Structural Appraisal of Traditional Buildings

This book promotes efficient structural appraisal which depends on identifying the causes of damage. This requires not only a knowledge of building materials and their defects but also a reliable method for gathering and weighing evidence of damage. It is a visual skill, and 100 diagrams are used to illustrate typical details, damage patterns and interpretation. The book describes the main causes of damage from ground movement to delay and various investigating techniques. Visual inspection alone can solve simple cases, but the techniques are more powerful when used in combination so that the evidence can be judged from more than one viewpoint, eliminating bias and ambiguity. Appraisal sometimes benefits from a period of monitoring, and methods for measuring movement and damage progression are described, some thought is also given to investigating, and where possible predicting sudden and severe damage. Investigators are liable for what they say, and there is some advice on managing this liability.