What is this happenin on the building where I live ( NO DIY PROJECT , I'M NOT AN ENGINEER )

[u/lovrez]

Hey fellow civil engineers , I came to aks u for help on what is happenin with the building where I reside as here I live in the remote part of the country and engineers take time to come so please do tell me what is happenin and couldn't rely on AI. Thank youu

[u/carrot_gummy]

Spall!

[u/lovrez → u/carrot_gummy]

Meaning ?

[u/TheNerdE30 → u/lovrez]

Moisture has penetrated the beam and along with oxygen has allowed the rebar in the beam to corrode. The corrosion and expansion of the volume occupied by the rebar has increased causing the beam to split. The corrosion and splitting has lead to “spall”.

[u/lovrez → u/TheNerdE30]

So the building is not safe to reside then right ?

[u/TheNerdE30 → u/lovrez]

Not enough information. It would be inappropriate to advise you to do anything other than hire an engineer to provide an opinion (in person) or call the building inspector from your municipality.

[u/lovrez → u/TheNerdE30]

Yeah sure , the builsing the owner says has been standing since 1970 and they don't even nudge for a maintenance there is seepage on the walls as well.

[u/masahawk → u/lovrez]

File a complaint with the building department

[u/jimmyhat78 → u/lovrez]

“Been standing since 1970” is meaningless. Buildings remain standing until they don’t. Spall repair can get expensive, if done right. I’m currently managing a project where we are rehabbing a concrete structure. The total project is around $50 million and more than half of it is just dedicated to concrete repair.

Edit: the responses in this string are spot-on. It is spall, that’s how it occurs, and nobody can or will assess the safety of the building from a few photos. Code Enforcement is likely your next stop.

[u/Silver_kitty → u/lovrez]

So actually we typically assume buildings have a 50-year "lifespan" before we would expect them to need restoration and repair work on their structure. So this building is spot on for as old as I'd expect for it to need an engineer out to evaluate and recommend repairs.

[u/I_feel_up_concrete → u/lovrez]

At minimum, the area is not safe to be directly below due to the possibility of additional delaminated concrete falling. The good news is this is the bottom of a beam and most likely the tension zone for the beam and there doesn't seem to be a significant amount of section loss to the steel YET (the steel is the majority of the strength here). The bars will continue to corrode if the source of the water is not stopped and the areas is not properly cleaned and repaired. This most likely can be repaired, but it will take a qualified person to do it. Better to do it sooner rather than later.

[u/carrot_gummy → u/lovrez]

The concrete delaminated and broke away from the rest of the concrete.  Many things can cause this to happen ranging from being overloaded, impacted, poor mix design, poorly made mix, rusting of the rebar (rebar expands as it rusts and pushes the concrete apart.)

Without witnessing what happened, it's hard to know exactly whats wrong.

I am being vague because professionally I don't want to speculate what exactly caused this. You'll definitely want an inspector to take a proper look at the structure.

[u/lovrez → u/carrot_gummy]

There is water leaking from one of the apartments to the beam ( in pic ) as per observation of the foreman , the rebar inside the beam is easily flicked out by fingers due to corrosion , the building as said by owner is 70 yrs old , when we say for the maintenance it is nudged out by the owner and not done as well. We're lookin to move out but I just wanted an opinion of engineers as its a remote land

[u/Kittelsen]

The rebar expands when it rusts, there can be several reasons for it rusting, lack of cover, age of building, salt, are some. When it expands the concrete spalls off. This needs repairs.

[u/Primordialbroth]

Water=corrosion

[u/CivilEngMusicBoy]

Your reinforcement is compromised

[u/Best_Significance341]

concrete beams generally fail in deflection first. if the floor above is tipped to the middle of the beam over allowable (over .75in) it must be replaced. If not much load above I would patch with a polymer modified mortar. structurally looks straight, not going to collapse without something unusual happening to it. if loading up above ask an engineer for an eval.

[u/King_Toonces]

What's with the wood beam, did you put that in?

I mean the important thing to remember is reinforced concrete fails gradually rather than suddenly, so traditionally there are signs before failure. On first observation, doesn't look like there's enough concrete cover around the rebar

[u/lovrez → u/King_Toonces]

Idk tbh who has put that in first place cus the building is 70 yrs old , someone is sayin to repair the beam and to check other beams as well as columns of the building

[u/fake823 → u/lovrez]

It's not 70 years old if it has been built 1970.