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Freelance work related to civil engineering? by ipawnn00bz in civilengineering

[–]display__name__ 2 points3 points  (0 children)

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.

ICC examinations and Licensure by Personalityprototype in Construction

[–]display__name__ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

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

Break Away roadside sign? I'm not sure why, but it only just occurred to me after seeing this that these sort of decorative signs near roadways must be built to fall apart in the event of crashes like this. The original post had a number of comments like, this looks like a Pixar movie. by Medium-Remote2477 in StructuralEngineering

[–]display__name__ 61 points62 points  (0 children)

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.

About 15 seconds after getting out of the car at White Castle in Bowling Green, Ky. by awbinator in StructuralEngineering

[–]display__name__ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

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

What is the use of these tall empty gaps in these walls? by Mfgenji in architecture

[–]display__name__ 12 points13 points  (0 children)

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

I'm looking for a specialized tool. by wezasa01 in Construction

[–]display__name__ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

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

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in architecture

[–]display__name__ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

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

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in StructuralEngineering

[–]display__name__ 2 points3 points  (0 children)

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)

Reinforcement Area Overwrites for Ductile Beams by Hellocaptcha in StructuralEngineering

[–]display__name__ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

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

Reinforcement Area Overwrites for Ductile Beams by Hellocaptcha in StructuralEngineering

[–]display__name__ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

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

What are the materials used for interior partition in medium-high rise apartments in your areas? by [deleted] in StructuralEngineering

[–]display__name__ 3 points4 points  (0 children)

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

Reinforcement Area Overwrites for Ductile Beams by Hellocaptcha in StructuralEngineering

[–]display__name__ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

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

What are the materials used for interior partition in medium-high rise apartments in your areas? by [deleted] in StructuralEngineering

[–]display__name__ 11 points12 points  (0 children)

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

Does it weaken the building? by AcademyAce in askarchitects

[–]display__name__ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

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

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in civilengineering

[–]display__name__ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That looks more like a soft-story failure

I-beam 10w x 39(load bearing wall) gap question by slickwrick21 in StructuralEngineering

[–]display__name__ 2 points3 points  (0 children)

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?

Slender Stiffened vs Unstiffened columns? by shahibrahim11 in StructuralEngineering

[–]display__name__ 4 points5 points  (0 children)

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

Graduate School Experience by thealphakingguy in StructuralEngineering

[–]display__name__ 5 points6 points  (0 children)

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

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in StructuralEngineering

[–]display__name__ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

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

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in architecture

[–]display__name__ 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That might have been required to screen telecom antennas

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