The owner of a premier shopping mall in the Washington, D.C. area faced closing a significant portion of its 600,000 square foot parking structure for extensive repairs to the post-tensioned access ramp. The single, two-way ramp provides the sole access to the upper level of the garage which, in turn, provides primary entry to several popular restaurants and stores. The original repair design consisted of removing the concrete ramp and replacing it with a new steel beam supported by a conventionally reinforced concrete deck. This strategy would have resulted in the complete closure of the ramp and an interruption of business operations.

VSL and Structural Preservation Systems (SPS) provided an alternate structural strengthening solution that would maintain one-half of the ramp access during construction and save the owner an estimated $400,000. The General Contractor began work in early spring and worked around the mall’s schedule, often overnight, so as not to interfere with the busiest shopping times. The design utilized a system of VSL external post-tensioned tendons for the beams and new internal post-tensioned tendons in the slab, allowing one-half of the ramp to be open while the other half was repaired. The external post-tensioning system consisted of external tendons placed on both sides of the beams with anchors located in heavily reinforced cast-in-place concrete column collars. In addition, composite strengthening with CFRP was installed to further strengthen the slab. Upon completion of the structural and mechanical repairs, the entire ramp surface was prepared and protected with a durable urethane coating system. Challenged with unpredictable weather and shoppers, the team surpassed the owner’s objectives while maintaining scheduling and budgetary requirements.