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First Responders for the Built Environment
Length: 28 Minutes
The presentation, through case studies, talks about emergency response services for structural issues encountered during construction of new design projects. Among other examples is an eleven story precast parking structure. The contractor observed significant diagonal faulted cracking of L-beams (supporting double-tee sections) near bearing locations, few days after pouring topping slab. In addition, inverted-tee girders were observed to be supported on cracked corbels at other locations. A quick turn around was required to mitigate any immediate life safety hazard posed by the structural distresses and buy time for thorough investigation, non-destructive testing, analyses, and repair design. Another example is a seven story precast parking structure. The structure was under construction and reportedly erected out of plumb. Poor concrete placing practices and poor weld detailing led to widespread cracking in multiple structural elements throughout the structure. A thorough condition appraisal of the entire structure, qualitative repair design and construction monitoring program were employed to tackle the observed distresses.
Presentation Learning Objectives:
- Introduction to emergency response services in a forensic restoration project
- A brief discussion on the qualitative and quantitative approach to mitigating immediate life safety hazard posed by structural distresses
- Case studies that discuss the approach taken to tackle distresses in new construction, including:
- codes and standards referred;
- design assumptions made;
- field testing conducted;
- qualitative and quantitative analyses performed
- The necessity of providing repair construction monitoring to evaluate conformance with construction documents
Anirudh Goel, Restoration Engineer II, Walker Consultants
Anirudh (Ani) Goel is a Restoration Engineer II in the Houston office. He performs evaluation, non-destructive testing, and designing of repairs for a variety of structural, architectural, and material distress related projects. His experience includes computer modeling, analysis and design of steel, concrete, masonry, and timber structure and retrofits. Ani has over four years of experience in the field of structural engineering with forays in the oil and gas industry and traditional structural engineering consultancies. He is currently a registered EIT.
Mr. Charles Hammond, Principal, Walker Consultants
Charles Hammond is a senior restoration consultant in the Austin office. Charles’ diverse international and domestic background has included restoration projects, new design projects, forensic investigations, and litigation work. Services provided on these projects include structural analysis, construction administration, repair design, load testing, non-destructive testing, failure investigation peer review, and expert witness services among others. Charles has 12 years of design and forensic experience on structures that have utilized a variety of materials included structural steel, wood, concrete. Charles also holds multiple certifications, including PE license in multiple states, LEED accreditation, and a certified welding inspector.
