Concrete anchor bolts help to “set in stone” the long lasting importance of at least one simple machine. A bolt derives its strength from the way that it drives a wedge against the sleeve, the sleeve of material that surrounds the bolt.
Whenever a factory needs to place a heavy machine on a poured concrete floor, that factory should plan to rely on the strength of more than one cast-in-place anchor bolt. A visitor to the Mercer Museum in Doylestown, Pennsylvania might want to look carefully for the presence of such bolts.
The Mercer Museum was designed from a building that used to belong to Henry Mercer. He once had a tile factory in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Today, visitors to the Mercer Museum walk over a slowly rising concrete floor.
That floor carries visitors up into and through all of the displays in the Museum. Each display features one of the diverse group of American industries. Some of the displays require the placement of heavy equipment on a concrete floor.
A different sort of anchor bolt has added to the strength of buildings on the west coast. That bolt can connect a concrete foundation to a wall. The engineers in California place such bolts in buildings, so that those structures can better withstand the movements associated with an earthquake.
While students in the Philadelphia area might visit the Mercer Museum, students in Los Angeles frequently enjoy the opportunity to visit the Science Museum that is adjacent to the USC campus. There they can witness first hand the importance of a well placed anchor bolt.
There students can sit in a special room, one that undergoes a set of movements. Those movements simulate the sort of movements that one would expect to feel during an earthquake. Those movements underline the need for placement of strengthening bolts between building walls and building foundations.
The comparatively low number of deaths, following the earthquake in Chile has served to highlight the strengthening qualities that are linked to well bolted concrete. Engineers and builders in earthquake prone California should be using such bolts for many years to come.
Thanks to the field trips to the Museums on both coasts, present day school students can develop an appreciation for concrete anchor bolts. If any of those students were to pursues an engineering career, then that student would have a strong sense for the importance of at least one of the seven simple machines.