STRUCTURAL INVESTIGATION REPORT

ON THE
EXISTING MANHATTAN BUILDING
IN BINONDO, MANILA
1.0 INTRODUCTION

This report presents the results of the structural investigation and field verifications
conducted on the existing Manhattan Building located at E. T. Yuchengco (formerly
Nueva ) St., Binondo, Manila.

Goldland Development Corporation commissioned the structural engineering group

of R. A. Semifrania Structural Consultant to conduct structural assessment and
appraisal of the above-mentioned edifice, to determine the adequacy of the structure,
and to recommend remedial measures in order to assure the structural stability of the
building in sustaining the imposed loads as prescribed by the governing codes and
regulations. This assessment was based on the available documents such as core test
results submitted by Terms Concrete Testing Company and schematic architectural
layout plans transmitted to us on 6 March 2007.

2.0 SCOPE OF WORK

The structural investigation and evaluation are limited only to determine the
structural integrity of the building. This comprises the following phases of works:

2.1 The first phase consists of the site verification to gather field data of the as-
constructed structure. Since the as-built plans of the building are no longer
available, it becomes necessary to undertake measurements on the sizes of the
structural members, determine the approximate number and sizes of their
reinforcements, and cause the concrete corings and their testing to determine
their strengths. The latter being subcontracted to Terms Concrete Testing Co.
2.2 The second phase is to perform separate structural analysis calculations of
the as-built framing system of the building This is needed in order to arrive at
the required strength in flexure, shear and axial loads on the columns and
beams at their critical sections. This is performed using the latest structural
software available in the country and approved by the governing authority.
2.3 The third phase includes the design strength evaluation from the as-built
members based on the actual measured sizes obtained at the site. This phase
would determine whether or not such members can adequately withstand to
carry the imposed gravity and lateral loads. If the structural members
investigated are found to be unable to sustain the given loads, retrofitting
measures shall be imposed, taking into account the ease in implementation,
economy or cost effectiveness and acceptability by the owner, designer and
 governing authority. The detailed design and construction for retrofitting
works are excluded from this scope of works for engineering services.

3.0 SUMMARY OF THE BUILDING STRUCTURE

The existing building being assessed is an 18-storey reinforced concrete edifice with
one basement. However, the total number of floors will be reduced by three , since
the 16th, 17th, and 18th floor are undergoing demolition. This is in compliance with
the findings and recommendation of the Building Official of Manila declaring the
upper three floors, including the machine room, to be ruinous and hazardous as a
result of a fire that gutted the 17th floor.

The building which has been unoccupied for a few years covers the whole lot where
it stands. Its frontage measures 24.74 meters out-to-out of the reinforced concrete
walls and at the back , 27.42 meters. The left and right portions of the building are
measured 22.25 meters and 26.25 meters , respectively. The average floor to floor
height is 3 meters. The two shafted elevator walls located at the left portion of the
building function as a shear wall and form part of the lateral resisting system of the
building as a whole. The thickness of the suspended slab varies from 200 mm. at the
ground floor, 150 mm. at the 2nd floor to 125 mm. from 3rd floor and above.

Based on official record from the owner, the building has been in existence for more
than thirty years now. It has endured in the past several earthquakes and extreme
weather conditions without any evident consequential damages on the main
structural members.

4.0 STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS CRITERIA

In general, the structural analysis was performed assuming that the building was
constructed in accordance with the design plans, the materials used satisfy the
general construction specifications and that the actual construction was done in
accordance with sound engineering practice. Using structural software STAAD 2006
for the analysis and QCSI, a local computer program that’s used in the design, the
following design criteria were adopted in the structural analysis:

4.1 Loads and Forces

a.. Dead Loads
Dead loads shall include the weight of all permanent construction materials
and non-structural component of the building.

Partition Loads 1.00 KPA

Floor Finish 0.50 KPA
Ceiling 0.25 KPA
Utilities 0.15 KPA
Concrete Unit Weight 23.6 KN/CU.M.
Plain Concrete Unit Weight 23.0 KN/CU.M.
 b. Live Loads
LL at Ground Floor 3.0 KPA
LL at 2nd/3rd Floor 2.4 KPA

LL at 4th Floor and above 1.9 KPA

LL at Stair / Balcony 4.8 KPA

c. Seismic Loads (Per NSCP 2001 Edition)

V=(Cv*I*W)/R*T
Need not exceed
V=(2.5Ca*I*W)/R
Shall not be less than
V=(0.8Z*Nv*I*W)/R
Where, Z=0.4; I=1.00; T=Ct(Hn)3/4
Ca = Seismic coefficient based on near-source factor Na
Cv = Seismic coefficient based on near-source factor Nv
R = 8.5
W = Total Seismic Dead Load

d. Wind Loads (Per NSCP 1992 Edition)

4.2 Codes and References

a. National Structural Code of the Philippines, 1992 and 2001 Editions
b. American Concrete Institute, ACI 318-89
c. The National Building Code of the Philippines and Its Implementing Rules
and Regulations
d. Uniform Building Code (UBC)

Design loads and forces shall be those resulting from dead and live loads, and those
of the wind and earthquake forces acting in the most critical combination.

