Three Case Studies of Construction History Applied to the Assessment of Engineering Heritage Structures

Abstract

The paper will illustrate the contribution of research into Construction History in condition assessment or residual carrying capacity situations for three old types of concrete constructions. We will address: -the problem of assessing the actual carrying capacity of "Hennebique" reinforced concrete type beams with their characteristic reinforcement system, widespread in many countries before the First World War.-the replacement of the external post-tensioning tendons within a hollow box girder railway bridge built in the early 1960s with the "Blaton-Magnel" anchorage system developed in Belgium from 1941 onwards, and used until the early 1960s, in Belgium and abroad.-the structural assessment of thin concrete hyperbolic paraboloid shells, which were highly popular with architects and engineers in 1950s-1960s.

The Construction History and Assessment of Two Heritage Industrial Buildings in Wrocław

“…Historic concrete structures in many European countries, which are nowadays encountered during restoration works in public or industrial buildings, were constructed at the turn of the 20 th century [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]. In those times, construction and design codes were not yet established (until the early 1900s in France), however, many structural and material innovations came into use at that time.…”