As the SEI Futures Fund starts its fourth year, we are very excited about our progress to realize the Vision for the Future of Structural Engineering initiatives. Through leadership and innovation, the Futures Fund can revolutionize the future of structural engineering. It has been instrumental in helping start many of these initiatives, efforts that are possible only through your generous gifts of support. …
Yearly Archives : 2016
Extending New York City Subway lines requires deep excavations in a congested urban environment while protecting adjacent facilities. The 100-foot-deep Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) No. 7 Line Station excavation, through soil and rock between West 34th and 35th Streets, was no exception. …
In Ground Improvement for Building Support by Damian R. Siebert, P.E. and Steven R. Kraemer, P.E. (STRUCTURE, July 2015), we learn more about issues surrounding the ground improvement (GI) for a building support system (stone columns, aggregate piers placed under reinforced concrete footing). It is an intermediate foundation system, i.e. the system between shallow spread footings and deep pile foundation systems. Although the system has been around in Europe since the 1930s and in the U.S. about a decade later, it remains mostly in the hands of the specialty contractor’s foundation engineers. …
…And How to Reduce Risk and Project Costs
In his December 2015 editorial, the president of the Structural Engineering Institute of ASCE, David Odeh, suggested that the increasing complexity of design necessitated that structural engineers interact more with people in other disciplines. While great innovation can come from a better interaction between structural and geotechnical engineers, there is also a potential for tremendous savings for clients. …
A New FRP Solution for Strengthening Concrete Telecommunication Towers
The wireless communications industry has experienced exponential growth in recent years. Not only is the number of customers increasing, but the amount of information being transmitted through these networks is also increasing. Whereas a decade ago we used our mobile phones strictly for voice transmission, the introduction of the smartphone has increased the demand on the networks and the supporting infrastructure. …
The National Council of Structural Engineers Associations (NCSEA) is pleased to announce the winners of the 2016 Excellence in Structural Engineering Awards. The top projects were announced on the evening of September 16th during the Awards Program at NCSEA’s Structural Engineering Summit in Orlando. Presented annually since 1998, awards highlight work from the best and brightest in our profession. …
Rising along the East River in Manhattan’s midtown is a brand new world-class hospital facility for one of New York’s major academic medical centers. This state-of-the-art hospital building is fully integrated into the adjacent medical campus. Accomplishing this required locating the unique 21-story building on a congested urban site with numerous physical constraints that posed significant challenges. …
For many structural engineers, the subject of fatigue analysis has been limited to a few simplified evaluations based on the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) Steel Construction Manual that says less than 2,000,000 cycles implies no problem. For concrete structures, the presumption of any fatigue loss was never even a design consideration in typical coursework or practice. …
A Contractors Use of BIM
It is no novelty that communication and visualization in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction industry are continuously evolving. With more challenging project types, owners requesting “the next best thing,” and digital tools and more sophisticated software advancement, it is our duty to stay current and relevant with the latest innovative trends and tools. …
Most structural engineers understand that they should perform their engineering services with no less than the skill customarily exercised by other structural engineers in similar circumstances. Most likely, their employer or a colleague told them so at some point in their early careers, or they overheard other engineers discussing the issue in the context of a legal action. …