Posted Wed, 05/02/2012 - 21:31 by L. Robert McEwen
Several weeks ago I was asked to conduct a forensic investigation of 260 feet of collapsed seawall. At a cost of $900,000 to replace, I was intrigued at the construction characteristic of the seawall. Constructed in the 1920s, it was comprised of 3 rows of wood piles capped with a 6 foot wide by 6 feet deep concrete cope. The wood piles had been completely submerged from the day they were installed, and were still in good condition. The concrete cap, however, was in a severly deteriorated condition. In the 1920s they did not know about air entrained concrete. As a result, the exposed concrete surfaces did not withstand the annual freeze thaw cycles which erroded the concrete. What I find amazing is that, notwithstanding the primitive nature of the concrete, the seawall has existed in a harsh environment for over 90 years. The structural nature of the seawall has served it well.
- L. Robert McEwen's blog
- Login to post comments