MAY 10 (2025): urban concerns, part #2 [4]

 

prior posted poems: 

(urban issues#1): aged street trees, break of day, dog park, elevator reluctance, farmers' market

CURRENT CONTENTS

In the distance
Old conservatory
Pre-stressed concrete
School districts and real estate

                                     

Authors' Note: We are fortunate to have moved into an apartment building just across the street from a public conservatory whose warm, humid, glass-roofed galleries offer the visitor views and dreams of escape to tropical floral environments. Visits are especially reinvigorating on dark and depressing winter days, and admission is free! Renovations are proceeding in the central palm-court, but the lateral greenhouse galleries remain open. 

You might also enjoy reviewing photo-enhanced poetry posts related to poinsettias, koi, red-eared sliders(turtles), Ontario cactuses, and Leda and the Swan at the same destination.

 

Authors' Note: Surveillance of tension cables in pre-stressed concrete is an arduous process, but is essential in older buildings, particularly in parking garages, although apartment towers may also be at risk. Sampling by drilling into the slabs only allows assessment of whether cables have failed, i.e. are broken, and are no longer under tension. Since the 1980s, the development of occlusive plastic fittings at attachment points has apparently reduced the possibility of corrosion due to moisture, a major cause of failure.

The author concedes a lack of professional knowledge concerning this problem. Please consult a structural engineer.

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