The basement garage had been built in 1965 as part of a commercial property that has been demolished since. Documentation was only available for the foundation and the support columns of the garage. Accordingly, our first step was to gather the missing data on ceilings and joists with minor invasive methods.

The data indicated that neither ceilings nor joists could bear the live load that was expected in future usage. Instead of immediately calling for conventional reinforcements (e.g. steel girders, sprayed concrete) we suggested a load test.

This project was particularly instructive due to the fact that we were involved in the planning process from early on. In cooperation with the planning engineer and the inspection engineer we were able to examine the load factor of the highly impacted joists.