Field Inspection of 1912 Crane Rail System
Field Inspection of 1912 Crane Rail System
(OP)
I have been asked to preform a field inspection of a Crane Rail system that was constructed in 1912. I have the original design/shop drawings. I have some experience inspection buildings and I do have a copy of the ASCE publication for the inspection of buildings as well as AISC's book on properties of old structural steel shapes.
Does anyone have any advice for an inspection of a structure this old? Is there anything special to look for? Does 95 year old structural steel break down?
Does anyone have any advice for an inspection of a structure this old? Is there anything special to look for? Does 95 year old structural steel break down?






RE: Field Inspection of 1912 Crane Rail System
The steel does not breakdown, however I have found that it will often have been welded during subsequent modifications. Unfortunately is it common for steels from back then to not be readily weldable... This leads to some interesting complications, but hopefully you won't face any.
The rivits should be checked for fatigue loosening, the steel itself should be inspected extensively for any signs of fatigue as well. Repetitive loading after all this time would be my first concern.
I would really love to get my hands on a copy of the drawings; If you are able to scan them, would you be willing to post them? I collect old structural drawings both for professional curiosity and knowledge.
I have extensive experience with existing structures, coupled with a good number of inherited texts and a fairly good library of articles and reports regarding existing conditions. I'll keep an eye on this thread; Please let all of us know if something troublesome/interesting comes up, or if you just need some help.
Cheers,
Mo Quinn
B.Eng (Carleton)
Working in New Zealand, thinking of my snow covered home...
RE: Field Inspection of 1912 Crane Rail System
Good advice. The drawings are posted
RE: Field Inspection of 1912 Crane Rail System
Good advice. I cannot get the files to upload. Will try tomorrow.
RE: Field Inspection of 1912 Crane Rail System
I'll be quite keen to hear how the inspection goes as well.
Cheers,
YS
B.Eng (Carleton)
Working in New Zealand, thinking of my snow covered home...
RE: Field Inspection of 1912 Crane Rail System
RE: Field Inspection of 1912 Crane Rail System
Let me have a FTP site. Can't upload here.
RE: Field Inspection of 1912 Crane Rail System
I've created a username called "Engtipsstructural" and with the password "engtips"... Should be easy to figure out and use; I've not used it in a while, and would probably not want to share my own password online.
Alternatively, maybe SlideRuleEra would consider hosting old plans on the www.slideruleera.net website?
Really looking forward to those plans!
Cheers,
YS
B.Eng (Carleton)
Working in New Zealand, thinking of my snow covered home...
RE: Field Inspection of 1912 Crane Rail System
youngstructural provides good advice above. Fatigue is the primary concern. Not only because of the repeated loadings but also because of the early-years lack of knowledge of good detailing of the crane rail beams.
If you get a copy of AISC's Design Guide 7, Industrial Buildings, they lay out numerous "wrong" ways to connect a crane rail to a column. Also a negative are knee braces which were commonly used years ago on crane rail assemblies.
I reviewed an old crane rail facility some years ago and we had the following issues:
1. Fatigue cracking in the webs of the crane beams where they were bolted to the columns - due to rotation of the beam and constraint by the bolts, horizontal cracks were found extending off the top bolt in the connections.
2. Knee braces were removed and new X-braces were added.
3. Repairs of cracks were done by gouging out the crack and filling with full-pen welds. Welders got sick due to lead in the paint on the steel.
4. Rivets were checked - no ASTM method was found to do this but some old-timers showed us how to hit the rivet head with a large ball peen hammer with a static hammer held on the other side. If you got a high pitched "ping" you were good. A dull thud meant a bad rivet.
5. Footings had settled so the cranes were minor roller coasters. We underpinned the footings with auger cast piling and then re-established new connections to level the beams that were significantly off-line. Other beams had shim plates added under the rails to level the rails.
6. Re-designed the way the crane rail beam tied horizontally back to the side columns so that no restraint would occur against the natural downward rotation of the beam when flexing under vertical loads.
Hope this helps give you a bit of a picture.
RE: Field Inspection of 1912 Crane Rail System
Also, I know the "rivet trick" you've described from my bridge inspection days, but it's probably a very good idea to list it. I overlooked this one given that Bernie stated he has experience inspecting historic structures.
A star for your post.
Cheers,
YS
B.Eng (Carleton)
Working in New Zealand, thinking of my snow covered home...
RE: Field Inspection of 1912 Crane Rail System
RE: Field Inspection of 1912 Crane Rail System
youngstructural-I have some experience win older structural but not old crane rail systems. Your comments are very beneficial.
JAE-Fatigue cracking. Do you look for this with just naked eye?
2. Knee braces were removed and new X-braces were added. This structure does have knee braces. In what location were the x-braces actually added?
Why were the knee braces removed?
RE: Field Inspection of 1912 Crane Rail System
Used a dye to find the cracks. (Dye penetrant test)
Knee Braces:
If you look in the AISC Design Guide I mentioned, they explain the problem of knee braces and have a drawing that clarifies it. Basically, as the crane moves over the beam, the beam will naturally want to deflect downward. But the knee braces will be propping up the beam near its end and this creates an uplift at the end of the beam at the bolted connections. This causes tension stresses to develop in the beam right at the top bolt of the end connection. Thus, you get fatigue cracking at the bolt hole.
The proper detail will be such that the beam can slightly rotate at its column support without the tension stresses occurring.
RE: Field Inspection of 1912 Crane Rail System
www.SlideRuleEra.net![[idea] idea](https://www.tipmaster.com/images/idea.gif)
www.VacuumTubeEra.net
RE: Field Inspection of 1912 Crane Rail System
I uploaded the drawings to http://www.drivehq.com/.