Chapter 1 Introduction

Renovation is a carefully designed series activities to recover the loading carrying

capability, to enhance the performance, and to extend the service life of existing
buildings and infrastructures with a satisfied quality. Such activities include the repair,
strengthening, and rehabilitation of aged or damaged structures. Renovation
engineering is a combination of maintenance, inspection, and rehabilitation including
repair and strengthening.
Over the last a few decades, there has been considerable interest in the renovation
technique development and renovation activities mainly due to the deterioration and
durability problems of concrete structures. Many new techniques and wealth
knowledge in renovation engineering have been developed and promulgated at
various conferences, in papers, in press report, and in class-notes. This book is aimed
at summarizing the state-of-the-art knowledge in this field and forming a systematic
tool for teaching and practicing renovation activities.
In the past, outmoded and functionally obsolete buildings and infrastructures
were routinely demolished. However, recent years the amount of the repair and
refurbishment of all types of structures has been increased significantly. Owners,
engineers and architects of structures need to consider economic aspects as well as
historical significance and long-term serviceability by choosing either demolition and
rebuilding or renovation. The owners and the public often share an ethos of
conservation and adaptive reuse and their preference is usually renovation rather than
demolition. Moreover, as zoning and environmental regulations make it ever more
difficult to construct new buildings, renovation has become the most practical course
of action. Besides, recycling buildings can be viewed as a way to converse resources
and reduce landfill demand (Newman 2001). Maintaining and repairing existing
building stock, and repair and replacement of the infrastructure, has been a facet of
construction industry for nearly half a century originated first from Europe and then
North America. It should be noted that preparation of specification for renovation
work is quite different from the design of a new structure.

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1.1 Building and Infrastructure Degradation
Recently, the renovation engineering has been caught more and more
international wide attentions because of the frequent occurrence of the serious
degradation buildings and infrastructures. Constructed infrastructure is essential for
the development and progress of commerce and industry of the modern society. The
gravity of infrastructure degradation can be seen from the following facts. For
example, ASCE's 2005 Report Card for America's Infrastructure assessed the
condition and capacity of USA’s public works with an overall grade of D. ASCE
estimates that $1.6 trillion is needed over a five-year period to bring the nation's
infrastructure to good condition. As of 2003, 27.1% of the nation's bridges (160,570)
were structurally deficient or functionally obsolete, it will cost $9.4 billion a year for
20 years to eliminate all bridge deficiencies. According to results of a study by the
Association of State Dam Safety Officials, the total investment to bring U.S. dams
into safety compliance or to remove obsolete dams tops $30 billion. About 75% of
schools need extensive repair or replacement and repair bill for this is as high as $268
billion according to 2005 Report Card for American’s Infrastructure. In 1999,
European Union set a requirement that all European highways must be able to
carrying 44 ton vehicles. In U. K., about 40,000 bridges cannot fulfil this requirement
and need to be strengthened. Building and infrastructure degradation has become a
serious social and financial problem. It can be seen that the cost for infrastructure
rehabilitation has become a huge burden on national economy of the developed
countries and soon will be developing countries. Structural deterioration, together
with the need for increasing load carrying capacity, has created a big market for
renovation engineering. In China, according to the report of China Academy of
Engineering, the lost caused by corrosion in reinforced concrete structures only
reached $140 billion per year.
Hence, evaluation and rehabilitation of existing infrastructures has become
more and more important in the last decades and will be more critical in the future.
Structural deterioration, together with the need for increased load carrying capacity,
has created a big market for renovation engineering. It is predicted that in the new
century, less new designs and more rehabilitation work will be seen in civil
engineering. More funds has to be used in inspection, maintenance, and management
of existing infrastructure. More new technologies need to be developed for the

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applications in rehabilitation of infrastructures. And, of course, there is an urgent
need for a new book regarding this new branch in structural engineering.

