5 th International Congress on Construction History UNRAVELING THE DESIGN OF END-OF-THE-19TH-CENTURY RIVETED CONNECTIONS IN BELGIUM Quentin Collette 1 and Ine Wouters 2 Keywords Metal construction, riveted connections, design methods, Belgium, L. Lemaître, JW. Schwedler. Abstract The appraisal of existing riveted metal structures generally involves the understanding of their connection details. Unfortunately, it is tough to decipher how historical riveted connections were designed given the obsolescence of the hot-riveting technique. The design of riveted con- nections has to be analyzed to support the structural assessment and potential interventions. Prac- ticing engineers, architects and heritage care specialists need to gain insight into the original de- sign philosophy of the connection details to preserve both the service life and heritage value of iron and steel structures. Therefore, we unraveled the design of riveted connections by referring to historical literature and carrying out on-site surveys. This paper reveals the design philosophy of structural riveted connections of the end of the nineteenth century in Belgium. Belgian educator-engineers mainly referred to the findings of French, German and English investigators but two to three decades after their original publication. From the 1880s onwards, the design philosophy of riveted connections took the geometry, the strength and the applied loads into account. However, rules of thumb and simple derivations of the 1850-60s still influ- enced the design markedly. The study of a built connection detail confirmed that practical mat- ters impacted the as-built geometry of riveted connections. End-of-the-19th-century design methods are delicate to analyze since they combine both empirical and analytical considerations. The study of historical design methods allows to perform overall appraisal procedures of existing riveted structures with more confidence and can contribute towards more suitable remedial works. 1 Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Faculty of Engineering Sciences, Dept. of Architectural Engineering (ARCH), Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium, ir.quentin.collette@gmail.com 2 Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Faculty of Engineering Sciences, Dept. of Architectural Engineering (ARCH), Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium, ine.wouters@vub.ac.be