. I do appreciate the comments.

Many old codes (early 1900s) require a live load of xx pounds per superficial foot along the surface of a floor or roof. That requirement is "a force applied to a surface" (i.e. contributory area). I need to define the contributory area for the 50 pounds of live load. A force by definition cannot be applied to a volume.

Thanks all.

 

[Denial]

Maybe, a long time ago, the timber and construction industries drew a distinction between super and superficial.

My Concise Oxford Dictionary (in book form) gives "square" as one of the meanings of the word "superficial", but this is well down the list of possible meanings.

The Merriam-Webster online dictionary gives the following (which I have severely edited):
[tt]Full Definition of SUPERFICIAL
[... snip ...]
British of a unit of measure:[&nbsp;] square <[as in]superficial foot>
[... snip ...][/tt]
See

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/superficial

If you are dealing with lawyers you have my deepest sympathy, the more so on an obscure issue like this where there appears to be endless scope for pedantry.[&nbsp;] Context is everything, and in the sorts of examples you cite what other interpretation is possible?[&nbsp;] Some load intensities are given per lineal foot, some per square foot, some per cubic foot.[&nbsp;] If the sorts of loadings you are talking about can only be meaningfully expressed on a per unit of area basis, and if the stated magnitudes of the loads are consistent with that, then you'd have a pretty strong case.

But you are dealing with lawyers.