How is the structural integrity of very old buildings, bridges, etc. tested to ensure suitable use by people, cars, etc?
In: Engineering
Buildings are designed to signal you that it will be on the end side of its usefulness. For example in concrete, The best one to see it is by crack. Engineers will observe it by how the cracks looks like. Cracks doesn’t mean painting cracks though, but on a different kind. There are various kinds of it and it will say if the building is failing and we have checklist for that as ASCE dictates(or whatever governing codes on your area).
A 12inch of ruler is an example. If you bend it too much in the middle, notice the crack. That may how it looks like in the reality. Then try to break the first one inch of it, that’s what we call shear failure. It’s hard to bend the ruler if you use the deeper side than the thinner side right? We call it stiffness and its important in deflection.
There’s a local code in your area that will tell you when are you going to need an evaluation for this. If its historical building, retrofitting is a hundred percent needed.
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