Imagine studying historic restoration while surrounded by historic structures and conservation experts in a city with over two thousand years of history. Is there any better way to learn? …
Squire Whipple (STRUCTURE, September 2005 and November 2014) patented his bowstring truss in 1841 and built them across the Erie and other Canals and rivers. These were generally for wagons and carriages. In 1846/47, he wrote his A work on Bridge Building Consisting of two essays, The One Elementary and General, the other showing Original Plans and Practical Details for Iron and Wooden Bridges. In it he gave the first correct method of determining the load in every member of his truss by the method of joints, and even utilized a graphical method of determining these loads. …
Frankfurt Short Bruza Associates was an Outstanding Award Winner for the P750 Helicopter Maintenance Hangar project in the 2014 NCSEA Annual Excellence in Structural Engineering awards program (Category – New Buildings $30M to $100M).
The Helicopter Maintenance Hangar was constructed at Naval Air Station North Island, the birthplace of naval aviation. Architects and structural engineers collaborated on a facility design worthy of this location, worked to control its visual scale and soften its industrial nature. …
Lawrence Bank’s article, Is Structural Engineering Education Sustainable? (STRUCTURE, February 2015), raises interesting issues and exposes the separation between education and practice. For one thing, structural engineering education is constantly evolving. The notion that today’s design is based on books from the 1950s and 1960s ignores the reality that the better texts are philosophically well-thought-out, present fundamental structural behavior, and follow with how codes and standards interpret this behavior to protect life safety. …
It is hard to believe, but this will be my last editorial as chair of CASE. This spring, I will turn the gavel over to the capable hands of Dave Mykins from Stroud Pence and Associates of Virginia Beach, Virginia. It has been a pleasure and an honor to serve both the structural engineering firms who are members of CASE and the structural engineering profession as a whole. …
The great fires of the 1800s in Chicago, New York, and elsewhere spurred a technology race to develop the best fireproof floor system. The years between the 1870s and 1940s represented a golden age of new technology in structural systems. Cast iron, wrought iron, structural steel and reinforced concrete framing systems, terra cotta arch construction, cinder concrete slabs, and many proprietary systems were introduced during this period. …
It is generally perceived that vibration is not an issue for reinforced concrete floor systems. Because of the inherent mass and stiffness of such systems, this perception is generally true. However, there can be situations where the effects of vibration are one of the main design issues that need to be addressed. In this general overview, simplified methods are provided that can be used in a preliminary analysis to determine approximate fundamental vibration characteristics, which can help in choosing a suitable floor system for a given set of conditions. …
In the wake of a major retaining wall collapse, the New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) examined the condition of numerous retaining walls within the city’s boundaries and concluded there was a need for a regulation mandating periodic condition assessment of retaining walls. This article presents the ensuing local law that became effective in 2014. …
Designers dedicated to restoring ecosystems and enhancing social conditions through the built environment know that wood can contribute significantly to this aspiration. Although timber used as structural elements in taller buildings is not a new concept, it has been largely abandoned as a solution in favor of other materials. Projects around the world are demonstrating the potential of engineered, mass timber products as structural elements for tall buildings, and wood is re-emerging as a viable and beneficial option. …
Engineers largely appreciate the differences afforded between allowable stress design (ASD) and ultimate strength design (LRFD) methods, and we generally follow the prescribed protocol for each procedure without much trouble. However, even though the ASD approach has been largely supplanted by LRFD, certain occasions require that we revisit the old ASD theory for reinforced concrete (or masonry). As such, it is appropriate that we recognize the subtle and not-so-subtle differences between the two. …