How Metal Bolts Save Old Brick Buildings from Earthquakes
Tsamouris, the Fastener Specialists©
Those metal stars adorning old brick buildings in cities like Philadelphia, New York, and St. Louis, United States, are not just patriotic decor — they are vital structural components called star bolts, designed to prevent catastrophic collapses.
In many older brick row houses, floor and roof joists run parallel to the front and rear facades, leaving these walls connected only at the edges and roof. The problem is that sometimes these end-walls can start to bulge outwards, since they're only connected to the rest of the house at their edges.
Star bolts and other shaped plates are a common engineering retrofit, running through the brick and connecting facades to the joists behind to stabilize the structure. The star shape effectively distributes tension loads across multiple bricks while looking intentional from any angle.
These tie rods come in various shapes, including diamonds, circles, and squares, with the latter being a cost-effective choice often found in the Bay Area for seismic reinforcement. In Europe, more sophisticated and stylized shapes made of cast or wrought iron are also common.
Retrofitting structures with star bolts can be costly, but it's often cheaper than rebuilding a brick wall.
Those metal stars adorning old brick buildings in cities like Philadelphia, New York, and St. Louis, United States, are not just patriotic decor — they are vital structural components called star bolts, designed to prevent catastrophic collapses.
In many older brick row houses, floor and roof joists run parallel to the front and rear facades, leaving these walls connected only at the edges and roof. The problem is that sometimes these end-walls can start to bulge outwards, since they're only connected to the rest of the house at their edges.
Star bolts and other shaped plates are a common engineering retrofit, running through the brick and connecting facades to the joists behind to stabilize the structure. The star shape effectively distributes tension loads across multiple bricks while looking intentional from any angle.
These tie rods come in various shapes, including diamonds, circles, and squares, with the latter being a cost-effective choice often found in the Bay Area for seismic reinforcement. In Europe, more sophisticated and stylized shapes made of cast or wrought iron are also common.
Retrofitting structures with star bolts can be costly, but it's often cheaper than rebuilding a brick wall.
How Metal Bolts Save Old Brick Buildings from Earthquakes
Tsamouris, the Fastener Specialists©
Those metal stars adorning old brick buildings in cities like Philadelphia, New York, and St. Louis, United States, are not just patriotic decor — they are vital structural components called star bolts, designed to prevent catastrophic collapses.
In many older brick row houses, floor and roof joists run parallel to the front and rear facades, leaving these walls connected only at the edges and roof. The problem is that sometimes these end-walls can start to bulge outwards, since they're only connected to the rest of the house at their edges.
Star bolts and other shaped plates are a common engineering retrofit, running through the brick and connecting facades to the joists behind to stabilize the structure. The star shape effectively distributes tension loads across multiple bricks while looking intentional from any angle.
These tie rods come in various shapes, including diamonds, circles, and squares, with the latter being a cost-effective choice often found in the Bay Area for seismic reinforcement. In Europe, more sophisticated and stylized shapes made of cast or wrought iron are also common.
Retrofitting structures with star bolts can be costly, but it's often cheaper than rebuilding a brick wall.
Those metal stars adorning old brick buildings in cities like Philadelphia, New York, and St. Louis, United States, are not just patriotic decor — they are vital structural components called star bolts, designed to prevent catastrophic collapses.
In many older brick row houses, floor and roof joists run parallel to the front and rear facades, leaving these walls connected only at the edges and roof. The problem is that sometimes these end-walls can start to bulge outwards, since they're only connected to the rest of the house at their edges.
Star bolts and other shaped plates are a common engineering retrofit, running through the brick and connecting facades to the joists behind to stabilize the structure. The star shape effectively distributes tension loads across multiple bricks while looking intentional from any angle.
These tie rods come in various shapes, including diamonds, circles, and squares, with the latter being a cost-effective choice often found in the Bay Area for seismic reinforcement. In Europe, more sophisticated and stylized shapes made of cast or wrought iron are also common.
Retrofitting structures with star bolts can be costly, but it's often cheaper than rebuilding a brick wall.
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