Early Concrete Structures and Post-Patented Systems: Lessons to Preserve Early 20th Historical Heritage

Abstract

Reinforced concrete was introduced by patented systems into Spain towards the end of the 19th c. Early patents were effectively foreign trademarks, although Spanish engineers, architects and industrialists soon developed their own RC systems. Local builders would build structures with scarce little regard for calculated design and construction in the first decade of the 20th century. Nevertheless, as further knowledge was required, increasing research led to new RC standards in numerous countries, such as France and Germany. In the second decade of the 20th century, the use of patent systems declined. The teaching of RC started at the Spanish Civil Faculty where systems of scientific calculation were rapidly adopted, although no Spanish RC standard was drafted, unlike the situation in the leading European countries of that time. Hence, the RC structures that proliferated across Spain were mainly based on French or German standards. Spanish industrial activity began to develop in northern areas of the country where the use of new materials was pioneered over the following decades. Nowadays, some of those structures are listed heritage buildings. In this paper, some common features of 15 RC structures built between 1915 and 1936 are discussed, by focusing on their conservation problems. Preliminary structural reports from engineers, architects, municipal councils and, in some cases, the owners of the buildings are compiled with information on the pathologies affecting the buildings and analyses of structural morphologies, and steel and concrete strengths. The results of those studies are analysed, by connecting construction features with structural conditions, in order to gain a deeper understanding of their main characteristics and similarities. The findings will contribute to knowledge of heritage buildings, identifying key strategies for application in future rehabilitation works.

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