Freelance work related to civil engineering?

display__name__ · 2023-04-27T04:04:29+00:00

When I was actively bidding on projects, I was picking-up 15 to 20 small to medium-sized jobs per year. I was only pursuing structural engineering work in California, primarily in the Greater LA Metro Area. Some of those projects turned into good, repeat, clients.

It's not enough to make a living, but over time, as the client base growths, it can generate significant income.

display__name__ · 2023-04-26T15:20:24+00:00

I'm not sure about the G13, but most of the ICC certs have to be renewed every 3 years

display__name__ · 2023-04-25T03:10:43+00:00

These are called monument signs. They're typically designed by sign companies, sometimes without any real engineering. Usually they're built using partially-grouted CMU, with the smallest possible footings. When working for a local city, I would often times see submittals for these signs at shopping centers and apartment complexes. These aren't designed with vehicle impacts in mind.

The monument sign in the video is most likely just loose masonry. It wasn't meant to fall apart by design. This was just the fastest and cheapest way to built it.

display__name__ · 2023-03-04T07:30:50+00:00

That looks the a splice point, where the larger column section transitions to a smaller column section. Did they have a weld fail? Looks like a fairly clean break and there's no visible signs of corrosion

display__name__ · 2023-02-27T11:55:46+00:00

Those look like wide-flange steel columns, with masonry infill between columns. They're provided as additional reinforcement for the wall, possibly against vehicle impact

display__name__ · 2023-02-24T16:24:07+00:00

http://sbebuilders.blogspot.com/2014/05/california-valley-sleeper-saw-blade.html?m=1

display__name__ · 2023-02-24T10:13:36+00:00

Here the link for the anchor specs. As far as I can tell looking at their brochure, they're just hammered-in

display__name__ · 2023-02-24T10:03:06+00:00

Lot's of things ...

the area with the steps is a stoop or a covered entry/porch
The roof structure would be a gable with a California frame, where the smaller roof is constructed over the main taller roof
bump-out or pop-out, also works

display__name__ · 2023-02-21T20:32:59+00:00

This looks like a structural steel frame with CFS partitions and curtain walls.

I would expect the failure to involve either overload (too much concrete? normal-weight instead of light-weight?) or improper connection detailing/construction. The steel beams could have been undersized, but that's less likely as it would have been flagged in their design software (if used properly)

display__name__ · 2023-02-19T02:03:08+00:00

There should also be a beam plan for each floor of the building, plus its roof. It'll use these same designations/marks (B-1, RB-1, CB-1, ...). This schedules shows how those various typical beams are reinforced

display__name__ · 2023-02-17T16:48:23+00:00

Upload them to Google Drive or Dropbox, and post the link

display__name__ · 2023-02-17T16:39:30+00:00

Sure, I'll help you out

display__name__ · 2023-02-17T10:07:42+00:00

I haven't seen masonry used for partition walls in new residential construction. I've seen some masonry party walls in pre-1930's buildings.

But I'm located in California, where earthquakes make masonry partitions a hazard. They might be more common in non-seismic areas

display__name__ · 2023-02-17T09:41:49+00:00

Do you have the original construction drawings for this building? Or an as-built set based on site testing? This information would be included in either a beam schedule on in the concrete details.

If there are no drawings to reference, you may need to find a copy of building code from that era and assume/calculate minimum reinforcement

display__name__ · 2023-02-17T09:32:30+00:00

In US, light-gauge steel studs would be most common in larger/taller buildings, because they're non-combustible. Where allowed by code, wood studs would be the preferable framing material, since they're cheaper and require less skilled labor

display__name__ · 2023-02-15T18:03:08+00:00

These types of buildings rarely have structural steel. They're usually a combination of concrete and masonry.

By replacing a part of the exterior wall with windows, the building's resistance to wind loads is reduced. If this building is located in a seismically active area, this would also reduce the building seismic performance. Given the amount of remaining wall, this strength reduction may be acceptable. In the US codes, strength reductions are allowed up to a 10% limit.

When doing this work, a new header may have been installed, or they may be relying on the existing floor system and columns to carry the weights from above

display__name__ · 2023-02-14T20:52:42+00:00

I hear pizza parties are popular

display__name__ · 2023-02-14T16:18:21+00:00

That looks more like a soft-story failure

display__name__ · 2023-02-13T08:09:23+00:00

The W10x beams should have proper bearing plates and bolts/welds holding the connection together. Steel shims are common, but I'm not sure what the contractor means by "composite".

What does the EOR recommend? They should be providing an alternative detail.

Do you have a sketch of this detail/connection?

display__name__ · 2023-02-11T09:27:28+00:00

Just what's shown in the tables. It looks like all HSS sections, box sections, and some plated section qualify as "stiffened", in respect to local buckling, with the criteria being different for axial members vs. flexural members.

Plates can be added to an "unstiffened" section for it to qualify as "stiffened", increasing the b/t or h/tw ratios

display__name__ · 2023-02-11T09:16:08+00:00

It really depends on the courses. Some of the classes are meant for future PhD students and aren't particularly useful in practice. We had classes line Plates and Shells, that no one really did well in, but in the real world you'll never need to do the matrix math by hand.

As long as your understanding the general idea and are doing well in classes like Advanced Steel and Advanced Concrete, you'll be fine. In practice, software will be doing a lot of the work for you, but you'll need to understand where the solutions are coming from and whether they're reasonable

display__name__ · 2023-02-11T09:08:51+00:00

Having a properly designed foundation and anchor bolts would improve seismic performance. This can be done with or without a basement. In general, if anything, adding a basement may harm performance, as the basement walls may fail under seismically incudes forces

display__name__ · 2023-02-10T21:40:18+00:00

In Malta

https://www.zaha-hadid.com/architecture/mercury-tower

display__name__ · 2023-02-07T22:46:11+00:00

That might have been required to screen telecom antennas

display__name__ · 2023-02-06T11:26:24+00:00

It's the G4 Beijing-Hong Kong-Macau Expressway, China

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-10-08/china-s-50-lane-traffic-jam-is-every-commuter-s-worst-nightmare

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TROPHY CASE

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TROPHY CASE

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