01-30-06 Special Called City Council Retreat Meeting of La Porte City Council

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• D7G DAMS ASSOCIATES, INC structural anglsears STRUCTURAL OBSERVATION REPORT INTRODUCTION This report was prepared in order to describe the results of a visual observation conducted on the La Porte Police Station and Courthouse building located at 913 South 8th Street, La Porte, Texas on August 7, 2000. The observation consisted of a visual examination of the accessible portions of the superstructure and foundation. An incomplete set of architectural and structural plans were available to assist in the review. The drawings -are for . the original office/warehouse and are not signed. the foundation plan is the -' only "structural" drawing with an engineer's seal. Reasonable engineering judgment based on visual data was used to form the opinions to follow. The building is presently occupied. DESCR=ON OF BUILDING The structure is a two-story tilt -wall with steel beams and joists. The second floor is concrete slab on metal deck. The first floor is slab on grade with monolithic grade beams supported by under reamed piers. The tilt panels are 6 inches thick. There have been modifications to the building that are not documented. The original entrances were enclosed and an elevator added to the "exterior". OBSERVATIONS There were no visible cracks in the exposed portions of the exterior grade beams or in the panels' facade. The south wall of the southwest office on the second floor moves approximately one inch outward. This needs to be investigated further, since the typical construction detail one would expect to find here means this is a problem. There was no visible distress in the exterior wall at this same location. A crack reportedly occurs across the entire second floor in the north -south direction. That is not unusual with this type of thin slab floor construction. These are not necessarily indicative of any structural problems. •