Thermomodernization of Historical Buildings with Residential Facades

 Historic buildings, as well as much newer ones, with architecturally attractive facades, will not be thermomodernized from the outside, Because of their high value stands in the way. One such case is mentioned in this article, in which an analysis of external vertical partitions was carried out, in terms of heat and humidity in a small residential building located in southern Poland and built in 1930. The article describes a hygrothermal analysis of the above mentioned partitions, before and after thermomodernization, which should assess the legitimacy and effectiveness of using controversial methods of insulation of external building partitions from their internal sides. The article is a summary of a five-year observation and research of the object, after its thermomodernization in 2015. The analysis was focused on its vertical partitions

Assessment of technical condition of historic Penny Bridge in Opole in the context of its restoration

Penny Bridge constructed at the beginning of the 20th century is an important element of Opole city landscape. This footbridge located within Mozart Street upon Młynówka canal is of a particularly decorative character and displays a series of interesting ornaments made both of steel and stone. Its truss girders have a non-typical structure, where bottom chords are horizontal and the upper ones curved and suspended to an additional parabolic tension member (chord). The footbridge, excluding the deck, has remained almost unchanged until the present day, serving the inhabitants of the city for over 100 years. The last renovation of the structure was performed nearly 25 years ago and its steel structure has suffered certain degradation, mainly as far as the layers of paint and losses due to corrosion. In connection with the aforementioned, the footbridge should undergo urgent restoration. Characteristics of the bridge along with its historical background, concentrating mainly on the results of inspections of the structure in the context of assessing its technical condition, has been presented in the paper. Also, selected results of the analysis of bearing capacity of the girder and the proposed scope of restoration work including the requirements of conservation were given

Contemporary fate of a forgotten well in Opole, a unique monument that deserves for protection and conservation

Obecnie nadal zdarzają się sytuacje sprzyjające odkrywaniu cennych obiektów historycznych, zagubionych pośród historycznej oraz nowej zabudowy miast. Przykładem takiego odkrycia może być odnalezienie w centrum Opola ponad 200-letniej studni. Nie jest do dziś dokładnie znana historia powstania studni i budynku, w którym się znajduje. W latach sześćdziesiątych XX wieku, przy okazji porządkowania jednej z piwnic nieistniejącego już obiektu pochodzącego z przełomu XVIII i XIX wieku, odnaleziono naczynie ze srebrnymi monetami. Ponad 50 lat później, z inicjatywy pasjonatów historii miasta Opola, podjęto próbę przywrócenia tego unikatowego obiektu do życia, lecz zamierzenie to zrealizowano dopiero na przełomie lat 2018 i 2019. W artykule omówiono proces rewitalizacji pozostałości budowli, w której odnaleziono studnię, zaproponowane rozwiązania o charakterze ratunkowo-naprawczym oraz przebieg prac związanych z oczyszczeniem i nadbudowaniem studni.At present, there are still situations which favor the discovery of valuable historical objects, lost among the historical and new buildings of the cities. An example of such a discovery can be the finding of an over 200-yearold well in the center of the old town of Opole. The exact history of the well and the building in which it is located is still unknown. In the 1960s, while cleaning one of the cellars of a currently non-existent building, dating from the turn of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, a vessel with silver coins was found. More than fifty years later, on the initiative of enthusiasts of the history of the city of Opole, an attempt was made to bring this unique structure back to life, but this intention was realized only at the turn of 2018 and 2019. This paper presents the process of revitalization of the remains of the building in which the well was found, the proposed rescue and repair solutions and the course of works related to the cleaning and vertical extension of the well

