To facilitate the construction of a very high structural member for use in a body of water such as at an offshore location with the structural member extending from the floor of the body of water to above its surface, tensioning members are inserted into relatively narrow tensioning ducts accessible only from the top of the structural member. The tensioning members, such as steel rods, steel wires, or steel wire strands, are provided with members for effecting a positive locking engagement in a ...

A prestressed structural member is described in which there is provided in combination a pair of longitudinal elements, a plurality of strut elements, a plurality of diagonal members and a plurality of joint connector means for rigidly interconnecting the strut elements and diagonal elements together and the same to the longitudinal elements. The longitudinal elements are spaced apart and prestressed in compression. The strut elements are also spaced apart and each strut element extends between ...

A structural member having an enlongated body shell, which may be fiberglass, and a pair of end caps enclosing the ends of the shell. A plurality of bands extend through the shell connecting the caps and pulling them toward each other, thus rigidifying the member and securing the caps. Contact between the interior surfaces of the shell and the side edges of the bands causes the shell to resist collapse. At one end of the member, the bands are secured to the end cap by movable anchor piece. A ten...

A mechanical connector system for interjoining and aligning tandem related tubular column sections utilizing a unitary cast connector having a planar platform portion for abutting engagement with adjacent ends of the column section members, a conical guide portion extending outwardly on one side of the platform portion and a depending polygonal flange portion protruding from the opposite side thereof for interfitting engagement with the interior walls of related column section members. Ancillary...

Apparatus for supporting a vessel, such as a blast furnace having a shell, comprising a main frame that surrounds the shell and is connected to and at least partially supports the shell. The supporting apparatus for the vessel also includes diverging legs rigidly connected to the main frame; during construction the lower ends of these legs are supported off-center from the centers of the legs to enable the lower ends of the legs to deflect outwardly by amounts corresponding to the amounts that t...

A wedge for an anchor system is disclosed. One embodiment of the wedge includes at least two circumferential wedge segments. Each segment defines an exterior tapered surface and an interior surface. The interior surface has gripping elements thereon. The gripping elements define a difference between a major diameter and a minor diameter of about 0.25 to 0.75 of an amount of a difference defined by a conventional thread having substantially a same axial spacing and major diameter as the gripping ...

The structural member of the present invention includes a pressure tube either having a cable tensioned between its ends or being mounted within an outer member. The pressure tube is mounted such that it can move axially with respect to the cable or the outer tube. When the tube is pressurized, some of the force is absorbed in hoop stress in the tube, and some of the force is directed to the ends of the pressure tube and to the cable or the outer member either through a piston arrangement or oth...

A method and apparatus for seismically retrofitting pre-existing household brick chimneys is described to meet current building codes. Vertical steel rebar and horizontal chimney anchors are inserted into the chimney and a polymer concrete is poured between the liner and the brick masonry thereby bonding to the chimney, the vertical steel rebar, and the horizontal chimney anchors. The horizontal chimney anchors are coupled at one end to the external face of the chimney and at another end to the ...

A perimeter weighted foundation has a central pier pedestal and an enlarged base spaced outwardly and extending below the pedestal. The enlarged base includes an outer concentric perimeter wall section with a radially extending, disk-shaped spread section interconnecting the bottom of the pedestal section and the top of the perimeter wall section. The pedestal section includes vertically extending post-tensioning anchor bolts sleeved through substantially the entire height of the cylindrical ped...

A method impedes transverse relative displacements of a pipe (2) and at least one cable (3) which extends in this pipe (2), and doing so with a certain transverse play (4). The method has the steps of: selecting at least one portion (8), of a predetermined longitudinal dimension (L8), of pipe (2), and, then, with the cable (3) inserted in the pipe (2), locally constructing between the cable (3) and said pipe (2) at least one wedging element (9) adapted to suppress the transverse play (4) existin...