Case Study: The Strengthening and Rehabilitation of a School Building with Poor Construction Quality

Abstract

Old infrastructure in most small islands developing states were built with poor construction quality leading to reduced concrete strength and load changes in these buildings are very common. Consequently, these structures have shown signs of premature damages and their service life remain elusive. This article deals with the inspection, assessment and strengthening of a reinforced concrete building, in Mauritius that is currently being used as a public school. The building was built in the year two thousands and is two storeys high. The establishment wants to add an additional storey on the existing building to increase student population. However, the building is showing signs of distress resulted from poor construction quality. The columns are misaligned on all three levels and the slab thickness is inadequate causing excessive vibration on the floors. The managements are not in favour of pulling down the existing building as they will have to abide by the new building regulations which will consequently decrease the allowable buildable area and will cause major disruption to the day to day activities. Therefore, the most feasible solution is to strengthen the load carrying capacity of members which have become structurally deficient over time to make the building safe and adopt to the addition of one storey above the existing building.