Building

Claim 1

A BUILDING CONSTRUCTED ABOVE GROUND COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF COLUMNS AND LONGITUDINAL AND TRANSVERSE MEMBERS JOINED TO THE UPPER ENDS OF THE COLUMNS, THE COLUMNS INCLUDING COMPOSITE COLUMNS ADJUSTABLE HEIGHTWISE THROUGHOUT A RANGE INCLUDING A MAXIMUM HEIGHT TO LOCATE THE UPPER ENDS OF THE COMPOSITE COLUMNS IN A COMMON HORIZONTAL PLANE FOR ALIGNMENT WITH THE LONGITUDINAL AND TRANSVERSE MEMBERS IRRESPECTIVE OF DIFFERENCES IN ELEVATION OF THE GROUND, THE COMPOSITE COLUMNS INCLUDING A FIRST ELONGATED STRUCTURAL MEMBER AND A SECOND ELONGATED STRUCTURAL MEMBER POSITIONED IN OVERLAPPING RELATION, THE FIRST ELONGATED STRUCTURAL MEMBER INCLUDING A LOWER PORTION EXTENDING BELOW THE SURFACE OF THE GROUND INTO AN OPENING FORMED IN THE GROUND AND AN UPPER PORTION EXTENDING UPWARDLY ABOVE THE SURFACE OF THE GROUND, THE SECOND ELONGATED STRUCTURAL MEMBER INCLUDING A LOWER PORTION EXTENDING BELOW THE SURFACE OF THE GROUND IN OVERLAPPING RELATION WITH A PART OF THE LOWER PORTION OF THE FIRST ELONGATED STRUCTURAL MEMBER AND AN UPPER PORTION EXTENDING UPWARDLY FROM THE SURFACE OF THE GROUND IN OVERLAPPING RELATION WITH THE UPPER PORTION OF THE FIRST ELONGATED STRUCTURAL MEMBER AND TERMINATING ABOVE THE UPPER PORTION OF THE FIRST ELONGATED STRUCTURAL MEMBER IN THE COMMON HORIZONTAL PLANE, RIGID CONNECTING MEANS IN CONTACT WITH THE FIRST ELONGATED STRUCTURAL MEMBER AND IN CONTACT WITH THE SECOND ELONGATED STRUCTURAL MEMBER CONNECTING THROUGHOUT SAID RANGE THE FIRST AND SECOND ELONGATED STRUCTURAL MEMBERS TO FORM A UNITARY COLUMNAR STRUCTURE, THE UPPER PORTION OF THE FIRST ELONGATED STRUCTURAL MEMBER BEING OF A LENGTH AT LEAST EQUAL TO A CRITICAL LENGTH REQUIRED FOR THE FIRST ELONGATED STRUCTURAL MEMBER TO DEVELOP MAXIMUM STRESS, THE LOWER PORTION OF THE SECOND ELONGATED STRUCTURAL MEMBER BEING OF A LENGTH AT LEAST EQUAL TO A CRITICAL LENGTH REQUIRED FOR THE SECOND ELONGATED STRUCTURAL MEMBER TO DEVELOP MAXIMUM STRESS, THE SECOND ELONGATED STRUCTURAL MEMBER BEING OF A LENGTH AT LEAST EQUAL TO THE SUM OF THE CRITICAL LENGTH OF ITS LOWER PORTION AND THE VERTICAL DISTANCE BETWEEN THE SURFACE OF THE GROUND ADJACENT SAID OPENING AND THE UPPER END OF THE COMPOSITE COLUMN WHEN ADJUSTED TO THE MAXIMUM HEIGHT OF SAID RANGE, AND INITIALLY FLUID SETTABLE MATERIAL FILLING THE OPENING IN THE GROUND AND IMBEDDING THE LOWER PORTION OF THE FIRST ELONGATED STRUCTURAL MEMBER.