1.2 Common Causes of Structural Degradation

It is important to understand the basic causes and mechanisms of the various

forms of deterioration that degrade construction material and infrastructure made of
reinforced concrete. Only with this understanding, it is possible to undertake realistic
assessments of the current condition of concrete structures, and to design and
implement the appropriate renovation work. Although deterioration of structure is
usually a medium to long term process, the onset of deterioration and its rate may be
influenced by the presence of defects which have their origin a t the time of
construction, or in the very early stages of the life of the structure (P25, T. Kay 1992).
The structural degradation can be divided into the following categories: Progressive
structural failure, e.g. collapse of bridges due to repeated traffic loading and gravity
loading; Sudden damages due to extreme loading such as fire, high speed wind or
earthquake; Serviceability deficiencies, e.g. excessive deflections and vibrations; and
Materials degradation, i.e., slow interaction with the environme nt. Deterioration of
concrete can be caused by chemical attack from external or between the internal
materials of which the structure is built, or by physical deterioration due to climatic
changes, abrasion, fire, impact, explosion, earthquake, foundation failure or
overloading. Specifically, the common causes that responsible for structural
degradations are:
Repeated Loading, including
- Traffic Loading on Bridges and Highways;
- Wind induced Vibrations in Bridges/Buildings;
- Machine induced Vibrations in Industrial Plants
Overloading
- Heavy materials and equipment on floors designed for light live loading;
- Change of use resulting in higher loading than was allowed for in the original
design;
Non-uniform Dimensional Changes
- Shrinkage of Constrained Concrete Surface;

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- Differential Thermal Expansion of Layered System (e.g., Asphaltic Pavement
on Bridge Deck);
- Expansion of Internal Phases (e.g. rusting steel in concrete);
Severe Loading or Unexpected Hazards
- Earthquake, Hurricane;
- Impact, Explosion;
- Fire which can result in some weakening of parts of the structure, as well as
physical damage to columns, beams, slabs etc

Loss of Foundation Support

- Scouring at Bridge Piers which may topple when loss of support;
- Cyclic desiccation and re-hydration of clay soil;
- Soil pumping under concrete pavement, with a poorly designed sub-base layer

Abrasion/Erosion of Concrete Surfaces

- Wear of Pavement Surface by tires of trucks;
- Abrasion caused by steel wheeled trolleys;
- Abrasion of a floor slab in a factory;
- Abrasion of marine structures by sand and shingle
- Erosion of Hydraulic Structures;

External Chemical Attacks

- Acid rain
- Sulphat attack
- Chloride diffusion

Internal Chemical attack

- Corrosion of Reinforcing Steel;
- Alkali Aggregate Reaction;
- Stress Corrosion - Coupled Chemical/Stress Effect
- Phase Changes

Indirect Effects of Bacteria

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 Under warm temperature, bacteria in sewage can convert sulphur compounds
into sulphuric acid. Deterioration of metallic and concrete sewage pipes can
then occur.

Except for these causes occurred in serviceability, structural deficiency may

also be resulted from errors in design and defects in construction. It is noted that a
significant proportion of the problems associated with concrete structures can be
traced back to design or to construction defects (Rasheeduzzafar et al 1989). For
instance, a design consideration of inadequate concrete cover may maximize the
chance of oxygen and moisture penetrating to reinforcement, thus increase the chance
of corrosion. As for construction is concerned, one main problem is oversight the
curing and causes early age cracking that permits external agencies, such as air and
moisture, to enter the concrete and attack the cement matrix and reinforcement. Other
common construction errors may include failure to place reinforcement in right
position, and failure to provide sufficient cover for reinforcement, inadequate
compaction for concrete. These common causes, occurred in design, construction and
serviceability, of structural degradation may bring the following defects in the
structure (Chandler 1991 P 21):
Excess deflection in beams and floors due to weak design / unforeseen loading
Inadequate/insufficient fixing between precast and in situ concrete
components
Lack of sufficient load carrying packing between precast units
Misalignment of precast concrete panels
Inadequate movement joints between claddings and structure
Inadequate insulation leading to internal condensation
Surface finishes spalling or flaking
Distortion of wall panels

1.3 The Objectives and Scopes of Renovation Engineering

Renovation is a process of substantial repair or alteration that extends a

building’s useful life (Newman 2001). The renovation engineering is a very young
subject in civil engineering for concrete structures. The missions of renovation
engineering are:

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(1) To develop a better understanding of the degradation process by identifying
major parameters governing the deterioration process;
(2) To develop effective structural evaluation techniques. These techniques should
be non-destructive in nature, fast and reliable;
(3) To develop economic, functional, and effective repair, strengthening, and
rehabilitation technique;
(4) To develop reliable maintenance procedures; and
(5) To develop the codes and specifications for repair and rehabilitation so that
public safety and health are not jeopardized.

