Dear Engineering Community, I w

[1asdfghjk]

Dear Engineering Community,

I was asked to give my recommendations for repairing cracks in CMU walls of unreinforced load-bearing walls of a one-story building. This building is about 60 years old and is located on the east coast. [See image]. This picture shows only one room in the building. The cracks may have been caused by a recent earthquake and have worsened over time. There are cracks in the four corners of the wall where two perpendicular walls meet. The exterior of the building is brick veneer. Not sure what the repair would look likes, but any thoughts on repair advice would be greatly appreciated. Room dimensions are approximately 26' W x 40' L x 26' H.

Thank you,

 

[Klitor]

26` high cmu in seismic zone?
How thick are the walls?

 

[1asdfghjk]

26 feet high CMU in seismic zone. This is about right. From a few sections of wall from this building that I'm not sure where it was cut in the floor plan since the floor plan does not exist, it shows a wall thickness of 6 inches. Again, the building was constructed in 1961.

 

[structSU10]

I doubt that is 6" block for that height. You know for sure it is unreinforced? Any wall control joints? Any settlement noticeable inside or outside?

 

[1asdfghjk]

As I mentioned, I have very few wall sections and no floor plans are available from the as-built drawings. I'm not sure where those wall sections were cut. Sections show this is a 6" CMU wall with no reinforcement other than the bond beam at the top of the wall - two courses below. My guess is that 6" CMU may have been used for the entire building, I could be wrong. No settlement could be seen from the exterior of the building. No wall control joints.

 

[BAretired]

Maybe the brick is not veneer, but the outer wythe of a cavity wall.

I would say you must either find more drawings or do a thorough site survey to determine what was built...or perhaps both.

 

[dik]

If 12" coursing... 26' was too high for most codes in that time period.

-----*****-----
So strange to see the singularity approaching while the entire planet is rapidly turning into a hellscape. -John Coates

-Dik

 

[Just Some Nerd]

Need to investigate this one for sure...get anxiety thinking of an unreinforced block wall that high

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Why yes, I do in fact have no idea what I'm talking about