Florida's Big Bellies
FPL designed and installed double reverse tapered poles, affectionately called big belly because the width gradually increases toward the middle and narrows at both ends. The poles replace...
Historic Downtown Dilemma (Available only in Structural Engineering special issue)
Many older commercial masonry buildings built of locally quarried stone or fired brick in downtown areas suffer from roof leaks. Because a studwall cavity often is located between the...
Turnback Project Moves Ahead
The $202 million Muni Metro Turnback (MMT) Project, scheduled for completion in September 1996, includes an 840 ft section consisting of twin steel-lined tunnels that connects to the Embarcadero...
Re-engineering Cowboy Heaven (Available only in
On a wooded hill overlooking the north end of Oklahoma City sits one of the foremost repositories of this country's Western heritage, the National Cowboy Hall of Fame. Contained...
Validation of the Simplified Audit Process at a Roofing Tar Paper Speciality Product Manufacturer -
The Simplified Audit Process (SAP) is presently tested in a roofing tar paper speciality product manufacturer in Joliette, Quebec. The steps involved in the process had helped the company...
The Timberlake Dam Failure: A Hydrometeorological Assessment
Extremely heavy rainfall over the Timberlake basin in southwest Virginia on 23 June 1995 caused an earthen dam to fail and resulted in fatalities. The meteorological conditions are examined...
Swimming in Style
The Deerfield Academy's new $10 million swimming and squash facility, built in the floodplain of a river, is a jewel-box created from glue-laminated timber, galvanized steel,...
Reinforced Glued Laminated Timber
In record time, reinforced glued laminated timber (glulam) has moved from an experimental product to wide-spread commercial acceptance. Several case studies illustrate applications and...
Marine Borers Are Back
Cleaning up the nation's harbors has brought a resurgence in marine borer activity. These organisms, mainly the teredo and the limnoria, eat at timber piers, undermining critical...
Guidelines for Evaluating Aging Penstocks
Wood Working
Engineers may be more accustomed to working with concrete and steel, but for certain projects aesthetics, cost or other considerations may make wood the preferred choice. According to...
Construction Congress
This proceedings,
The Winds of Change?
In 1992, Hurricanes Andrew and Iniki combined to generate an estimated $30 billion in damage. The storms also generated their share of reports and recommendations about how best to mitigate...
Load Duration Effects in an 85-Year-Old Timber Structure
Duration of load (DOL) effects are assessed in 85-year-old heavy timber trusses using five common DOL models. These models are based on the idea of static damage accumulation. Material...
Seismic Study of Historic Bridges in Eastern United States
The main objective of this paper is to study the Barrackville bridge and its response in resisting static and seismic loads. Since the design was based on controlled deflections, the analyses...
Harmonization of Reliability-Based Timber Engineering Codes and Standards
An overview of activities related to harmonization of reliability-based timber design codes and standards is presented. The overview is based on information generated through a NATO Advanced...
Use of Composite Timber-concrete Floors in Residential Buildings
Timber-concrete floors are widely used in the Gulf region for its resistance to hot and aggressive environment of the area. However, due to the fact that no shear connector is provided,...
The Canadian Approach in the Design of Wood Structures: Conversion to Limit States Design
During the early 70's, the National Building Code of Canada (NBCC) established the principle that structural design be carried out using the limit states design (LSD) method. The technical...
Evaluation of Wood Floor Vibration Design Criteria
In the United States, floors in wood buildings are designed according to strength and deflection criteria under static uniform loads. With the introduction of engineered joist products...
Strength Variability of Wood Formwork Members
Failure of concrete formwork is one of the main causes of concrete construction failures. Among the main causes of formwork failure is inadequate strength. Currently there is no published...
Return to search