This 1902 building was designed to resemble an American red stone, steel reinforced office block.
They laid the steel reinforcing too close to the edge of the forms into which the concrete was poured.
A likely area for substitution would be the steel reinforcing bars used in highway bridge decks.
And supported by solid cement walls with riveted steel reinforcing panels.
The presence of a core allows steel reinforcing to be inserted into the assembly, greatly increasing its strength.
The most common purpose-built structure is a buried, steel reinforced concrete vault or arch.
Worse still, the number of steel reinforcing bars embedded into the concrete was 8, not the required 16, giving the building only half its needed strength.
Today, a concrete and steel reinforced fence stands where the original one stood, imitating the size it would be today.
Coverage of the steel reinforcing was also deficient.
Structural steel and reinforced concrete are not always chosen solely because they are the most ideal material for the structure.