huangyhg

bracing for construction
i am work on a church that has 90' high walls around the perimeter. the first 22' are 18" thick the rest is 12" thick. the first lift to 22' will be installed and then the structural steel will be installed, then the walls will continue to full height. these walls need to be temporarily braced to handle wind and construction loading. we are considering using wire rope tied anchored to the ground on each side of the wall. is this a feasable application, or does anyone have any have any knowledge of this type of application.
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historically, church walls were designed with huge windows and high, vaulted ceilings. this made buttresses necessary. the idea of the buttress is to carry the horizontal thrust from the vaulted roof, and to provide lateral support for the wall.
as walls got higher, the buttresses got bigger until they went to a flying buttress.
what will stabilize your wall after it has been built?
the walls do contain a great deal of openings, but no buttresses. the final stability come from everything being tied together with the structural steel. there is some stability provided by turns in the walls. the structural engineer did not make any provisions in his design for stability during construction, he only considered the stability in the completed structure. he has a note on the drawings that the building is only stable in its completed form and the contractor is responsible for stability during construction.
okay, i thought you were the structural engineer.
so you must be the contractor.
you might want to consider the following suggestions.
1. incorporate as many turns as possible while constructing the wall to give it lateral stability.
2. talk with structural engineer to find out what aspects are important or critical.
3. do not remove any bracing until the engineer says the work is complete and stable.
4. employ an engineer to design your falsework.
your system may work, but there are many varibles to consider, including soil conditions attachment to the structure, etc.
it is the usual practice for the structural engineer of record to only considered the stability in the completed structure; temporary bracing for stability during construction is a specialty area (and falls under construction means and methods, which the engineer of record avoids like the plague for liability reasons).
it would be best for you to hire a structural engineer who specializes in temporary bracing during construction.
by the way, asce now has a standard, sei/asce 37-02, "design loads on structures during construction" to aid in the design of bracing.
good luck!

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