THE 3R STRATEGY

Many of today’s facilities have been in service for several decades and during the course of their operation have experienced changes in use, deterioration, structural defects, seismic effects or revisions to building codes. Any of these factors can prompt the need for restoration or additional load carrying capacity. These projects are made even more challenging because the facilities are often inhabited by tenants and the work has to be performed while minimizing disruption to existing operations. In addition to weighing their options for structural strengthening and structural repair, facility managers must carefully choose among a large variety of available materials and techniques that can be utilized to extend the service life of their structures.

To ensure that repair option is feasible, the repair cost must be relatively low, time involved reasonable and overall structural integrity is address. Developing a proper repair strategy to address concrete problem requires a thorough understanding of the root cause of the problem as well as implementation of right repair method and material. However, in several cases repair may not be the best solution if considering time and cost involved as well as overall feasibility and structure aesthetics. This is why it is always recommended to value other alternatives such as complete replacement/removal of the structure or installing a redundant system to ensure structural integrity. Any asset manager has to carefully examine all available options before deciding on what action to take, thus implementing 3R Repair Strategy (Repairing, Redundant or Removing) can always bring insights to any repair project. A basic understanding of each concept is important as it will give the owner clear understanding on the time, cost, availability, sustainability and feasibility of each option.

The first aspect to consider in the 3R Repair Strategy is to simply repair the structure. However, before you can start with any repair, you have to know what caused the problem in the first place. Here is where condition assessment and evaluation comes into place. Such activities involve collecting and revision of available documents, field investigation, material sampling and non-destructive testing. Once your assessment is complete and the overall condition of the structure allows repair, the other challenge is to design a suitable repair method that can be executed at relatively acceptable price and time.

In case the repair option seems expensive or the required material is not available, the user may option to install a temporary redundant system. This usually works when aesthetics of the structure is not of major importance or the owner simply wants to extend the lifecycle for few more years. An example to this is installing some props or implanting new columns for an old and deteriorated building.

The last option in the 3R Strategy refers to removing an existing structure. While asset managers aim to prolong the lifecycle of any structure, removal of an existing facility may be an option especially if the structure is extremely deteriorated or the repair cost is very high. A vivid example of such is when governmental transportation agencies opt to remove a completely deteriorated bridge when funds are short and traffic requirements are not a priority.

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