In earlier times, when computers were neither available or essential, one objective of the structural design process was to discover a computational method which was elegant, simple, and appropriately accurate. When such a process was identified, it was recorded as an expedient approach to solving a recurring structural design problem. Thus, quick “Rules of Thumb” became essential resources for the structural engineer. As computer software has proliferated, become more comprehensive, and been made very user friendly, the importance of Rules of Thumb and approximate methods has been diminished. It has been argued that, with computational speed and ease of application of computer methods, the need for approximations and Rules of Thumb no longer exists. However, equally imposing arguments can be made for the value of these quick approaches, such as: …