07/05/2025
Multi-Storey Car Parks – Suitability for Contemporary Vehicles 🚗
Average and maximum weights of vehicles are increasing. The recent Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE) Car Park design guidance recommends an increase in the uniformly distributed imposed load to reflect this. Importantly, it also states that it is highly likely that the residual strength of an existing multi-storey car park will be lower than when it was first constructed due to structural deterioration while in service. Therefore, its future capacity or suitability for contemporary vehicles could be limited unless works can be undertaken to ensure that it has sufficient structural capacity.
At Amphora Consulting, we recently carried out investigative work using a high-resolution GPR survey on the deck of a multi-storey car park, to support our full structural analysis and re-assessment of the structure. The data enabled us to accurately identify reinforcement layouts, element geometry, and service locations—providing a clear picture of the as-built construction.
A key finding from our investigative work was determining the transverse reinforcement within the wearing screed layer, designed to achieve composite beam action within the primary members. This detail, not visible from the surface, was vital in confirming how the structure performs under modern load demands and allowed us to carry out appropriate structural analysis and verification.
As the demands on our existing infrastructure stock continues to evolve to suit modern-day requirements, having accurate, detailed data is essential to making informed and responsible engineering decisions.
