Existing brick pilaster carrying capacity
Existing brick pilaster carrying capacity
(OP)
I'm analyzing a 100 year old brick building's pilaster load carrying capacity. The building is 4 stories high with 20"x20" brick pilasters at 13' O.C. Brick exterior wall is 12" thick. Building owner wants to add more floors on top. Building sits on bed rock, test pit reveals spead footing of 32"x32" below each pilaster.
Can anyone recommend the following without destructive testing of the pilaster:
1. Allowable bearing stress of the pilaster (Fa)
2. Building's in New York City with light seismic activity, what might be a safe lateral allowable shear stress of this pilaster (Fv)
3. Bending (Fb)
To arrive at a final design for ultimate carrying capacity of this pilaster what steps should be taken (incl. extracting brick and mortar for test)? I don't know whether the pilaster is reinforced or not.
Thanks for your helps guys.
Can anyone recommend the following without destructive testing of the pilaster:
1. Allowable bearing stress of the pilaster (Fa)
2. Building's in New York City with light seismic activity, what might be a safe lateral allowable shear stress of this pilaster (Fv)
3. Bending (Fb)
To arrive at a final design for ultimate carrying capacity of this pilaster what steps should be taken (incl. extracting brick and mortar for test)? I don't know whether the pilaster is reinforced or not.
Thanks for your helps guys.






RE: Existing brick pilaster carrying capacity
I guess the client hired you to find out exactly that. If you have a specific question about how to go about to find it, you would probably have better responses.
I would certainly recommend taking samples and finding exactly what those columns have inside before going any further
RE: Existing brick pilaster carrying capacity
Expensive, I know, but a sure thing.
RE: Existing brick pilaster carrying capacity
increase seismice weight by more than 5% and modify more than 30% of the total floor/roof areas, then you've got to bring the bldg up to current code.
RE: Existing brick pilaster carrying capacity
RE: Existing brick pilaster carrying capacity
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RE: Existing brick pilaster carrying capacity
The section on brick requires it to be "good, hard, and well burnt." Nothing more, nothing less. It allows the use of lime mortar (which you better hope isn't the case in your building).
Page 118 starts the section for allowable stresses.
On page 75, it lists the penalty for placing any item on a fire escape platform "ten dollars and imprisonment for ten days."
Page 120 specifies 30 psf wind for the full height.
This is truly amazing. I could spend hours looking at this document.
RE: Existing brick pilaster carrying capacity
BA