I am having a few issues with the loose lintels on a building project. The architect is showing 6" metal studs + 5/8" sheathing + 2" Rigid Insulation + 1 1/2" air space + brick veneer. This means that the total distance from outside face of sheathing to outside face of brick is 7 1/8". This...
We are doing some minor modifications to this hollow corrugated concrete structural system. The corrugations are used as ducts... so at the center of each of the corrugations, there is a penetration in the supporting concrete beam.
I am advising a client who owns a multi-story office building with open parking levels on lower floors. Above the uppermost parking level there is a drop ceiling concealing the HVAC/plumbing/etc services for the office floor above. The ceiling system must have never been designed to support the...
I am working on an elevated floor system for a new puplic high school. This area has the school's science labs, computer labs, math classrooms, and a broadcasting/video editing suite.
The math classrooms are standard classrooms, but the science and computer labs are roughly twice the size...
Does anyone have any words of wisdom regarding a parking deck topping (2-4" thick) mixture design? The structure is a typical pre-cast parking deck with double tees.
Thank you in advance for your time and help.
I have a general question:
Are there any guidelines or rules of thumb recommending building structural expansion joints in large 1-2 story steel framed buildings? I realize that for large buildings the fire wall location requirements would partially control.
I have checked AISC's design guide...
I need a bit of help with a code interpretation of the following NDS equation for long-term deflection:
Total deflection = (creep factor)(immediate deflection due to long term loads) + (immediate deflection due to short term or normal loads).
The second term is what I am having trouble with. I...
I have been reading AISC's design guide 11 on floor vibrations. I need to stiffen an existing bar joist floor for a future loading with vibration. (The existing floor is okay for stress and deflection under the new load.)
From my reading, it seems as if a 'queen post' configuration on the...
I am doing an addition/renovation project on a 1963 building. I am just daydreaming here... but it wouldn't be great if:
I could take a scanned image of the original drawings...
pull up the negative of it...
adjust the color and contrast to gray scale...
erase some extra information...
I am trying to nail down a capacity for existing floor system that the architect wants to use for an alternate loading condition. I am looking for total and live load capacities for the following J series joists:
14J5's spanning a maximum of 20'-7"
14J4's spanning a maximum of 18'-2 1/2" +...
I have read previous posts on this topic. I am making a new post b/c I have a different situation.
The project is a group of 8 seperate buildings. The buildings are as close as 19'... connected by light frame covered corridors.
The architect has been told that the end walls of some of these...
I am working on the design of a complicated exposed steel stair with HSS stringers. I recall seeing, downloading, and printing an 'architectural welding' guide specification. It may have been called something else, but it essentially specified that the welds be ground smooth. It was a long...
I took the structural I PE exam in October and did not pass. Although I feel like I was fairly prepared I was overwhelmed with the time factor. I felt as if I needed a different code book or text book for each problem. Texts where flying everywhere! I also felt like the exam writers seemed to...
Recently I was drilled by an architect because our firm's shop drawing stamp did not have an option for "Approved". Our options are: "Reviewed - Exceptions Noted" and "Reviewed - Resubmitt". I do understand why we use the word "Reviewed" instead of "Approved", but this was the first time I was...
I am currently registered to take the Structural I exam in October. The NCEES outline says bridge related questions are 20% of the test. At my firm, we do not participate in any work related to vehicular bridge design. I do not have any experience in this field and I am not expecting to get a...