Unfortunately, systematic reference on structural renovation of concrete is scare

and textbooks are only a few. Other limited information has only been presented in
journal papers, specialty conference proceedings. So far there are no comprehensive
textbooks available addressing issues on renovation of concrete structures. A
confluence of several factors usually establishes the need for building renovation.
Some of the common ones are described as below.
(1) Change in use;
(2) Upgrading mechanical and electrical systems;
(3) Deterioration of building envelop
(4) Structural damage and failure
(5) Upgrading buildings for lateral loads
(6) Reducing serviceability problems
Renovation engineering normally covers various technologies related to: (1)
repair of degraded structures to recover its initial load carrying capacity; (2)
strengthening of structures to increase its load carrying capacity for current needs.
The proper renovation of structures requires: (1) good understanding of degradation
mechanisms for proper actions to be taken and to avoid recurrence of problem in the
future, such as rusting when placing steel to strengthen the concrete; (2) reliable
evaluation techniques for existing condition, including framework for structural
appraisal and maintenance and non-destructive testing methods; (3) effective
techniques for repair/strengthening with practical guidelines and specifications.
This book will focus on the rehabilitation of concrete structures on materials
and structural aspect, not on architectural and not on utilities and less interactions with
other engineers. On the other hand, renovation engineering is more material oriented.

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Deterioration problems are basically materials problem, especially for concrete
structures. Only at the final stage of progressive failure, structural problems become
significant. Renovation engineering is very practical and requires heavy field work.
Inspection and field evaluation are very important for preparation the renovation work
since they provide the current condition the structure and the suggestion for remedial
work for the structure. So far, not many specifications and design codes is available
for renovation. Though the specific renovation work depends on the type of the
structure and its condition, the following steps may generally be required for a
renovation job:
(1) Deciding on the details of the investigation;
(2) Investigation (preliminary and detailed) of the structure;
(3) Diagnosis of the causes of the deterioration and evaluation of the overall condition
of the structure;
(3) Preparation of report to the client to suggest either renovation or rebuild;
(4) If renovation is recommended, preparation of specification and contract
documents;
(5) Conducting the designed renovation work;
(6) Inspection of the renovation work;
(7) Regular post contract inspection and monitoring and advising on a practical
program of maintenance.

1.4 Useful Definitions

The following common definitions are used for various terms appeared in this book.
They are listed here for the sake of uniform understanding for all readers.
Assessment – Systematic collection and analysis of data, evaluation, and
recommendations regarding the portions of an existing structure which would be
affected by its proposed use (ASCE 2000).
Evaluation – The process of determining the structural adequacy or the infrastructure
or component for its intended use and/or performance. Evaluation by its nature
implies the use of personal and subjective judgment by those functioning in the
capacity of experts (ASCE 2000).

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Infrastructure – In general, the basic economic, social, or military facilities and
installations of a community, including highways, bridges, parking lot, dams and
tunnels (ASCE 2000).
Inspection – The activity of examining, measuring, testing, gauging, and using other
procedures to ascertain the quality or state, detect errors, defects, or deterioration and
otherwise appraise materials, components, systems, or environments (ASCE 2000).
Rehabilitation - The process of repairing or modifying a system to a desired
condition. It is an upgrade (of a damaged structure) required to meet the present
needs; it implies sensitivity to building features and a sympathetic matching of
original construction (Newman 2001).
Repair - To replace or correct deteriorated, damaged, or faulty materials, components,
or elements of a system to regain strength, density and durability.
Restoration - The process of reestablishing the materials, form, and appearance of a
system to those of a particular era of the system.
Retrofiting - The process of increasing the load-resistance capacity or improving the
performance of a structure or portion of the structure. (An example for performance
improvement is to retrofit a damper into a structure to reduce its vibration)

Reference
Allen, R. T. L., Edwards, S. C., and Shaw, J. D. N. (1993), The Repair of Concrete
Structures, Blackie Academic & Professional.
ASCE (2000), Guideline for Structural Condition Assessment of Existing Buildings,
SEI/ASCE 11-99, Published by ASCE.
Chandler, I., Repair & Renovation of Modern Buildings, McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1991.
Kay, Ted (1992), Assessment & Renovation of Concrete Structures, Concrete Design
& Construction Series, Longman Scientific & Technical, New York.
Newman, Alexander (2001), Structural Renovation of Buildings, Methods, Details,
and Design Examples, McGraw-Hill.
Rasheeduzzafar, Al-Gahtani, Al-Saadoun, et al 1989.