Reinforcing posts and walls and drilling openings

From the 19th century onwards, cast-iron columns were used as replacements for traditional load-bearing structures, sold by catalog and mass-produced to support masonry, iron or wooden floors. Their reduced cross-sections offered great strength, reduced space requirements, rapid execution and aesthetics adapted to the tastes of the time. These posts can easily be reinforced by adding corsets, lining or simply substituting an equivalent hollow or solid steel section.

To ensure the transfer of additional loads, the engineer must pay close attention to the connections at the foot and head of the column. Reinforcing the load-bearing capacity of columns always poses the problem of loading and transferring forces to the new assembly. Reinforcements often serve to increase the radius of gyration. In other cases, they can either share the load or take it on completely....