Project Profile

The Bowen Building – Facade Monitoring
Washington, DC

The instrumentation program at FEA has experience in building facade monitoring. Many buildings are constructed with a skeletal frame of either concrete or steel with a non-structural element forming the exterior skin or facade. In many instances the structural frame may be sound and behaving in a normal manner. The facade, however, being subject to loads as well, experiences damage or movement. FEA has experience in conducting studies for facade behavior. These studies examine, among other elements, excessive movement during periods of extreme loading (high winds) and excessive deflection caused by over-stressed anchors.

The facade of the Bowen Building located at 15th and I Streets in Washington, DC was comprised of three sides of the existing building with one side adjacent to a public alley which prevented placement of the supporting truss outside the footprint of the building. Truss members were threaded through windows diagonally from the adjacent orthogonal walls creating differing loading patterns on the overall retention system. In addition the building is situated adjacent to an existing WMATA subway station which required monitoring due to the proposed excavation below the retained facade. Due to the complexities of the construction the project took the better part of a year to bring superstructure to a sufficient height to stabilize the 14 story masonry facade.


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