12th International Conference on Structural Analysis of Historical Constructions
SAHC 2020
P. Roca, L. Pelà and C. Molins (Eds.)
REINFORCED CONCRETE FLOORS IN HISTORIC BUILDINGS
FROM THE BEGINNING AND THE MIDDLE OF THE 20TH CENTURY
– EXAMPLES OF STRUCTURAL STRENGTHENING
IN THE PROCESS OF REVITALIZATION
G. DMOCHOWSKI1, P. BERKOWSKI1*, J. SZOLOMICKI1, M. MINCH2
1
Faculty of Civil Engineering
Wroclaw University of Science and Technology
Wyspianskiego Blvd. 27, PL50-370 Wroclaw, Poland
[email protected],
[email protected] (*corresponding author),
[email protected] 2
VEGACAD Design and Implementation Office
89, Agrestowa Str., PL53-006 Wroclaw, Poland
[email protected]Keywords: Historical Building, Concrete Slab Floor, Assessment, Strengthening
Abstract. The paper presents a historical outline of structural solutions of reinforced concrete
floors from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries to the half of the 20th century in the Lower
Silesia region of Poland. It is based on the analysis of archival documentation and expert
research carried out during the design of the revitalization of historic public and industrial
buildings. The structural typology of some simple RC floors slabs used in that time of
introduction of concrete into construction life as well as constructional solutions of buildings
erected in western Poland in those days are presented. Nowadays, while some of these
buildings undergo refurbishment process to adapt them to new functional aims these RC
floors have to be strengthened using different methods, depending on the assessment results.
In some of the presented design study cases assessed technical state and load bearing
capacity of floors ensure the possibility of their further use without the need for significant
reinforcements, except for the need for surface material repairs. However, in some cases due
to concrete deterioration processes and loss of its durability, despite necessity of material
renovation, structural strengthening methods needed to be applied. For example, increasing
the load bearing capacity of floors by making additional concrete layers cooperating with the
existing reinforced concrete slab or by changing the static scheme by making new supports up
to the complete replacement of floors (not only concrete ones) with modern, concrete rib-and-
beam or composite ones were considered.
1 INTRODUCTION
In many cities of the southwestern part of Poland (which geographically and historically is
named Lower Silesia) there are still buildings, used for various purposes - from residential,
G. Dmochowski, P. Berkowski, J. Szolomicki and M. Minch
public and industrial, which were built in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century. Due to
their former function some of those buildings required large functional areas and therefore the
need to construct floor slabs having significant spans as well as sufficient bearing capacity.
The best choice was then using reinforced concrete structural elements, despite the fact that
that were years when concrete had its beginnings in construction.
In the recent years, in connection with the various activities carried out to adapt these
facilities to new utility functions, building engineers often meet and get to know interesting
structural solutions from that time, many of them made using reinforced concrete. In the
course of assessment works, aimed at diagnosing the technical state of these historic
structures, including their safety and the development of appropriate rehabilitation projects,
there are discovered different concrete elements as, for example, different types of monolithic
floor slabs in industrial or public service buildings or even complete skeletal structures of
workshops or department malls. Combining construction history analysis with current
diagnostic methods can give not only an understanding of the past design solutions and
development of structural design and construction ideas, but also is essential for the adequate
design of repair interventions. However, what is obvious, with the time pace and aging
process, these historic concrete structures at least lost partially their former material properties
and bearing capacity.
The paper presents a historical outline of structural solutions of reinforced concrete floors
from the beginning of the 20th century (also mentioning some later design solution), based on
the analysis of archival documentation and research carried out during the rehabilitation
processes of historic public and industrial buildings. The structural typology of selected
historic German reinforced concrete floor slabs and some typical constructional solutions used
in the first half of the 20th century in buildings erected in western Poland are discussed.
Nowadays, while some of these buildings undergo refurbishment processes to accommodate
them to new functional goals some of these slabs have to be strengthened using classic or
modern methods. Procedures of technical state assessment of old RC structures as well as
selection of some applied strengthening methods are described in the paper.
2 STRUCTURAL DESCRIPTION OF HISTORIC RC FLOOR SLABS
2.1 Typical historic RC floors
A description of typical solutions of reinforced concrete floor slabs that can be found in
buildings constructed at the turn of 19th and 20th centuries, also in the region of the Lower
Silesia, are presented, for example, in [1,2,3]. Below, based on the aforementioned literature
as well as on the conducted own expert studies and structural assessments [4,5,6,7,8,9],
several selected, most commonly used and met in Poland, reinforced concrete floors are
briefly presented.
