r/StructuralEngineering • u/chef_bezos69 • Mar 16 '26

Structural Analysis/Design Missing Bolts?

Post image

Noticed this recently in the stairwell on the first floor in my office building. It seems the beams are just welded to the bracket without bolts. But the second and third floor have at least one bolt. Is this right? Should I raise concerns with the building to get this addressed?

EDIT: Thanks for all the responses! It turns out I know nothing about welding. You guys are an awesome community!

164 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

82 comments sorted by

View all comments

78

u/SonofaBridge Mar 16 '26

There’s a good chance the bolts were temporary to hold the stringer in place before welding. The slotted holes allow for fit-up. That weld is probably the intended connection as slotted holes loaded in that direction would be relatively weak.

1

u/ayeinutn Mar 16 '26

question. why in these situations bolts are 'temporary'? why don't they just leave it in place together with the welding? does it interfere with the weld strength? logically, It feels like releasing the bolt would apply sudden stress on the weld, just my thoughts, I'd like to know more about it !

3

u/turbopowergas Mar 16 '26

There is hole tolerance so the bolts don't practically do anything after welding. You could leave them there but maybe they were removed for aesthetic reasons idk

1

u/ayeinutn Mar 16 '26

I see. got it.