Washington, DC

1145 19th Street NW

Scope/Solutions

A multi‑story, concrete‑framed medical office building, 1145 19th Street was constructed in the 1950s. During a second-floor tenant fitout involving the installation of new MRI machines and other heavy equipment, cracking—which had previously been concealed by floor finishes—was observed in the existing slab. SGH was retained to assess the second-floor slab’s condition and its capacity to support current and future loading demands.

SGH conducted an investigation to determine whether the existing second‑floor slab could safely support the new medical equipment and develop repair and strengthening approaches. Highlights of our work include:

  • Visually surveying and documenting accessible areas of the slab
  • Performing nondestructive testing using ground penetrating radar to identify reinforcement spacing and locate exploratory openings in the slab to document the size of the reinforcing bars and calibrate the equipment to determine depth of concrete cover
  • Creating a structural model of the second-floor slab using reinforcement spacing and cover measured during the investigation
  • Evaluating the second-floor slab for flexural capacity and punching shear, including effects of unbalanced moments resulting from anticipated live-load patterning
  • Developing repair and strengthening details to enhance the punching shear capacity of certain columns
  • Designing strengthening for existing steel framing under the slab and supplemental steel framing to enhance the floor’s load carrying capacity

Project Summary

Icon: completion-date

2025

Completion Date
Solutions
Evaluation
Services
Applied Science & Research | Structures
Markets
Commercial
Client(s)
RS&H
Specialized Capabilities
Repair & Strengthening | Physical Testing

Key team members

Eric Ober
Principal
202.772.4880 erober@sgh.com

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