D. Matthew Stuart is Senior Structural Engineer at Pennoni Associates Inc. in Philadelphia, PA. (mstuart@pennoni.com)
Recently, Pennoni Associates was involved in the investigation and assessment of several existing parking garages constructed with precast, prestressed thin slabs. In this type of structural system, precast planks function as stay-in-place formwork and become a part of an overall composite slab once a field-cast topping is placed and the shoring is removed. …
Industry City in Brooklyn, New York retained Pennoni Associates, Inc. (Pennoni) to complete an evaluation of the existing roof structures at Buildings 2, 3, 5, 9, 10, 19, 20 and 26 of the historic Bush Terminal Complex (Figure 1). …
The subject building is an existing timber-framed, multi-story structure that is over one hundred years old. Previous installments of this article have discussed the investigation and resulting need to evacuate the occupants, the nature of the deterioration observed, and the solutions considered for repair of the deteriorated columns. …
Part 1 of this series discussed the investigation of an existing timber-framed, multi-story building, that is over one hundred years old, and the resulting evacuation of the occupants due to an unsafe condition at the main support columns of the building. This installment discusses the nature of the deterioration observed and the solutions considered for repair. …
This article, which will be presented in three parts, discusses the investigation and subsequent repair of an existing timber-framed, multi-story building that is over one hundred years old. The investigation initially resulted in the need to evacuate the occupied building, which allowed for the innovative repair of severely deteriorated timber columns by encapsulating the wood within replacement steel columns that essentially jacketed and abandoned the original wood members in place. …
This article is a continuation of a previous four-part series entitled The Triage, Life Support and Subsequent Euthanasia of an Existing Precast Parking Garage. Part 4 appeared in the April 2014 issue of STRUCTURE magazine. Pennoni conducted a follow-up structural condition assessment a little more than one year after the original investigation, which was completed in December 2012. …
As a part of Pennoni Associates’s on-call contract with an existing client, the Philadelphia structural division investigated and developed repair bid documents for an existing, three-level, 1,200-space precast concrete parking garage during the last quarter of 2012. Part 1 of this series (September 2013) described the existing structure and summarized observations and material testing results. …
Pennoni’s involvement with the adaptive reuse of an existing historic building included the development of several innovative structural solutions. Part 1 of this article (February 2014) provided a history of the building and the initial major renovation challenges (Figure 1). This article will discuss life safety improvements and enhancements to utilization of the 12th floor and roof spaces. …
More than 100 years after its original construction in 1912, the First National State Bank Building in Newark, New Jersey (Figure 1) is ready to return to prominence. Located near the intersection of Broad and Market Streets, one of America’s busiest intersections just after the turn of this century, the rehabilitation of this structure is paramount to the ongoing revitalization of Newark’s historic commercial and business district known as the “Four Corners”. The structure consists of a 12-story mid-rise building with concrete slabs, steel I-beams and built-up steel columns; an adjacent three-story addition with concrete slabs and steel W-shape beams and columns constructed at an unknown date; and a more recent four-story structural steel, masonry block and brick stair and elevator tower at the very rear of the property. …
As a part of Pennoni’s on-call contract with an existing client, the Philadelphia structural division investigated and developed repair bid documents for an existing, three-level, 1,200-space precast concrete parking garage during the last quarter of 2012. Part 1 of this series (September 2013) described the existing structure and summarized Pennoni’s observations and material testing results. Part 2 (November 2013) presented an analysis of those findings. This article conveys Pennoni’s conclusions regarding the feasibility of repairing the garage in order to extend its service life. …