"Tower of Babel" of definitions in construction practice

Rolą każdego uczestnika procesu budowlanego jest m.in. prawidłowe posługiwanie się terminami powszechnie stosowanymi w budownictwie, bez konieczności ich interpretacji. Brak wielu definicji legalnych lub brak stosownych wyjaśnień (odniesień) do terminów użytych w definicjach art. 3 ustawy Prawo budowlane stwarza poważne problemy w sprawnym i odpowiedzialnym poruszaniu się w procesie budowlanym, a także w kwalifikowaniu obiektów budowlanych lub tylko ich części, głównie do dwóch „kategorii”: budynku lub budowli. Wymusza to niejednokrotnie powoływanie się na wykładnię orzecznictwa sądowego, literaturę (przeważnie prawniczą) lub słownik języka polskiego. Przed polskim technikiem i inżynierem budownictwa stawiane są inne cele niż analiza niektórych (istotnych w ww. procesie) zapisów ustawy Prawo budowlane i przepisów wykonawczych.The role of each participant in the construction process is, among other things, proper use of terms commonly used in construction industry, without the necessity of their interpretation. The lack of many legal definitions or the lack of relevant explanations (references) to the terms used in the definitions of Article 3 of the Building Law Act poses serious problems in efficient and responsible navigation through the construction process, as well as in classification of construction facilities or their parts, mainly regarding two "categories": building or structure. This often imposes a necessity to refer to interpretation of judicial decisions and literature (mainly legal literature) or dictionaries of the Polish language. Polish technicians and construction engineers have different goals than to analyse some provisions of the Building Law Act and executive regulations, which are nonetheless important in the abovementioned process

Old and Modern Wooden Buildings in the Context of Sustainable Development

Construction is a powerful industry that is not indifferent to the environment. Neither the maintenance of buildings in a proper technical condition nor their eventual demolition is indifferent to the environment. The main threats to the environment are still the inefficient use of construction materials and energy needed for their production and installation, as well as the emission of harmful substances to the environment at the stage of operation of buildings and their demolition. This article discusses the importance of wood as a renewable material in terms of its physical and mechanical properties. The restoration of forest areas is of great importance to the global ecosystem and the sustainable development system, reducing the threat of global warming and the greenhouse effect by reducing CO2 levels. In addition, demolition wood can be reused in construction, can be safely recycled as it quickly decomposes, or can be used as a source of renewable energy. The preservation of existing timber-framed buildings in good condition contributes to a lower consumption of this raw material for repair, which already significantly reduces the energy required for their manufacture, transport, and assembly. This also reduces the amount of waste that would have to be disposed of in various ways. Both at the stage of design, execution, and then exploitation, one forgets about the physical processes taking place inside the partitions and about the external climatic influences of the environment (precipitation, water vapor, and temperature) on which the type, intensity, and extent of chemical and biological corrosion depend to a very high degree. This paper presents examples of the influence of such impacts on the operational safety of three selected objects: a feed storehouse and an officer casino building from the second half of the nineteenth century and an 18th century rural homestead building. The research carried out on wooden structures of the above-mentioned objects “in situ” was verified by means of simulation models, which presented their initial and current technical conditions in relation to the type and amount of impact they should safely absorb. Moreover, within the framework of this paper, artificial intelligence methods have been implemented to predict the biological corrosion of the structures studied. The aim of the paper was to draw attention to the timber already built into buildings, which may constitute waste even after several years of operation, requiring disposal and at the same time the production of a substitute. The purpose of the research carried out by the authors of the article was to examine the older and newer buildings in use, the structures of which, in whole or in part, were made of wood. On a global scale, there will be considerable demand for the energy required to thermally dispose of this waste or to deposit it in landfills with very limited capacity until its complete biological decomposition. These energy demands and greenhouse gas emissions can be prevented by effective diagnostics of such structures and the predictability of their behaviour over time, with respect to the conditions under which they are operated. The authors of the article, during each assessment of the technical condition of a building containing wooden elements, analysed the condition of their protection each time and predicted the period of their safe life without the need for additional reinforcements or replacement by others. As the later reality shows, it is a very effective method of saving money and energy

Unconscious decisions causing a failure condition of the 19th century brick ceiling

The article describes a hazard caused by deformation of a brick vault located under the dungeons of the gate tower of Zamek Górny in Opole at the turn of the 13th and the 14th centuries, which was used as a school building until 2017. The hazard identified in 2013 was found on the ground level of the building in a communication route of the heavy traffic load. Visual inspections and tests have demonstrated that the existing situation was caused by civil works performed at the dungeon level nearly 6 years earlier due to an unconsidered decision on removing debris and a backfill which filled entirely the lower tower storeys. The above actions resulted in removal of the base of the floor ‘laid on the ground’ in the 19th century [2][4]. In this article, an analysis was carried out to verify possibilities of unbelievable strength of the artificially formed flat vault, which was previously the floor supported on a debris and sand base

