Carrasquillo Associates (CA) was retained in 2013 to investigate alleged construction defects in a precast parking garage supported by drilled piers near Austin, TX. As part of CA’s investigation, welds were inspected at broken precast connections, relative elevation surveys were performed near distressed areas, cracking was mapped throughout the structure, and a comprehensive finite element method (FEM) model was created for the garage. The FEM model allowed CA to analyze the effect of the measured support settlements to evaluate the cause(s) of the observed distress. Using this information, CA also evaluated the repair scheme being implemented to address the distressed areas throughout the structure.