Four types of many Monier floor slabs solutions are presented in Fig. 1. They were mainly
in use at the turn of the 19th and 20th century. Their typical spans were between 1.00 and 2.50
m (in 1909 even to 6.0 m), a slab thicknesses was only 3 to 10 cm, and the reinforcement was
made of smooth round bars with a diameter of 6 mm, laid every 10 cm. In the first versions
the reinforcement was placed in the compression and tension zone.
G. Dmochowski, P. Berkowski, J. Szolomicki and M. Minch
When executing a continuous slab across several fields, the reinforcement was bent at the
moment zero points and carried out above the supports. Those slabs were mainly based on
double-T beams (at upper or lower flange), but also on masonry walls.
Figure 1: Examples of Monier floors (Monier decke) [1]
Another example of ingenious ideas was concrete floor with pre-tensioned reinforcement
(Fig. 2). In order to achieve a higher bearing capacity of such floor and an effect of structural
continuity, the iron inserts were preloaded. The round bars were pulled tight around the upper
flanges of the beams or around anchor flat bars mounted in the masonry, and laterally shifted
until a prestressing was reached. That floor slab was considered as a single-span one.
Figure 2: Tensioned concrete floor (Spanneisendecke) [1]
In 1897 the Koenen floor (Fig. 3) was built as the first version of a slab with cove-shaped
supports running through several steel girders. Due to the formation of haunches at the
support area, a bigger lever arm of the internal forces was achieved above the supports. The
shear stresses, increasing towards the slab edge, are absorbed by the haunches. The
reinforcement routes follow the moment curve and bars are bent up by the support at the
moment zero points.
G. Dmochowski, P. Berkowski, J. Szolomicki and M. Minch
Figure 3: Koenen plate floor (Koenensche Voutenplatte) [1]
Figure 4: Cross-section of a public service building with Koenen plate floors (1899)
Figure 5: General view and rebar exposure of Koenen plate floor in a public service building
G. Dmochowski, P. Berkowski, J. Szolomicki and M. Minch
The reinforcement was anchored at the top of the slab in various ways: hooks at the upper
flanges of the girders or a flat steel that was held by steel anchors mounted in masonry walls.
By coupling the reinforcement with the wall clasp it was possible to achieve a high degree of
clamping for the peripheral area using the wall dead load. Spans of up to 8.0 m were achieved
for that floor. That type of floor can be often met in the 19th/20th century public service
buildings in the Lower Silesia region (Figs 4 & 5).
The Wolles console floor (Fig. 6) is similar to the Koenen one, but there is no continuous
layout of the reinforcement over supports. It is divided into bottom one in a span and upper
one over supports. The characteristic element is that the upper bars were extended
approximately 100 mm beyond the zero moment point.
Figure 6: Wolles floor (Wollesche Konsoldecke) [1]
2.2 Examples of monolithic RC floors in historic industrial buildings
Below there are presented some examples of classic fully monolithic RC floors (being
parts of 3D frame structures) that are still working without strengthening necessity in different
public service and industrial buildings from the first half of the 20th century in the Lower
Silesia region of Poland.
Figure 7: Archival drawing and general view of the RC rib floor in a market hall (1909)
First of them is one of the prominent monuments of RC historic structures – the market
hall from 1908 (Fig. 7). The original design of the market hall building was made in the years
1901-1903 and consisted of the reinforced concrete foundation and the steel structure in the
part above the ground level. However, the whole structure finally was made of concrete after
performing an analysis of a variety design solutions of different market hall buildings existing
G. Dmochowski, P. Berkowski, J. Szolomicki and M. Minch
at the time as well as due to the properties of concrete material such as: durability, fire
resistance and no need of intensive maintenance [6,7]. From the constructional point of view
we are dealing in this building with two construction materials: concrete/reinforced concrete
of foundation slabs, basement walls, floors, and arched supporting structure, and the brick
masonry exterior walls. Generally, the building remains in use in a perfect technical state.
