Reinforcing structures

Abstract

A brick or masonry structure (2) is drilled to receive an elongate reinforcing assembly comprising a core (3;25;26;27,28;32) with one or more fabric sleeves (10,15,22) over most of its length. The sleeves are injected with grout that seeps through the fabric to bond to the drilling (1) wall. It may bond directly to the core or to a tube through which the core extends. The core is anchored to the structure at or near the mouth of the drilling (1) while a tube (5) furthest from the mouth may have a connection (4) to the core (3) that allows the core to be pulled towards the mouth with progressively greater resistance. The reinforcing assembly can also have limited extendability by inserting links (31) in the core between grouted sleeve sections or by using wire (32), which could be kinked in such gaps. The reinforcing assembly can also bend or suffer limited transverse displacement between grouted sleeve sections, and by the composition of the core (26) it can be made to bend more easily in some directions than others.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.