FRPRCS-9 Sydney, Australia

Monday 13 Wednesday 15 July 2009

A CASE STUDY ON THE PRESERVATION OF A TIMBER

STRUCTURE USING GFRP COMPOSITE SYSTEMS
M. L. Quek, Jeslin
1

W. S. Woo

FYFE Asia Pte Ltd, Singapore, Singapore

Keywords: Preservation, restoration, timber structures, strengthening, GFRP.

1 INTRODUCTION
An increasing number of historical buildings are usually preserved for their traditions and aesthetic
appearances. They need to be maintained and repaired to improve performance and durability against
wear and tear through time, damages from overloading, insect and fungal attack, etc. Many of the
historical timber structures require proper maintenance and repair works. Damaging interventions are
often made to the existing structures, resulting in the replacement of these structures.
The strengthening of building structures by means of GFRP composites is now often considered a
feasible alternative to the costly replacement of these structures. This is even more applicable in the
case of preservation of old historical structures, whereby the physical appearance of the structures
has to be retained to preserve the historical value of the structure. Therefore, a comparison between
steel and GFRP composites reinforcement techniques for restoration and strengthening of existing
timber structures is made.
In this paper, a case study is done on the restoration of a traditional building, the River House. It
was built using timber beams and columns, and is located at Clarke Quay in Singapore.
The River House is the oldest building in Clarke Quay. The Chinese mansion was built in 1880s by
Tan Yeok Nee, a gambier and pepper trader. It is one of the few remaining residential buildings in
Singapore which was constructed in pure southern Chinese style. It was formerly used as clan
association premises and then as a warehouse. Today, the restored two-storey River House is
converted into bar and restaurant, called IndoChine, the Forbidden City. It is built on timber columns
and supported by timber beams. The aesthetic design and its unique style make it a prominent
building in our society of concrete buildings.

2 CASE STUDY
2.1 Problems
Buildings aged due to the exposure to harsh weather conditions. Historical buildings are no
exceptions. However, historical buildings are rich in value and hold memories and are often required
to be preserved according to their original appearance. The replacement of the old structures with new
ones will defeat the main purpose, and is often uneconomical. Hence, the need for restoration and
preservation of old historical buildings arises, [1].
Timber is traditionally used due to its unique look. Compared to concrete structures, the service
life of timber structures is often reduced more easily due to wear and tear. Hence, the restoration and
preservation of those old timber structures is even more crucial. The worst part is that they are
susceptible to termite attacks, resulting in their lost in strength. The strengthening of such an existing
structure is often required to restore or increase its load-carrying capacity, [2]. More essentially, its
original appearance is preferred to be retained or further enhanced.
2.2 Methods
Steel beams
The usage of steel reinforcement for strengthening purpose to existing structures is often a major
construction process, which involves the use of heavy machineries for transportation and installation
to the intended specific locations. All other works on site has to be halted during the process to make
way for the heavy and clumsy steel beams installation, thus resulting in wastage of precious manhours during the process of the rehabilitation work. The drilling and bolting of steel plates along with
the welding of joints and connections to the steel beams also requires much time and effort. All these

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Monday 13 Wednesday 15 July 2009

works are often destructive in nature and can be damaging to the existing structures to certain extents
due to the vibrations induced by hacking and drilling.
Due to the heavy self-weight nature of steel, it often results in a low strength-weight ratio as
compared with other strengthening products available in the market. The increased in dead weight to
the existing weakened structure can be unfavourable to the entire structural integrity and may even
cause further damage to the structure. The overall increase in dimension to the composite section
means to decrease the overall headroom or space available, which in architectural point of view,
aesthetic and land space available is often compromised.
Glass Fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP)
The usage of the GFRP composite for the strengthening of existing structures is comparatively
more promising than steel as it minimize disturbance to the other existing site works, the building itself
and its occupants during the intervention. More time is saved using this method as the installation is
much easier and faster compared to the installation of additional steel member. With less major
movement and obstruction on site, other concurrent activities can take place, thus saving in manhours on site. Manpower required for the GFRP installation is also lower compared to the installation
of steel beams. This makes the usage of the GFRP for strengthening purposes more preferred in the
economical sense.
The installation of GFRP composite can even take place in space-constrained areas and is more
versatile and does not requires any form of special or heavy machinery for installation. Unlike that of
GFRP installation, steel beams require more headroom or space for machineries to manoeuvre
around the work site. The ability of the GFRP composite to strengthen elements of varying shapes
makes it more favoured to the rigidity of steel reinforcement.
More importantly, the GFRP composite helps to confine any local rupture, defect or cracks present
in the structure. Furthermore, the composite does not corrode and prevent further corrosion to the
structural member by acting as a protective membrane. In cases of using steel reinforcement, if
moisture is allowed to infiltrate the timber element, the new steel reinforcement can be corroded and
causes expansion within the timber thus causing stress fractures which weakens the entire framing
system.
The dimensions of the composite structural element, as well as its dead weight will not increase
much after the strengthening, since the GFRP composites strength-weight ratio is higher. This
advantage will improve the elements aesthetic appearance, as well as providing overall headroom or
space.
2.3 Application
Method statement
First of all, defective or hollow parts of the timber beam were located for the clearance of existing
termites, which was executed by the pest-control specialists, to prevent any further damage done to
the timber structures. Existing paint coating and dust were then removed from the surface of the
timber beam, leaving the clean surface for the installation of the GFRP composite.

