MNSEA Monthly Meeting - Historic Terra Cotta and Draped Mesh Floor Systems (11/14/23)

Description

Historic Terra Cotta and Draped Mesh Floor Systems
Part of the development of steel framing was the associated development of fire-resistant floor systems to span between floor beams. The most popular “fireproof” floor systems in the late nineteenth century were variations on terra cotta “tile arch” vaults; the most popular systems in the 1920s and 30s were “draped mesh” concrete floors. The former are true arches, supporting load purely in compression, and the latter are catenaries, supporting load in pure tension. Because neither system is still in use, they are often misunderstood, leading to damage during renovation and, occasionally, needless reinforcement or removal.



Donald Friedman, PE F.APT F.ASCE
Old Structures Engineering PC, New York, NY

Donald Friedman is president of Old Structures Engineering, PC, a structural engineering consulting firm for historic and old buildings, working for owners, preservation consultants, architects, contractors, and other engineers. A professional engineer with over 35 years experience in the investigation, analysis, and restoration of landmark buildings, Mr. Friedman holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, an M.A. in Historical Studies from the New School for Social Research, and is a licensed engineer in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Vermont, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Virginia. He is a Fellow of the Association for Preservation Technology and the American Society of Civil Engineers.
 
Mr. Friedman’s design experience includes the integration of modern construction into existing buildings with archaic and obsolete structural systems; repair and restoration of steel, masonry, iron, wood, and concrete structures; and the investigation of historic buildings to determine structural type and condition. In addition to Mr. Friedman’s project work, he has taught engineering of historic buildings in the building conservation programs at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and Columbia University; he has spoken at numerous conferences on such topics as the structural analysis of masonry facades, and the failure of obsolete structural forms; he is the author of The Structure of Sky-scrapers in America, 1871-1900, After 9-11: An Engineer’s Work at the World Trade Center, Historical Building Construction, and The Investigation of Buildings, and the co-author of Building the Empire State and The Design of Renovations.