morrobay said:
This subject came up on thaivisa, a discussion forum in Thailand, in the Pattaya section.
The pillars are under a very massive newly constructed 6 level + mall in this seaside town.
Some members on the above forum recently felt tremers and shaking while inside the new mall. Another member observed and took photos of these after construction braces.
There is no communication between the members on the forum and the Thai construction company that did the work.
The concern by the forum members is the danger of the mall collapsing.
Since this could be very serious I am trying to research it as fast as possibe.
You should contact the Civil (or Mechanical) Engineering Departments of your local university (or the one that's closest to you), and not be looking for advice on the internet (especially if you don't have a background in structural engineering). For the record, I am also not a civil (and especially, structural) engineer.
If this is a newer structure, unbraced and unsupported columns MAY (and I stress this, MAY) be subject to punch through, especially if there are large distributed loads on the floor(s) above, and insufficient columns (or insufficient girth of columns). If this is an older structure, and it hasn't yet punched through, then it's probably okay. If those bolts don't go all the way through (e.g. they're drilled in part way and then epoxied in place) it just puts the concrete (at the top of the pillar) in tension. Unless there is sufficient rebar (or similar support) concrete usually works in compression, and not tension.
If the denizens of the building actually are feeling quakes and shaking, this could be a sign that something is wrong. Or it could just be that the building is settling. However, the people at Sampoong also felt quakes and shaking inside their building shortly before collapse:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sampoong_Department_Store_collapse
(There, the owner / architect got engineers to do preliminary work, got it approved, fired the engineers, and then started redesigning things and building bigger while removing supports). So contact a civil engineering academic, and do it ASAP! If they're the ones that do the analysis and figure out that this is a disaster in the waiting, it's both serving the public good (usually part of the academic / engineering mission) and good publicity.
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