Converting an office building into a warehouse, a road bridge to carry a tramway, or widening a bridge to provide additional traffic lanes: changing the usage of your asset will often trigger the need to assess the structure’s current capacity and to upgrade it in order to guarantee its safety and durability.
Upgrading can be achieved by a multitude of approaches and selecting the right one requires careful consideration of the updated loading, design and behavior of the structure, ‘constructability’, costs, program and whether the works have to be done while the asset remains in operation.
VSL has the experience and expertise to find the right solution and the capability to design, supply or procure, and execute whatever is needed to make your project possible.
Very often, change of use comes with a significant increase in loading. Minimizing the modification costs might involve just strengthening the structure. There may also be a need to change the way the structure transfers the increased loads to the foundations. VSL makes use of active strengthening solutions and controlled load transfer sequences in order to transfer load to less utilized members, while relieving stress on highly loaded parts in order to minimize the total cost of your project.
We make a point of carrying out the work ourselves on these critical interventions focused on the load carrying members of the structure. VSL can also provide the project management skills to integrate fit-out and other trades in order to deliver a turn-key solution.
A full package including:
- Initial assessment
- Engineering of the most appropriate solution
- Supply of additional structural components
- Execution of site works with our in-house resources
We make use of selected technologies to control the flow of forces triggered by the upgrading of the asset:
- Post-tensioning
- Hydraulic load transfers
- Changes in support conditions and movement constraints by introducing additional bearings or movement joints
- Heavy lifting and sliding into position of new structural members
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