Strength Revealed

The primary entrance ramp to our office garage is undergoing a major rebuild. I spoke with one of the engineers who told me the short version of what needs to be done. What amazed me most was not the materials being used [steel], but the forces impressed on each steel structure to make sure everything stays in place.

The “L” brackets look like overgrown shelf brackets. They’re attached to  the side of the building with bolts that run through to the other side.

The top part of each cantilever [the “L” bracket] is also bolted to a length of I-beam steel. The beams look like tracks with missing sections; nothing though is missing here on the inside of that ramp wall. In engineer-speak, “form follows function.”

The panels that are the ramps are also big and heavy. Very heavy. One of the challenges is where and how to position a crane to offload a panel. Parts of the street are suspect because of storage rooms and passages lying beneath. The weight of the crane, the truck and equipment can very well “drop” into a hole of its own making.

An anchor point for the ramp…