Figure 1. Timber structure before

strengthening

Figure 2. Application of GFRP

composite onto timber beams

Existing uneven surfaces were then reinstated by patching prior to the wrapping of the GFRP
composite. When the timbers were ready to be wrapped, the epoxy adhesive was prepared by mixing

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Monday 13 Wednesday 15 July 2009

the resin and hardener in a 2:1 ratio with a mechanical mixer. A thin layer of epoxy mixture was first
primed onto the surfaces of the timber beams. Following that, the required fabric were saturated with
the epoxy mixture and impregnated onto the timber beams (Figure 2). Saturation of the GFRP
composite and the application of the epoxy mixture on the timber beams were done using rollers. Air
voids were smoothed out using hand pressure to assure a uniform, smooth final appearance.

Figure 3. Injection of epoxy to fill up existing cracks in timber

The GFRP composite was allowed to set for 12 hours, depending on the ambient temperature
conditions, before the injection ports at several strategic locations was installed (Figure 3). Epoxy is
then injected to fill up any existing voids and cracks in the beam. The epoxy was then allowed to set,
and subsequently the ports were removed.

Figure 4. Aesthetic/ finishing

works after strengthening

Figure 5. Timber structure after

strengthening

Aesthetic finish was then reinstated to match existing paintwork (Figure 4 & 5).

Figure 6. River
rehabilitation

House

during

Figure
7.
rehabilitation

River

House

after

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Monday 13 Wednesday 15 July 2009

The final appearance of the building was enhanced tremendously compared to originally (Figure 6
& 7). The overall process of the strengthening and repair work involving a total of 46 beams was
completed in 28 days.

CONCLUSION

From this case study, the new technology of strengthening of the old existing timber structure
using the GFRP composite not only helps confine its existing local rupture, bridges its local defects,
but helps arrest any existing crack openings in the structure as well. It also acts as a protective
membrane by preventing further corrosion to the composite structure. This helps improve the overall
performance and durability of the timber element, [3, 4].
More time is saved using the GFRP composite as the installation is easier and faster compared to
the installation of additional steel member. The GFRP composite, with their high strength to weight
ratio, also helps provide a more spacious interior and an overall improved aesthetic appearance. In all,
the GFRP composite represent a much preferred material as compared to steel in timber structures
rehabilitation in the engineering and economic sense.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors wish to thank Mr Lai Tien Siong, the project manager of the mentioned case study, for
providing detailed information regarding the strengthening works and problems faced on site.

REFERENCES
[1]
[2]
[3]

[4]

K. U. Schober & K. Rautenstrauch, Strengthening of timber structures in-situ with an

application of fiber-reinforced polymers, FRP Composites in Civil Engineering CICE 2004
Sercino (ed), pp 697-704
J. R. Gilfillan, S. G. Gilbert & G. R. H. Patrick, Improving the structural performance of timber
beams with FRP composites: a review, FRP Composites in Civil Engineering CICE 2004
Sercino (ed), pp 705-711
M. Ehsani, Ph.D., S. E., M. Larsen, S. E., and N. Palmer, Strengthening of old wood with new
technology FRP laminates and epoxy help support new loads in an existing wooden
gymnasium STRUCTURE magazine February 2004, pp 19-21
Jerzy Jasienko & Tomasz Nowak, Strengthening of bent timber beams in historical objects,
From material to structure Mechanical behaviour and failures of the timber structures
th
th
(ICOMOS IWC XVI International Symposium Florence, Venice and Vicenza 11 16
November 2007)