We, as structural engineers, often find ourselves confined by a situation we created for ourselves. We operate in a design environment with easy access to information, have the ability to collect and analyze extensive data, and have access to robust and reliable analysis and design software. Nevertheless, prescriptive codes and standards we have developed prevent us from fully leveraging these capabilities. As we face multiple goals for our designs – safety, economy, serviceability, sustainability, and robustness – we can be constrained to follow a prescriptive path to a solution that often does not optimally satisfy any of them. …
Imagine being named the President of the Washington Bullets in 1991, a time when the franchise had fallen on lean times. Everyone is looking at you to turn things around. Then imagine you are a 29-year-old female trying to survive in a business (not unlike our own) that has traditionally been dominated by men. …
Practical Reinforced Concrete Building Design
Reinforced concrete (RC) shear walls are usually the primary lateral force resisting system for reinforced concrete buildings and adjacent shear wall piers are typically connected with coupling beams above doors or corridors at floor levels. …
An International Collaboration
Post-earthquake observations following recent events in Indonesia point to the significant vulnerability of school infrastructure in the country. Build Change is a Denver-based international non-profit social enterprise that works with people in emerging nations to design, build, finance, and regulate disaster-resistant houses and schools. Build Change has a program in Padang, Indonesia, and has responded to eight large earthquakes there since the program’s inception after the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. …
Every damaging California earthquake has resulted in changes to the California Department of Transportation’s (Caltrans’) seismic practice. The most significant changes occurred after the 1971 San Fernando Earthquake. Bridges at that time were designed for a small seismic force, which resulted in extensive damage to bridges and interchanges during the earthquake. …
As is typical in many a new year, 2019 brings several changes to the STRUCTURE Editorial Board. Barry Arnold, P.E., S.E., SECB, is stepping down as Chair of the Editorial Board. Barry has served as Chair since 2016 and, unsurprisingly, has discovered that his duties as Vice President of ARW Engineers (Ogden, UT) increasingly require his attention. …
Recent Research Findings
Thermal bridges occur when a component of high thermal conductivity causes excessive heat flow through the building insulation envelope. A large variety of conditions can cause thermal bridging, including cladding (shelf angles, grillage posts, canopy beams), metal wall studs, window mullions, and poor corner detailing. …
A New Kind of Workplace
In the heart of Silicon Valley, Intuit’s Marine Way Building (MWB) is a new kind of workplace. Intuit has vitally influenced and facilitated people’s financial lives for over three decades with a mission to “power prosperity around the world.” …
Structural engineers frequently provide special or extra services without receiving appropriate additional compensation. Does this phenomenon seem familiar? It can be due to scope creep, which is a malady that afflicts nearly all practitioners. If profits do not meet expectations, scope creep is usually part of the problem. …
Pursuing Our Vision for Structural Engineering
In 2013, the Structural Engineering Institute published A Vision for the Future of Structural Engineering and Structural Engineers: A case for change (the SEI Vision – www.asce.org/SEI). The SEI Vision lays out an inspiring view of what the structural engineering profession could be by the year 2033, and it makes a number of recommendations for SEI Board of Governors’ action to lead us to that vision. …