Alan Kirkpatrick is a Principal with Kirkpatrick Forest Curtis, PC in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He co-chairs the NCSEA Licensure Committee and is a member of the ASCE/SEI Structural Engineering Licensure Rationale Research Committee and the Structural Engineering Licensure Coalition (SELC). He may be reached at akirkpatrick@kfcengr.com.
A recent internet meme titled “Trust Me, I’m An Engineer” shows a photo of a severely-damaged concrete column. To remedy gaping vertically-oriented cracks, someone wrapped the column with kitchen-grade cellophane. The caption reads, “Don’t worry; we’re safe – I fixed it.” …