# How significant is a 8,500 lb concentrated load in a large (25+ floors) residential high-rise?

I'm thinking of installing a rather large aquarium on the 4th floor of a residential high-rise which has a total of 27 floors. I plan to place it directly against a concrete column with a diameter of around 4 feet.

I think the main issues are:

Who do I need to talk to in order to find out if this is feasible before the project actually starts? The building manager, a civil engineer, or....?

• I'm curious as to why the weight to area ratio is so high - 8500lb/8.5ft^2/(density of water) = 16ft which is quite a bit taller than I'd imagine your aquarium being? – Joe Lee-Moyet Oct 20 '15 at 17:13
• @yjo I thought the same thing. Perhaps the aquarium is on legs, whose combined area is 8.5 ft$^2$...? – Carlton Oct 20 '15 at 19:18

The answer is that you will have to have an engineer look at it if you want an "official" answer. The details below may help to show you whether or not it will be feasible.

The load that you gave is $$8,500\ \mathrm{lb}/8.5\ \mathrm{ft^2}=1000\ \mathrm{lb/ft^2}$$.

### Code

Floors are designed for typical loads. In addition to the weight of the floor itself (dead Load), the floor is designed for a live load that takes the form of a uniform pressure. The exact amount used depends on the the expected use of the floor. You can see the variations from the table on page two of this document.

Typical apartment (residential) floor loads are $$40\ \mathrm{lb/ft^2}$$.

• The answer is that you will have to have an engineer look at it if you want an "official" answer. Second this. Don't add heavy loads to a structure without consulting an engineer! – grfrazee Oct 20 '15 at 13:36