What is the maximum allowable height of a column without any brace or tie?

Dnyan Deshmukh

Staff member
As long as its L/r ratio is not making it as long columns which normally tend to buckle under loads.

Normally for columns height L/r ratio up to 16 is considered to be OK by many but in one of the rare case, I had seen a design from structural consultant with L/r ratio up to 22.

'L' is the free standing height.
'r' refers to least lateral dimension of column i.e. - width of column.