Diagnostics and recalculation of a hall structure after a fire

Abstract Hall structures are among the most important engineering structures serving various purposes. They are mostly production halls, but they are also used in large numbers as warehouses. Many of these halls were built approximately 50‐60 years ago and were made of concrete. They were prefabricated elements to speed up construction. Vertical columns were fixed into the foundation footings and transferred the load from the roof structure, which consisted mainly of prestressed truss beams of the SPP type. It was typical structure that was commonly used throughout the former Czechoslovakia at that time. Several hundred such halls were built. The SPP beams were connected in several parts due to the span and were additionally prestressed. However, as it turns out today, the prestressing technology was not perfect at that time, and cable ducts were often not injected, which causes major problems today. Several halls were even damaged and collapsed in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Department of Structures and Bridges, University of Zilina, was asked to diagnose one such hall. Another problem was that there was a fire in the hall, which significantly damaged it. The paper presents the results of the diagnosis and calculation of the hall damaged by the fire.