Mitigating Structural Steel Corrosion Protects Decorative Facade of the Historic Elks Veterans Memorial

摘要

Several years ago, the limestone soffit and entablature of the historic Elks Veterans Memorial in Chicago, Illinois, owned by The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of the United States of America (Elks), showed signs of distressdue to masonry damage caused by corrosion. The limestone soffit stones, which sit on top of the colonnade that encircles the neo-classical rotunda, had experienced hairline cracking caused by stress from corrosion products forming on the steel support system components; and a sheer fracture of one of the soffit stones resulted in a portion of the stone breaking off the entablature.