The second object is a heritage industrial building of bakery flower warehouse built about
1913 (Fig. 8). The edifice has 8 floors above the ground, but has no basement. Although the
external walls of the building are made of brick masonry, the main bearing structure is made
of reinforced concrete: pillars, rib-slab floors, and roof frames on two attic floors. The
assessment was made with an aim to determine the possibility of reconstruction and
adaptation of the warehouse building to new utility purposes, and in turn, to extend its service
life. Currently, the building is under refurbishment process.
Figure 8: Archival drawing and general view of the RC rib floor in a bakery plant (1913)
The next two buildings (Figs 9 & 10) are not so spectacular examples of the historic RC
structures, but present the simplicity, clarity and usefulness of the use of this material in
shaping the space of industrial buildings regardless the passage of time and the development
of design methods and properties of the materials used.
Figure 9: General view of the RC rib floor of a workshop and rebar exposure (1940)
G. Dmochowski, P. Berkowski, J. Szolomicki and M. Minch
Figure 10: View of warehouse after partial demolition and the rib floor structure in a ground floor (1950)
In both cases the assessments of technical condition of buildings (including fire resistance
demands) were conducted due to designed change of their future utility functions. Based on
the non-destructive techniques (rebound hammer and pull-out methods) used and study of
historical literature it was assumed that the concrete in the structure corresponded with
concrete classes of C12/C15. According to the literature data and taking into account the age
of the construction, it was determined that post-German so-called "commercial steel" with the
design strength 150 MPa was used for reinforcement. Basing on the static and strength
calculations it was determined that the carrying capacity of the floors in the considered
buildings was sufficient to carry on new loads without necessity to strengthen their structure.
The only necessary repair would be connected with improving the floors’ fire resistance by
creating a new spray on their lower surface which would increase the thickness of the
concrete cover of the bars, by the use of nano-concrete plaster, for example.
3 STRUCTRAL STRENGTHENING OF HISTORIC RC FLOOR – A CASE STUDY
3.1 Former public service building converted into an apartment house
The analyzed building was erected about 1909. Before the 2nd world war the building was
the seat of the Central Customs Office, after the war it served as militia barracks. The building
has 4 floors above ground (ground floor and three floors), an unused attic and is partly
a basement (Fig. 11.a). The structural system of the building is two-bay one, with corridors
located along the inner courtyard. The building's structure is traditional: the foundations are
brick masonry ones; the load-bearing walls are made of brick; the floors are in the form of
reinforced concrete slabs, locally are made with use of the prefabricated reinforced concrete
panels. The roof truss is wooden, covered with ceramic tiles. Above the ground floor slabs
were found in the form of cross-reinforced concrete slabs in rooms and unidirectional
reinforced slabs in corridors. The structural thickness of the floors varied from 10÷12 cm in
corridors to 16÷20 cm in rooms.
G. Dmochowski, P. Berkowski, J. Szolomicki and M. Minch
a) b)
Figure 11: a) Archival drawing of building cross-section; b) typical cracks in floor slabs
Numerous cracks were found in slabs over the corridors, especially at the ground and first
floors. Those damages were caused by corrosion of reinforcement, poor concrete adhesion to
band-iron and its torsion during concreting. In almost all the RC floors diagonal scratches of
the panels were found in the slab corners (Fig. 11.b). These are typical cracks for thin
reinforced concrete slabs, without upper reinforcement near supports. Such reinforcement was
not found in the exposures and during rebar scanning tests.
A number of rebar samples were taken out from floors projected to be demolished to
determine in steel strength machine the quality of reinforcing steel used [1,10]. The test
results let to assume the calculation yield stress for steel rebar as fyd = 250 MPa.
Based on the concrete strength tests and literature analysis [1,11,12] it was assumed, due to
the large variation in results, that the used concrete corresponded to the current class C12/C15
with a design strength of 8.0 MPa. Even assuming higher value of concrete strength, as 10.0
MPa, the slabs had not enough capacity for new loads. As the slabs were very thin it was
impossible to state concrete strength using cores extracted from them.
a) b)
Figure 12: Slab strengthening ideas: a) shotcrete at bottom surface; b) additional concrete layer at upper surface
G. Dmochowski, P. Berkowski, J. Szolomicki and M. Minch
c) d)
Figure 12: Considered methods of floor slab strengthening: c) additional T-shape beam; d) additional inverted
T-shape girder
The tensile pull-off examination of concrete surface of floors adhesion showed that it did
not have enough strength to use FRP materials for strengthening and the surface repair would
be too expansive.
