Working on project in a very high seismic area, Ss = 1.863 and S1 = 0.866. When I run the ASCE equations, I get a Cs greater than 1, is this something that happens? I am just surprised that the acceleration is greater than "g". So just wondering if this is a real phenomena.
As a florida engineer remember hearing about the possibility of having the SE become a new credential at somepoint, but it didn't make it through the legislature. And now with this condo collaspe bringing so much attention to engineering, was wondering how this will impact the practice in the...
Working on a project that has four stories and part of the flooring area is steel grating and the balance of the area is concrete slab. The grated floor area contains vertical vessels that go pretty much the full height of the building. The client wants the grating around these vessels.
The...
Working on a project that is supporting some equipment on railroad ties, and I am having trouble with finding properties on them. I noticed at a few places that a modulus of rupture is specified, and not an allowable bending stress like I am used to. Would that MOR be used in lieu of allowable...
Reviewing some drawings and the detail specifically calls out 7/8" diameter holes to be used with 3/4" bolts. Since the bolt holes are not standard and is not oversized, would it have to be slip-critical? Or is it not even allowed per the code?
My firm is looking into doing some work in Canada (not sure which province) and I was asked to look into the engineer practice requirements in Canada. My firm is located in the US and I have never done any work before in Canada, so I have not much of an idea of where to start looking.
If any...
ASCE 7 says to treat fascia panels like an inverted parapet for an open structure if the slope is less than 5 deg. Is there a rule on how you would treat fascia panels if the roof slope was 10 deg?
Working on a project that is adding post-installed rebar into an existing foundation using epoxy. When the contractor was doing the drilling, he didn't get much resistance in the drill and suspected a void was present. They used a scope to check the holes and there were not any voids and the...
Working on a project where there is a small office building abutting a metal building warehouse, The office building is has all masonry exterior bearing walls. The some of the metal building columns are up against the masonry. How do you handle the drift of the metal building against the...
Working on a SCBF and trying to make sure that I have the column design correct. The Provisions specify that the column be designed for the overstrength cases presented in F2.3. The problem I am seeing is that the example in the Seismic Manual for SCBF only looks at the vertical component and...
Working on a SCBF and looking for a little guidance with the intersection of the bracing. Working on an X-braced configuration, and at the intersection of the braces one will be discontinuous. Trying to work out the details of the intersection, one is the thru-plate going the continuous brace...
Working on a project that uses special concentric braced frames, and trying to figure out a way to avoid putting a lateral brace at a beam that has chevron bracing coming into it. The provisions require that a brace be provided at a minimum where the braces intersect the beam, unless the beam...
Just wanted to get other engineers' perspectives about the availability and prevalence of mentorship in the engineering profession. I can only speak for myself, but it seems that it is slowly eroding. When I first started engineering, I never really was given an real direction or advice from a...
Working on calculating the modes for a building that is stepped with a low roof and a high roof. There is only one story difference between the low roof and the high roof. Modeling the building in RISA 3D and currently using the rigid diaphragm feature of the program for the flexible roof...
Working on a project that has a stepped elevation. Portion of the roof of the lower building piece is at the same elevation as the 2nd floor of the higher building piece. The roof diaphragm is just metal deck so assuming flexible, and the 2nd floor portion is concrete on metal deck with an...
Doing a review of some drawings and there is a note that requires that bracing connections be designed using the uniform force method. There are no details on the drawings showing how to configure the bracing connections, just the elevations showing the work points and forces on the members...
Working on a project overseas, and was told that they used the British standard in this location. I did a little research and saw that the Eurocode is the current one in force (not sure if this is correct). Is anyone familiar with those codes regarding steel and concrete design? Do they...
I have a large steel column resisting lateral loads as part of a fixed base moment frame. Due to site conditions I have to use one large diameter drilled shaft as the foundation. I gave the geotechnical engineer my loads at the base of the column to be imposed on the drilled shaft, and...
Just took a job with a big industrial firm in the structures department. My experience has mainly been with building design. I was told that there is very little involvement with architects, and that most of the work is platforms, racks, pipe and equipment supports and such. Also, that alot...
I am looking at the low-rise envelope method in ASCE 7-10, and I am confused about it. They changed the cases from longitudinal and transverse to Case A and Case B. Case A does not include any sidewall pressures and Case B does. It seems to me that Case A is nothing more than Case B without...
