Representatives of Louisiana State University reported that the indoor practice facility on the campus in Baton Rouge, Louisiana was damaged by wind pressures on March 26, 2009. The particular damage reported was that wind pressures removed portions the roof and exterior wall coverings of the building and there was concern that the building may have been structurally damaged during the storm.
U.S. Forensic was hired to perform an evaluation of the practice facility building and was asked to provide a detailed, non-destructive, investigation of the building utilizing visual, tactile, and macro damage test methods to evaluate the extent of the damage to the building caused by wind pressures on March 26, 2009.
Our work to complete this assignment was performed under the direction of William R. Janowsky, Jr., P.E. Our evaluation of the building consisted of the review of available construction drawings of the building, location surveying of the mainstructural frame components, computer modeling of selected portions of the building to identify high stress areas and likely locations of wind damage to the structure, detailed visual inspection of the structural components of the building and associated connections, and detailed non-destructive testing of selected elements and components of the building using magnetic particle inspection, dye-penetrant inspection, tensile strength testing, and load deflection testing techniques.