The static and strength calculations carried out, preceded by the above mentioned material
tests, showed that the reinforced concrete slabs above all the storeys did not have sufficient
capacity associated with the residential, hotel or office function. This let to make a decision of
strengthening all the floor slabs. Some techniques (Figs 12.a÷d) were considered, but finally
construction of additional supporting inverted T-beams were applied (Figs 13.a,b).
a) b)
Figure 13: a) Floor slab with cuttings; b) floor with additional inverted T-shape RC girder supports
4 MODERN CONCRETE FLOORS IN HISTORIC BUILDINGS – A CASE STUDY
4.1 Former city palace converted into a public service building
According to the preserved archival documentation the revitalizing object, in its current
architectural and structural form, was designed and built in 1898 as a city palace of the family
of the Ballestrem counts. Buildings that had existed in this place before were completely
G. Dmochowski, P. Berkowski, J. Szolomicki and M. Minch
destroyed as a result of the explosion of the gunpowder tower in 1749, and new buildings
were erected in their place. During its existence, the building was rebuilt and extended, as
evidenced by the preserved historical documentation. The palace is a three-floor building with
basement and attic (Fig. 15.a). The object has a central symmetry axis, a straight front
elevation and a fragmented rear elevation (Fig. 15.b). The building's structure is traditional,
i.e. foundations and load-bearing walls are made of solid brick, floors – vaults above
basements, Klein type and wooden on the other floors, and the roof truss structure – wooden.
a) b)
Figure 15: a) Archival plan of old palace building; b) the palace after rehabilitation
According to the assumptions of the revitalization project, the building was to serve as
a hotel, with a restaurant in a basement. In relation to these assumptions and the resulting
design and functional requirements, a detailed assessment of the technical condition of the
object, as well as conservatory opinion (including stratigraphic ones) was developed by
specialists. The results of this assessment provided the basis for developing a construction
design for the reconstruction and adaptation of the palace building to new utility functions.
However, during the construction works, after full exposure or demolition of subsequent
fragments of the structure, it was necessary to modify the adopted design solutions or
introduce additional reinforcements. The designed new building function also enforces the
introduction of correspondingly higher functional loads. All these factors had a major impact
on the need to strengthen virtually all the foundations by using jet-grouting. All inter-floor
floors, except for those located in rooms such as bathrooms or kitchens, were made as wooden
ones. The layout of the floors was mixed, often even the neighboring rooms had a different
course of bearing beams. Finally, all old wooden floors had to be replaced with new ones.
Originally, ceilings were considered to be made as traditional RC panel slabs on steel
beams or modern rib-and-slab floor (RECTOR type) (Fig. 16). RECTOLIGHT floors are
beam-honeycombed, prefabricated dense ribbed slabs. These floors consist of prestressed
concrete beams and ceiling fillings made of pressed wood. The system is supplemented with:
supporting reinforcements, welded steel mesh and monolithic concrete made on site. The
biggest advantage of this system floor is its lightness and easy installation, which are of great
importance when performing works in historic buildings located in the city center.
G. Dmochowski, P. Berkowski, J. Szolomicki and M. Minch
Figure 16: View of the RECTOLIGHT concrete floor
However, in the final solution, due to economic reasons, new inter-story floors were
designed in the form of composite reinforced concrete slabs, made on lost formwork made of
trapezoidal steel sheets, based on steel I-beams (Fig. 17).
Figure 17: View of the composite floor
5 FINAL REMARKS
Recently, many historic buildings in Poland undergo refurbishment process to adapt them
to new functional aims and new loads. In case of public or industrial buildings from the end of
the 19th and beginning of the 20th century there can be found ones in which concrete was used
for the first time as structural material, especially for floor slabs. In most of the cases, due to
concrete deterioration processes and loss of its durability, despite necessity of material
renovation, strengthening methods are necessary to be applied. One of the main elements of
proper definition of reinforcement method to be applied is historical analysis of design and
construction of such structural elements, according to the archival and contemporary literature
(what was presented in this paper), and the other indispensable action is careful assessment of
their real construction and technical condition [13]. As the final resulted of such analyses
G. Dmochowski, P. Berkowski, J. Szolomicki and M. Minch
some examples of different techniques of strengthening of old reinforced concrete floor slabs
in historical buildings were presented in this paper. Also, examples of application of modern
concrete slabs in place of deteriorated floors (not only the RC ones) were briefly described.
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