Title: Design Considerations for Construction of Two Long Concrete Buildings in the Southwest

Author(s): Walter P. Moore, Jr.

Publication: Symposium Paper

Volume: 72

Issue:

Appears on pages(s): 365-382

Keywords: buildings; cracking (fracturing); creep properties; expansion joints; joints (junctions); post-tensioning; precast concrete; reinforced concrete; shrinkage; structural design; temperature.

DOI: 10.14359/6769

Date: 12/1/1981

Abstract:
A comparison is made of the reinforced concrete Synopsis: design of two long low-rise corporate headquarter buildings in Houston. Both buildings utilize pour strips to completely eliminate in one case and minimize in the second case the number of expansion joints. The process which was followed to eliminate the expansion joints included a comprehensive computer analysis of temperature effects. This analysis gave the forces for which additional reinforcing was required. Strips of concrete through the buildings at all levels were omitted to allow the initial shrinkage and creep to take place and then the strips were filled in. One building was completed in 1977 and has developed no significant cracks while the second building is now under construction.