Resilience Treatments & Strategies
Towers
Description
Tall elements of your building that extend into the sky, such as spires, turrets, cupolas, campaniles, and minarets. Because these components are typically highly exposed to the elements and often have openings (e.g., for belfries within), they are often highly vulnerable to extreme winds and driving rain.
Typical risk factor of this component:
High
Towers are moderately to highly exposed to elements such as wind and rain. Their importance to the structure’s stability is high, as is the impact their failure would have on other assemblies.
Typical Damages from Floods or Hurricanes
- Towers out of plumb (leaning), cracked, or structurally deformed
Other common conditions contributing to vulnerability towards floods or hurricanes
- Unprotected openings (not windows, e.g., in belfry)
Resilience Treatments and Strategies
In-house
Monitor leaning or cracks if the condition is minor (annually or with greater frequency). If unsure, consult an engineer.
Install netting on unprotected openings to keep out birds and pests.
Professional needed [type]
Extreme leaning or excessive/severe cracking requires professional investigation to determine safety and remediation techniques (such as structural bracing or stiffening, tie rods, masonry consolidation, partial rebuilding, and other solutions) [engineer and architect].
Slope exposed floors (e.g., in belfries) to properly sized drainage [architect].
Towers
Description
Tall elements of your building that extend into the sky, such as spires, turrets, cupolas, campaniles, and minarets. Because these components are typically highly exposed to the elements and often have openings (e.g., for belfries within), they are often highly vulnerable to extreme winds and driving rain.
Typical risk factor of this component:
High
Towers are moderately to highly exposed to elements such as wind and rain. Their importance to the structure’s stability is high, as is the impact their failure would have on other assemblies.
Typical Damages from Floods or Hurricanes
- Towers out of plumb (leaning), cracked, or structurally deformed
Other common conditions contributing to vulnerability towards floods or hurricanes
- Unprotected openings (not windows, e.g., in belfry)
Resilience Treatments and Strategies
In-house
Monitor leaning or cracks if the condition is minor (annually or with greater frequency). If unsure, consult an engineer.
Install netting on unprotected openings to keep out birds and pests.
Professional needed [type]
Extreme leaning or excessive/severe cracking requires professional investigation to determine safety and remediation techniques (such as structural bracing or stiffening, tie rods, masonry consolidation, partial rebuilding, and other solutions) [engineer and architect].
Slope exposed floors (e.g., in belfries) to properly sized drainage [architect].