Is Your Building Feeling the Stress?

Measuring stress levels – no, not the sort of stress that is common at this time of the year and sends you out for a long walk to clear your head, or perhaps reaching for a soothing beverage!  Today’s blog is about raising awareness of the existence of stress in our buildings too.

As solid as they may look, all concrete structures move a little. The wind, traffic, movement of people, changes in temperature or changes to the building itself can cause almost imperceptible stretches in the concrete. Like so many other things we see, this too can have a negative impact on the structural integrity of your building.  The good news is there is an easy solution to checking out these stress levels and correcting them before too much damage is done.

Close up view of the test procedure.

Using strain gauges, we can pick up changes at the micro-strain level; in the order of 0.0001% change in length. This can be used in monitoring building loads over seconds or years. If a building has cracks, particularly given the recent earthquakes,special crack monitors can be used to track whether they are growing, and how they fluctuate each day.

As part of our investigative work, we can also estimate the existing stresses within certain structures. This is particularly useful for old pre-stressed elements where the load on the strands is unknown.

Looking to check your buildings stress levels and minimise your own pre-Christmas stress levels, check out our stress measurement service online here.  Alternatively, get in touch with CSI direct via email or phone 0800 33 7767.

Winners of the 2016 Wellington Gold Awards in Emerging Services.