Meghan Elliott, P.E., Associate AIA (elliott@pvnworks.com), is the founder and a principal at Preservation Design Works (PVN), a historic preservation consulting firm in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
It wasn’t so long ago that a concrete block would not care to show its face in polite society.” This proclamation formed the lead of an extensive article, “Behold the Lowly Concrete Block,” in the March 1956 issue of the architectural journal, House and Home. The celebratory article argued that concrete block was “one of the most glamorous and flexible building materials at our command.” …
Earlier this year, the Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute (CRSI) published A Comprehensive and Invaluable Treatise on all Forms of Steel Reinforcement Employed in the Design and Construction of Reinforced Concrete of Long Ago. …
Two days of expected work turned into a week; one equipment breakdown cascaded into another; a 30-minute delay became 24 hours. A documentation project that was scheduled to happen in June did not begin until September. The challenges of keeping a bridge demolition project on schedule are not unique, but the requirement for historical documentation of a 1912 reinforced concrete bridge by historians and engineers added another layer of complexity to a highway widening project. However, this documentation effort ultimately provided interesting information about the early development of reinforced concrete flat slab design. …
At the time of this writing, a vacant former bakery is standing for a few more days at the corner of Fifth Street North and Seventh Avenue North, just outside of the official boundary of the local and national historic Warehouse District of Minneapolis, Minnesota. The building is typical of others in the area: a one- to three-story utilitarian structure with little architectural ornamentation and several additions. …