Temporary support of five-storey building by column clamping

摘要

The refurbishment of the Simon Building, University of Manchester, included the removal of four columns from the basement of this multi-storey structure. This complex task was conducted safely and without damage to the existing building (a monolithic concrete frame structure). An innovative clamping system was used, in combination with a series of hydraulic jacks, to lift the structure above the point of demolition. This relieved the column of load and allowed the demolition to be conducted in a controlled manner. This paper details the design and implementation phases of this project.