Assessment of Using Reinforced and Pre-Stressed Masonry to Upgrade Lateral Load Capacity of Barrage Pier

Abstract

Masonry barrages are considered one of the most important water structures in Egypt. They control water levels in the River Nile and its branches and canals. It is very important to keep them working in good condi tion to assure good water management and distribution process. Most of barrages in Egypt have been built many years ago using masonry bricks without steel reinforcement. Due to their importance it is essential to protect these structures from the risk of earthquakes. Also some of these masonry barrages have been belt hundreds years ago and still working till now. The new barrages in Egypt were built using reinforced concrete. The cost of reinforced concrete structures is much higher than masonry structures. The main problem of the masonry structures is their low resistance to lateral load especially in the out of plane direction which causes over stress in the barrage piers during earthquakes. This research was performed to investigate the effect of us ing reinforcement masonry and prestressed masonry to increase the seismic load capacity of barrage piers in the out of plane direction. These two techniques could be used in new structures or in existing structures. Three masonry piers were built on a s haking table using ordinary masonry, reinforced masonry, and pre-stressed masonry. These piers were exposed to cyclic loads with different frequencies to model the earthquake. Finite element model was developed for the tested piers. Dynamic analyses were performed using the same input motion of the shaking table. The results of the experimental and the numerical models were compared to adjust the numerical model. Another finite element models were developed for typical masonry barrage using ordinary and re inforced masonry. Time history dynamic analyses were performed to investigate the effect of earthquakes on their responses. Guidelines for the assessment of the use of reinforced and pre-stressed techniques in construction and strengthening of masonry barr ages were suggested.

Seismic Evalution of Cracked Masonry Barrage Piers Repaired With Different Methods

“…2 in which the epoxy was used to paste the crack. The crack level was determined from previous set of experiments carried out on piers similar to the original one [14]. The pier was subjected to base vibration load.…”

“…The main problem of the masonry structures is their low resistance to lateral load especially in the out of plane direction which causes over stress in the barrage piers during earthquakes. The effect of using reinforcement and pre-stressing techniques for strengthening masonry piers to increase the seismic load capacity of barrage piers in the out of plane direction was investigated [14].…”

Using Dynamic Tests to Evaluate Structural Status of Barrage Before and After Rehabilitation

“…In addition, many are over age and need to assess and provide recommendations and enhancement if required [3][4]. Hydraulic structures such as barrages, regulators, and pump stations are classified based on function into eleven types: flow control structures, flow measurement structures, and division structures [5][6][7]. Barrage is a type of control structure, which consists of many gates.…”