Three case studies of Construction History applied to the assessment of Engineering Heritage structures

The paper illustrates the contribution of research into Construction History in condition assessment or residual carrying capacity situations for three old types of concrete constructions. We address:- the problem of assessing the actual carrying capacity of "Hennebique" reinforced concrete type beams with their characteristic reinforcement system, widespread in many countries before the First World War.- the replacement of the external post-tensioning tendons within a hollow box girder railway bridge built in the early 1960s with the "Blaton-Magnel" anchorage system developed in Belgium from 1941 onwards, and used until the early 1960s, in Belgium and abroad.- the structural assessment of thin concrete hyperbolic paraboloid shells, which were highly popular with architects and engineers in 1950s-1960s.