How Thoughtful

How thoughtful it was for this contractor to paint the rat's nest of rebars that they welded the insert to so they won't rust before they tear the whole damn mess out and start over.

The slab was too, way too, far out, so it appears somebody hacked out the concrete and the insert, put the insert in the correct position, and then welded every scrap piece of rebar they could find to the back of the insert to...a...a...I give up. Ask him.

Grout is Not the Answer

Sometimes the job-site response to conditions like this is to fill the hole with grout and congratulate yourself for the fine looking slab edge. The ALT response is, well, a bit less congratulatory.

Far Reaching Consequences

These two anchor plates were supposed to have plenty of overlap. Something happened and the next thing we know, two "auxiliary" plates have been welded on to extend each plate. (Arrows point to extension welds.) Needless to say, the field welder ran all the required calculations before he came up with this gem. Yeah, right.

Standing Tall

This anchor is one of our all time favorites. The anchor angle was supposed to sit directly on, and bolt to, the floor slab. Unfortunately, the slab ended up being a bit lower than the contractor expected.

So someone put on their thinking cap and came up with this. The anchor was "extended" upward with two plates and some rebars. What purpose the rebars are supposed to serve is still a mystery. (If you think you know, please tell me.)

Since the building was designed for typhoon loading, this particular modification was, well, a bit questionable.

Stick Legs

The next photo is another example of extending the anchor upward. In this case it has been raised by "welding" it on top of a few rebars. See the highlighted areas.

Structurally, not even close.

Tack Welds to the Rescue

Let's say that you only have one anchor angle within arm's reach, but the drawings call for two (one on each side of the vertical tube). And you don't see any of those fancy bolts the engineer requires for the insert. And it's almost break time. What do you do? In this case, the contractor called for Super Tack Welds. Fortunately for this building owner, ALT sent them back to Krypton.

Note: Tack welds are supposed to be temporary welds used to hold something in place while you really weld it. They are not considered structural welds.