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Grand Center Restoration
The Grand Center is a multi-purpose event and convention center in Grand Rapids, Michigan. A complex of three adjoining buildings, Grand Center includes an auditorium built in 1932 and an exhibition hall and theater added in 1981.
Serious cracks developed in the walls where the three buildings intersect. Surveys revealed that some supporting columns had settled as much as seven inches, causing potentially serious structural stress. Elevation was restored by working within the buildings to disconnect and simultaneously lift 12 columns one to three inches.
Three different types of columns were involved, requiring the design of several different methods and structures to smoothly transfer loads between the columns and a system of hydraulic jacks.
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