Structural Clay Tile Wall

[campbelltc]

I'm looking for design information on a structural clay tile wall. I didn't really look at it extremely closely during my original site visit because I assumed it was non-loadbearing but after reviewing pictures and all other information, it appears that it is loadbearing. It looks like an 8" nominal wall with T-shaped tiles that are 8" x 8" with 2" x 4" notches top and bottom. The tiles are laid in alternate directions so that each face is 8"/4"/8"/4" as they stack.

I have borrowed Brick and Tile Engineering by Plummer (Nov 1962, 2nd Ed) and the Handbook of Design (July 1955, 2nd Ed) but they don't have anything like the T-shapes seen here.

Any assistance or links to more information would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[manstrom]

I've run across those before. Very brittle. You can break then with a hammer fairly easily. They were popular in the mid 1900s. I've never seen them used in a bearing condition. I wouldn't add new bearing to it, and I would inspect the existing stuff for wear.

Maybe check BIA for more info. "Structural Renovation of Buildings" by Newman has some info, but no design info.

When I am working on a problem, I never think about beauty but when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong.

-R. Buckminster Fuller

 

[campbelltc]

Manstrom,

Thanks. I did some research and they appear to be Denison Interlocking Tiles. I actually found some load bearing capacities in a Sweets Catalog that was nearly a century old.

Denison Interlocking Tile

I'll make sure to add a significant factor of safety when analyzing the loads, however. Thanks.