Monitoring of Thermal and Moisture Processes in Various Types of External Historical Walls

In order to create and make available the following: Design guidelines, recommendations for energy audits, data for analysis and simulation of the condition of masonry walls susceptible to biological corrosion, deterioration of comfort parameters in rooms, or deterioration of thermal resistance, the article analyzes various types of masonry wall structures occurring in and commonly used in historical buildings over the last 200 years. The summary is a list of results of particular types of masonry walls and their mutual comparison. On this basis, a procedure path has been proposed which is useful for monitoring heat loss, monitoring the moisture content of building partitions, and improving the hygrothermal comfort of rooms. The durability of such constructions has also been estimated and the impact on the condition of the buildings that have been preserved and are still in use today was assessed

Flood damages in construction facilities in the years 1997-2010, on the example of southern Poland

W artykule poruszono problem uszkodzeń popowodziowych budynków i budowli, ich skutecznego diagnozowania oraz przywracania do wymaganego stanu użytkowego. Za przykład posłużyły tu dwa okresy powodziowe, lipiec 1997 r. i czerwiec 2010 r. Wskutek naporu wód powodziowych na sąsiadujące ze sobą obiekty budowlane skala powstałych w nich uszkodzeń nie była jednakowa. Autorzy podjęli próbę udzielenia odpowiedzi na pytanie: od czego zależał zakres uszkodzeń budynków i ich elementów składowych, a także zakres późniejszych napraw lub podejmowane decyzje o rozbiórce i czy przed takimi skutkami oddziaływań będzie można ustrzec się w przyszłości? Na czym polegał (jakie stosowano metody) i jak długo trwał proces oczyszczania oraz wysychania przegród, które wchłonęły spore ilości zanieczyszczonej chemicznie i bakteriologicznie wody? Na wybranych przykładach zostanie również opisany proces rewitalizacji uszkodzonych budynków.The article deals with the problem of flood damage to buildings and structures, their effective diagnosis and restoration to the required operational condition. Two flood periods, July 1997 and June 2010, served as an example here. Due to the pressure of flood waters on adjacent building structures, the scale of damage to them was not the same. The authors attempted to answer the question: what did the extent of damage to buildings and their components depend on, as well as the scope of subsequent repairs or the decisions made about demolition, and whether it would be possible to avoid such effects in the future? What was it (what methods were used) and how long was the process of cleaning and drying the partitions, which absorbed large amounts of chemically and bacteriologically contaminated water? The process of revitalizing damaged buildings will also be described on selected examples

Structure and service safety of deep disposal landfills - case study

This paper discusses issues related to operation of environment protection facilities in immediate vicinity of natural water reservoirs, including fresh water reservoirs, located above and below ground. The subject of this study is a municipal solid waste landfill located in southwestern Poland and its related facilities included in the technological processes of waste disposal, treatment, and recycling. The paper briefly discusses the construction process stage and the first stage of operation of the studied facility in respect of their future impact on the environment. At the present time, waste is used to obtain landfill gas for electricity generation and materials to be reincorporated or disposed of, i.e. construction debris (brick, concrete), structural steel, firewood, and plastics. The range of topics presented in the paper is in accord with the sustainable development tendency and the paper specifically focuses on potential hazards arising from presence and operation of facilities of this type (built at a time when environment protection regulations were less restrictive as to their location). Continuity and effectiveness of insulation membranes of landfills are important inasmuch as once such landfills are filled with waste and then closed and reclaimed at the final stage, it will be extremely difficult to identify sites of potential leaks of basins, whose expected lifespan is several decades or a few hundred years. If such leaks are found within this period, it will be necessary to remove reclamation layers and strongly thickened waste in order to reach them [12]. Then, new damage resulting from operation of heavy equipment might occur. Therefore, apart from standard protection solutions of landfills, additional warning systems should be applied for maximum elimination of environmental pollution hazards, the range of which can be supralocal or even supraregional. Such systems should precisely indicate the location of probable places of hazards. It is not about damage to facilities, including cells, but about safety of their surroundings. Due to the vastness of the topic referred to herein, the paper has been narrowed down to include only one issue, i.e. tightness of cells intended for non-hazardous and non-inert waste