Structural and material assessment of historic reinforced brick masonry elevator for grain – a study case

Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Department of Civil Engineering, 27 Wyspianskiego Blvd., 50-374 Wroclaw, Poland

^* Corresponding author: piotr.berkowski@pwr.edu.pl

Abstract

The grain elevator was erected around 1940 and is situated at the Odra River embankment. It has a rectangular plan with the longer side perpendicular to the former port wharf. The structure of the building is mixed, made of reinforced concrete and brick masonry. The entire facility was founded on a reinforced concrete foundation slab. The ground floor columns, supporting the silos, the walls of the ground floor, the floor above the ground floor with silo drainage funnels, the inter-story ceilings of the technical route, the roof concrete frames and the attic ceiling are made of reinforced concrete. The main part of the structure consists of 74 interlocked grain silos, with a square cross-section. The walls of the silo chambers are brick, reinforced with steel bars in each joint. The article presents the results of diagnostics of the technical condition of the assessed object, including material analyses (concrete, brick, steel), as well as the results of static and strength calculations of the main load-bearing elements of the object conducted in order to verify the possibility of its adaptation to new housing functions.