Structural Block Wall Repair — Quad Cities

Project summary

Behncke Construction repaired a damaged concrete block (CMU) wall in an industrial building where forklift traffic had cracked several blocks. Rather than replacing the wall, the crew removed and replaced only the damaged units and filled the block cores to restore the wall’s strength.

What we did

Several damaged 10-inch CMU blocks were carefully removed and replaced. As each new block was set, the cores were filled to tie the repair into the surrounding wall and restore its load-carrying capacity. Keeping the work localized to the damaged area limited downtime for the facility.

What building owners should know

Concrete block walls in commercial and industrial buildings take impacts from equipment, vehicles and everyday operations. In many cases localized damage can be repaired by replacing the affected units rather than rebuilding the entire wall — an approach that is often faster and less disruptive. Filling the block cores and properly tying new units into the existing courses is what restores the wall’s strength. When cracking is widespread, or a wall is bowing or leaning, the situation may call for more extensive structural reinforcement instead of spot repairs.