1 Principal, KI B Consultants Inc. 1025 Grenon Ave, Suite 229, Ottawa K2B 8S5
2 President, Suter Consultants Inc. 38 Auriga Dr., Suite 200, Ottawa K2E 8A5
3 Genivar, Regional Director. 116 Promenade du Portage. 2nd Floor, Hull J8X 2KI
4 Parliamentary Precinct Directorate, PWGSC, 185 Sparks Street, Ottawa
ABSTRACT
Built during the 1859 to 1865 construction period of the West Block, the square 39m high massive stone masonry South West Tower of the West Block Parliament Buildings is a part of the Parliamentary Precinct of great historic value to Canada. By the early I 990’s, the upper half of the tower above the fifth floor exhibited serious distress in the form of movements. cracking. bulging and· mortar deterioration. the nature of distress and the extent of deterioration called for immediate stabilization measures to ensure adequate life safety and serviceability. Because of the complex geometry of the tower that involved eccentric wall offsets and a plinth region at about the sixth floor level, a three-dimensional finite element was carried out for the part of the tower above the fifth floor to help understand the causes of distress and define appropriate stabilization measures. This paper presents the ALGOR 3-D analysis results for both the as-built tower and key stabilization measures. Results indicate firstly. that the eccentric wall offset must have caused structural cracking soon after completion of the tower construction a century ago and secondly. that recommended stabilization measures consisting of interior tie rods. wall ties. wall stitching and a limited interior steel supporting system would significantly reduce critical tensile and splitting stresses. The stabilization measures were implemented in 1994 without damage to the tower’s historic fabric. Also. a minor monitoring program has been implemented to ensure future safety and serviceability.
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