The story of the Sloss Furnace Company is more than a story about a historic manufacturing plant. Like most structures, the iron-producing furnaces were built to generate income for the owners by filling a product need produced at a competitive price that utilized locally available raw materials and human capital.
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Author Archives : John Dal Pino, S.E.
John A. Dal Pino is a Principal with Claremont Engineers, Inc. in Oakland, California. He serves as the Chair of the STRUCTURE Editorial Board (jdalpino@claremontengineers.com)
A step toward saving the profession.
… Jul, 2023
John Dal Pino, S.E.
Structural Influencers
In the past few months, I have watched a few webinars on structural engineering topics and have come away wondering why I wasted my time. It wasn’t so much the technical content per se or the knowledge or earnestness of the presenters but the poor quality of the presentations themselves disturbed me so much that I couldn’t focus on the content. The words just became “blah, blah, blah,” I tuned out and became a movie critic with running commentary. Many of you might already be thinking that if I am such a presentation hotshot, why I don’t do them myself and show us how it is done. Hence this article.
… Jun, 2023
John Dal Pino, S.E.
InFocus
Jurisdictional Inspections, Structural Observation, and Special Inspections are intended to ensure that projects are completed according to the approved construction documents and the relevant building code and standards to protect public safety. But since there are three or perhaps more entities involved in this process with some overlap (picture a Venn diagram), teamwork and clear communication are required. Even then, there are chances that some deficient items might slip through undetected. The contractor is ultimately responsible for the construction in accordance with the approved plans and specifications. Still, if this does not occur, the structural engineer will almost certainly be involved in the fallout. Therefore, structural engineers have a vested interest in understanding the process and what they need to do as the professionals of record to protect themselves and the public.
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During my two-plus year tenure as the Editorial Board Chair and the several years before that as a Board member, STRUCTURE has received several proposed articles on three topics: 1) the experiences of engineers with many years in practice, 2) the current state of the industry and the inner workings of firms, and 3) the perceived unnecessary expansion of the building code and over-regulation. Of course, the same individuals did not necessarily write these articles. Still, if I were to do some research, I would expect to find that the authors have similar professional experience, job tenure, standing in their firms, firm ownership, and socio-economic situations. Not to generalize, but these engineers are likely to be older and in the middle or later parts of their careers.
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The scientific method is best described as a series of sequential steps: Question, Research, Hypothesis, Experiment, Observation, and Conclusion. If the hypothesis is “proven” through experiment and observation, the Conclusion becomes a Theory generally supported and accepted by other subject-matter experts. This process takes time and effort and cannot be rushed.
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Engineers routinely need to analyze and design indeterminate structures. Today they would use any one of several analytical software packages commonly loaded on their computers. The programs are so powerful that it does not take long to develop the input and perform the analysis, even for a major building. Sifting through the output and finding the desired answers might be the greatest effort involved.
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It has been my personal observation, albeit in a limited geographical area, that some people are clearly not understanding the COVID-19 public health messages inundating all of us. Either that or the messages are just too opaque or generalized (one might say dumbed down) as to leave many people bewildered and confused and trying their best, but not understanding why. …
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I enjoy reading The Journal of Light Construction (JLC) to learn about expert techniques used on residential projects. In their June 2019 issue, I read two articles; Defining Efficiency Goals – A process for selling performance in new homes by Indigo Ruth-Davis and As Best I Can by Mark Luzio. The Ruth-Davis article addressed how to sell high performing environmental designs for homes in Vermont by providing alternative designs with estimated construction costs and annual energy costs. The Luzio article focused on providing quality construction and working with clients. Luzio describes always doing the best he could, noting that he and his best clients know that everything is not perfect (“a fool’s errand” to quote), but that his work was not a low bid job either. …
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STRUCTURE published a series of three articles in 2017 written by the Structural Engineering Engagement and Equity (SE3) Committee of the Structural Engineers Association of Northern California (SEAONC). These articles presented the results of a 2016 nationwide survey of engineers on the current conditions in the workplace about both engagement (broadly defined as satisfaction) and equity (broadly defined as fairness) and offered ideas for improved career development, retention, pay and benefits, access to opportunities, and work-life-balance. STRUCTURE has also published articles on the importance of mentoring and how to do it effectively (see Anderson, April 2018, and Grogan and Anesta, May 2014). …
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