Estimating the (remaining) service life of timber bridges with the use of factor methods: And incorporating these methods in the calculation of the total costs of ownership

Timber bridges are much applied structures in the Dutch landscape. In contrast to the other two most common building materials, concrete and steel, the use of timber is however almost exclusively limited to bridges for lighter traffic, e.g. pedestrians and bicycles. Examples of timber traffic bridges in Germany, Scandinavia and even in the...

The Geotechnical Bearing Capacity of Old Timber Piles

In this thesis the geotechnical bearing capacity of old timber piles in Amsterdam is studied. This is necessary because many structures such as quay walls, bridges and houses in the (historic) city centre of Amsterdam are founded on timber piles with ages ranging between 80 and 300 years old. The assessment of the foundation is currently done...

The Current State of the St. BavoChurch Tower: A Verification Study and Structural Analysis of the Wooden Tower of the St. Bavo Church in Haarlem,The Netherlands

The structural reliability of the wooden tower of the Grote of St. BavoChurch in Haarlem has been assessed with the regular methods. In addition to the regular methods, some modern technologies have been used in the structural analysis. The mechanical properties of the timber have been determined with longitudinal vibration tests and visual...

Monitoring foundations

It is estimated that about 400.000 houses in the Netherlands – both shallow and wooden pile foundations – could be facing problems with their foundations. Although, house owners are becoming increasingly aware of the fact that problems (and thereby costs) can be prevented if remedial measures are taken in time. Monitoring of the foundation can...

Hollow Core Cross-Laminated Timber: Optimized for a more efficient use of material

Wood is an important building material that has been used for thousands of years throughout the world. It is the most widely used building material and due to its characteristics suitable for a wide range of applications. Still, for the last century steel and concrete have been the materials of choice for large buildings. Part of the reason for...