Fire in storehouse 6 in the free port of stockholm

Title: Fire in storehouse 6 in the free port of stockholm
Author(s): R. Jansson and K. Ödeen
Paper category : conference
Book title: 2nd International RILEM Workshop on Concrete Spalling due to Fire Exposure
Editor(s): E.A.B. Koenders and F. Dehn
ISBN: 978-2-35158-118-6
e-ISBN: 978-2-35158-119-3
Publisher: RILEM Publications SARL
Publication year: 2011
Pages: 205 - 210
Total Pages: 6
Nb references: 11
Language: English

Abstract: Fire spalling of concrete has the potential to devastate a structure that has been exposed to fire. Our understanding of the fire spalling phenomenon has improved in recent years but there are still essential lessons to be learned from the study of historically significant fire events. This paper reviews the effect of a major fire in a building in the Free Port of Stockholm in 1966. The incident itself is some 45 years old but by the spalling issue is still the subject of “heated” debate.
During a fire in the upper cellar of a five storey storehouse in the Free Port of Stockholm on March 10, 1966, severe spalling occurred in the floor slab and columns on the floor of fire origin. Ödeen observed the fire on site and was involved in the damage assessment after the fire. The damage assessment included mapping of the damages, classification of five levels of spalling severity, mechanical tests on concrete and steel reinforcement samples taken at the fire scene as well as a calculation of the load bearing capacity of the structure after the fire.
One conclusion from the assessment was that if the building had been loaded to the designed service load the floor might have collapsed. During the following refurbishing of the structure as much as 20 cm of the cross-section was removed and replaced with sprayed concrete.
Although the concrete structure was designed for a fire resistance of 4 hours, the structure was severely damaged after approximately 2 hour of fire exposure. The reason for the severe spalling was probably that the moisture content in the concrete was high as the building was in the later stages of construction. An important lesson from this case study is that although the spalling was severe the structure could be refurbished and did not need to be demolished. Further, this case study shows clearly that all types of concrete may be vulnerable to fire spalling especially at young age, even those that are not typically expected to spall.

Online publication: 2012-01-17
Publication type : full_text
Public price (Euros): 0.00