Bowed Wall Structural Repair

Using Carbon Fiber Reinforcement

This barn located north of London, ON consisted of a block wall foundation that was showing signs of bowing inwards.

When foundation walls start bowing or moving inward, it is a sign of structural failure which should be addressed immediately. The primary causes for bowing walls are: outside hydrostatic pressure on the walls from soil, tree roots and construction failures/poor quality construction (ex. improper steel reinforcement resulting in excessive load due to ineffective tensile strength transfer to the wall).

The repair process includes bonding carbon fiber to the frame (top) with a sill plate bracket and foundation (bottom) with a carbon fiber pin. The carbon fiber is covered with epoxy to create a carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) system which utilizes the complete tensile strength of carbon fiber. Simulated hydrostatic load tests indicate that a wall strengthened by this CFRP system almost tripled in flexural strength compared to the original wall.