Pedestrian Bridge 12

[medeek]

Technically I'm not suppposed to engineer this bridge. They will be replacing the main members and deck exactly as they are currently constructed so as to avoid having to bring it up to code:

My responsibility on the project is to simply document the process, draw an as built of the bridge and provide a scope of work (what members are being replaced etc...) The pilings were inspected and approved by some state agency and were deemed acceptable so those will remain.

In the process of replacing the main members the owner would like to do some minor upgrades:

1.) Provide strapping to secure PT glulam beams to pier system directly below.

2.) Provide strapping between abutting PT glulam beams for continuity and so beams have less chance of "walking" off of their bearing points. This pedestrian bridge services the golf course as well as pedestrian traffic so vibration from vehicles (albeit small) is something to consider.

3.) Provide some form of anchorage between the abutments (concrete) and the end terminal beams. Currently they are just bearing on a concrete ledger without any securing mechanism, see image below:

A confused student is a good student.
Nathaniel P. Wilkerson, PE

http://www.medeek.com

 

[Teguci]

My coursework and testing were structural but I've done mechanical design. The engineering boards, save the SE focus, have been very careful not to require and limit an engineer to a specific focus based on testing. Education and/or experience will substantiate qualification in another specific focus. Always reminds me of Eiffel who started as structural but moved into aerodynamics.

The big question, of course, is how much education/experience is enough. The answer is, that if something goes wrong, you didn't get enough.

 

[KootK]

For structural engineers, I suspect that a targeted mechanical bachelor's degree would actually be better than a civil bachelor's degree. In nechanical, I could have had more coursework in FEM, dynamics, vibration, fatigue, corrosion, etc. The only things missing would have been material specific design classes. And those tend to be laughably cursory compared to practice in the workplace. If I had it to do over, I think that I'd have done a mechanical undergrad and a structural masters.

I like to debate structural engineering theory -- a lot. If I challenge you on something, know that I'm doing so because I respect your opinion enough to either change it or adopt it.

 

[Archie264]

Kootk,

If that's the case then it's a sad commentary on the current state of civil engineering programs. But perhaps it's true. I've spoken to recent graduates who say that their departments have been overtaken by the environmental movement. They are now required to take so many environmental courses that actual design courses have been relegated to being electives only. It makes a mockery of the program and does a disservice to all. It used to be that a bachelor's degree in civil engineering was practical and sufficient to launch a young engineer into a design career, if he chose to pursue such. Less so now, from what I'm hearing.

 

[medeek]

I've never exactly understood what an environmental engineer does. Unfortunately the term "engineer" gets used for a lot of occupations where it probably should not.

A confused student is a good student.
Nathaniel P. Wilkerson, PE

http://www.medeek.com

 

[tempeng]

I've never exactly understood what an environmental engineer does. Unfortunately the term "engineer" gets used for a lot of occupations where it probably should not.

Environmental engineers deal with things like waste management (both human and industrial) and impact on local ecosystems from new builds and all that kind of jazz. They do need an engineering qualification, usually a BEng or BSc, to do the job. I don't think this is a new thing, it's just another speciality that the civil engineers of old used to deal with save for the ecosystems stuff. I don't think anyone really gave that a thought back in those days.

 

[Lomarandil]

Exactly, my wife is an environmental engineer. Years ago, she would have just been a civil engineer focused in the water specialties (hydrology, wastewater, etc) instead of focusing in structural or geotechnical. (Although now that it's become a standalone discipline, waste and air pollution are more integrated).

 

[hokie66]

When I went to school, the civil engineers who did this were called "sanitary engineers". I think environmental sounds better.

 

[tempeng]

"sanitary engineers"

That sounds like the kind of name bin men come up with to sound more important.

 

[BUGGAR]

Are we LEEDing yet?