Camp Balcones Springs Spillway Retrofit
| Owner | Camp Balcones Springs |
|---|---|
| Client | Camp Balcones Springs |
| Project Location | Marble Falls, Texas |
Key Features:
- Concrete Spillway Structure
- Steel Tie-Back Suspension System
- Structural Investigation and Retrofit
P.E. Structural was recommended to the owner of this executive retreat and summer camp to investigate and design repairs for this concrete spillway structure. The structure cantilevers some 30 feet beyond the edge of a cliff, and was very near collapse when we first observed it. The tip of the cantilever had deflected about 17 inches, and the highly overstressed side walls were cracked.
Due to the instability of the sandy gravel cliff face below, we opted to design a structural steel tie-back suspension system in lieu of propping the cantilever from below.
Detailing of “jackable” base plates allows for elevation of the deflected tip. Analysis and design of this retrofit structure, in which pretension in the ties is highly sensitive to the degree of jacking, has been compared to the fine tuning of a guitar. This is the kind of “brain-teaser” problem that we love to solve.