Where required, the combined effects of dead load and seismic load were taken into
account. The combined effects of seismic load and wind load were not taken into
account. Seismic load was considered based on the recommendation by the National
Structural Code of the Philippines (1992 & 2001 Editions). Structures or parts of
structures were designed to resist the minimum total seismic forces w/c are assumed
to set non-concurrently in the direction of each of the main axes of the structure
having the formulas as mentioned above.

4.3 Load Combination

From the NSCP provisions, every building component shall be designed to resist the
most critical effect resulting from the following combination of loads:
a. Dead plus floor live plus roof live loads.
b. Dead plus floor live plus wind loads.
c. Dead plus floor live plus seismic loads.
d. Dead plus seismic loads
 The load combinations used for strength design are shown in Section 2003.3 of the
National Structural Code of the Philippines 2001 Edition (NSCP 2001) and factored
load combinations for concrete are provided in Section 409.3.

4.4. Material Strengths

Due to unavailability of as-built plans of the building’s structural system, the

following material strengths were used in the analysis based on the average results of
core testing furnished by Terms Concrete Testing Company.

Concrete compressive strength, fc’ = 2800 psi

Reinforcing steel bar yield stress, fy = 40000 psi

5.0. OBSERVATION, FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATION

5.A. Observation
Based on our field verification, the following items are noted:
a. No visible cracks are observed on the main structural members (beam,
columns and suspended slab).
b. Positive steel reinforcements at midspan of the suspended slabs at the 9 th and
12th floors are corroded. This corrosion on the rebars could impair its
carrying capacity or cause the deflection of the slab and therefore needs
immediate repair works.
c. The shell or outer concrete cover of some columns from 4 th to 7th floor shows
the presence of honeycomb caused by poor workmanship in concreting.
However, failure due to crushing of the concrete within the core did not
occur as this is resisted by the confinement action of the 12mm lateral ties of
the column. No spalling off of the concrete covering is noted in all columns.
d. After chipping off a portion of the column at the 4 th floor to expose the
vertical bars at one side and also after quantifying the rebars of the
demolished columns above, the ‘p’ which is the ratio of ‘As’ to ‘bd’ was
found to be between 0.015 to 0.02.
e. Major cracks on the RC walls adjacent to the stairs were noted.
f. It’s observed that a leakage of water coming from the drainage system
outside has caused ponding at the basement. This can be repaired by the
application of cementitious waterproofing on the basement walls.
g. It is observed that there will be a substantial reduction on the overall dead
and live loads when the demolition of the upper three floors is finished. As
an additional safety margin on the building structural system, it is our
opinion that the interior walls of the proposed residential units shall be made
of lightweight materials in order to have a lesser dead load.
h. The foundation of the building was not considered in the field investigation
due to the absence of reliable reference/documents on the substructure
portion of the building. During our ocular inspection, no damages were
observed on the basement walls and also on the adjacent columns and slab
connected to the said walls. No uneven settlement of the supporting ground is
also noted.
 5.B. Findings / Recommendations

From the foregoing theoretical investigation & structural analysis, our findings
reveal that the structural adequacy and strength of the building to resist the resultant
gravity loads and lateral loads were found to be less than the required strength, due
to the reduction in concrete strength as evidenced from the core test results. Using
this test result as the basis of design strength (0Mn) which is the nominal strength of
the given structural member multiplied by a reduction factor O, it was found that it is
less than the factored loads acting on the structure. Hence, the net difference of the
required strength from that with its design strength will be resisted by reinforcing the
structural member through strengthening methods.

In the light of the aforementioned findings. it’s recommended that retrofitting works
be imposed on the interior columns from the basement up to 12th floor including their
adjoining beams. Likewise, the suspended slab consisting of one panel at the 9 th floor
& four panels at the 12th floor shall be retrofitted by using conventional steel beams
or modern technology like composite fabrics, carbon fiber & reinforced polymer
strips. Other advance structural strengthening systems can be applied to the beam-
column frame using patented products from companies specializing in the field of
strengthening structural elements.

R . A . SEMIFRANIA STRUCTURAL CONSULTANT