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Bridges to Buildings

Bridges to Buildings

Bridges to Buildings

(OP)
Has anyone on here made the switch from being a Highway Structures (ie Bridges) Engineer to a Building Structures Engineer?
It's something I'm considering at the moment, and wanted to get an idea of the differences between the two and how easy it is to switch.
I have about 5 years post-graduation experiance in Bridges so would I be looking at a big pay cut if I switched?
From what I've heard think happen a lot quicker in building structuresand there is a bit less emphasis placed on thourough analysis and more on 'off the shelf' design. Is this the case?

Thanks

RE: Bridges to Buildings

I started out in buildings, changed to a new firm that required me to design both buildings and bridges.  I then got out of the bridges and went back to 100% buildings.  

My take on it is that you can certainly do it - but it really would help if you had a good mentor to work under to help with the transition.

It will also take some effort on your part - self-study of bulding codes, etc.

Here's my summary of bridges vs. buildings:

Bridges:
   Longer design periods
   Clients are usually other engineers (DOT offices)
   Precise design calculations
   Get a cup of coffee and slowly plow through the design
        for a month or two
   Repetitious design methods (bridges are essentially
         beams on columns
   Use of lots of standard DOT details
   AASHTO LRFD is considered by some to be a sort of plague
         on engineers
   Not as much opportunity to see the construction as the
         DOT's many times take on that aspect.
   Lots of geometry issues with curved bridges, etc.
   Projects tend to follow direct design processes and a
         logical flow of work
   Work load dependent upon State and Federal funding - in
         recent years DOT's have limited consultant projects

Buildings
   Shorter design periods
   Working with architects who can be non-logical,
         flamboyant and unpredictable
   Clients change their minds on design features - work
         is many times done more than once due to changes
   Lots of chaos and uncertainty
   Projects tend to NOT follow direct design processes and
         are many times not logical in the flow of work.
   No standards - design is many times what your own
         experience tells you.
   Huge variety in building oriented projects.
   Opportunities to see the construction close-up with
         construction admin services
   Work load dependent upon the economy and your own ability
         to market

RE: Bridges to Buildings

Hey RME,
From an HVAC guy, when you come to buildings, please make sure your beams are not the same depth as the bridges.

RE: Bridges to Buildings

LOL!

so no like 4' deep girders framing in a unit?

RE: Bridges to Buildings

(OP)
Ha ha

swivel63, I'm in the UK so I won't design a 4' anything. We've got something called a 'metric system' ;)

RE: Bridges to Buildings

RME1, that reminds me of a film:

Quote (Pulp Fiction):

VINCENT: Well, in Amsterdam, you can buy beer in a movie theatre. And I don't mean in a paper cup either. They give you a glass of beer, like in a bar. In Paris, you can buy beer at MacDonald's. Also, you know what they call a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in Paris?

JULES: They don't call it a Quarter Pounder with Cheese?

VINCENT: No, they got the metric system there, they wouldn't know what the f**k a Quarter Pounder is.

JULES: What'd they call it?

VINCENT: Royale with Cheese.


RE: Bridges to Buildings

(OP)
Do they actually call it a Royale in France? It's still a quarter pounder in England.

Apparently they're going to stop selling beer in pints over here as well, so that we're in line with the rest of Europe.

Anyway, I feel we've digressed...

I might just jack bridges in and be a team leader at MacDonalds

RE: Bridges to Buildings

RME1,

Stop selling pints! It was laid down in the magna carta.

Anyway, my first boss in Australia started off designing roads for the state government, eventually convinced them to put him in their bridge design department, when I met him he was in charge of a 15 person company specialising in structural design.

Your skills are very transferrable, dont let them talk your salary down. Explain that you are keen and are happy to do the necessary study in your own time to bring you up to speed in masonry,composite,timber e.t.c. that you havent done before. Your university notes are a good start even if the code references are a bit outdated.

Before you go for an interview, try to do some research on the type of buildings that the company designs. This will help you portray an image that you are aware of the issues even if you dont have particular experience.


Good luck

csd

RE: Bridges to Buildings

Hello RME1

I dont think you will have any problem making this transition.

Your existing code knowledge of BS5400 is similar to the primary building structure codes (BS 8110 & BS 5950) so you are already half way there. You may need to put in some time to learns other codes, the primary ones being BS 5628, BS 5268.  If you waited a few years the Eurocodes will be upon us so no problem then !!

I wouldn't contemplate taking a pay cut to secure a job - there is a chronic skils shortage in the building structures field, and my guess is you would have a few offers within a short period of hawking your CV around a few places.

JAE offered some good advice on the practical day-to-day differences in his post above.

You didn't mention in your previous post whether you have yet achived Chartered status - this would definately be a string to your bow as Chartered Engineeres in the job market are rare.

I would have to disagree with your statement the the analysis of building structures is 'simple'-with the variation in building shapes and sizes, and unusual span arrangements required by Architects these days, I would have thought that the analysis of buildings has more scope for complexity.

Good luck.

RE: Bridges to Buildings

(OP)
Thanks for your response Valleyboy. First of all, let me clear up that I wasn't being derogatory about buildings by suggesting that designs were simpler. What I meant was that from speaking to engineers that have done both there is a lot more emphasis on programme in the buildings sector. With this in mind it is not always economical to spend a couple of weeks refining a design, when a quick rule of thumb calc would be adequate.
In bridges, programme is generally not such a big issue so we are free to optimise the design as far as we can.
2 weeks dely on a building generally costs more than 2 weeks dely on a bridge (unless men are stood waiting on site).
Not sure if I need the extra stress of much tighter deadlines, but as I work for a big company and might try to get a secondment to the buildings department to give it a go. I can always go back to drinking coffe all day if I don't like it then!
Thanks for all replies

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