Establishing Patterns of Building Failures
Establishing statistical patterns of building failures can help engineers and architects prevent similar failures in the future and also reduce litigation. The Architecture and Engineering...
Window Glass in Extreme Winds: Design for Flying Debris
Whether or not to change design procedures for window glass in buildings subject to very high winds was debated at the ASCE Convention in Houston. Preventing gravel and other debris from...
Civil Engineering Productivity�Can It Be Boosted?
In the past 20 years, construction labor productivity has declined while private business productivity has risen. And construction's percent of U.S. GNP has dropped nearly...
How to Strengthen Client-Consultant Relationships
Effective use of a professional consultant is often diminished by poor management-staff communication. Consultants, because of their previous experience, may be able to provide input to...
Assessing the Effects of Water Contamination
The threats to potable water are examined. An assessment of human ill effects of contaminated water requires a knowledge of the quality of water throughout the world and a corresponding...
High Rise Design: Accounting for Column Length Changes
In the late 1950's and early 1960's, the height of concrete buildings jumped from 20 to 60 stories. During the same period, architects introduced the use of exposed...
Organizational Implications for Financing Constructed Facilities
The ownership arrangements for constructed facilities not only can generate the capital for new facilities but also will influence the management of the construction and operation of these...
Fire Combustion Toxicity Tests�Good Idea or Not?
The smoke from burning synthetic materials in buildings is highly toxic and is a key cause of deaths in building fires. If fire codes regulate on the basis of the toxicity of smoke of...
Limited Field Inspection vs. Public Safety
The traditional role of the design engineer in providing field inspection services has been an important component of public safety in the construction industry. The various aspects of...
Building Failures�Construction Related Problems and Solutions
A leadership group of representatives from the fields of structural design, construction, building inspection, the law and insurance agreed that if five changes are made in the way building...
A Look at the New ACI Concrete Code
Building Code Requirements for Reinforced Concrete (ACI 318-83) is discussed in terms of three major changes: limitations on chlorides, especially in aggregates, that affect durability;...
Social and Environmental Objectives in Water Resources Planning and Management
The nation's goals for water programs and projects must be clearly understood by engineers. This report describes the process of identifying social, economic and environmental...
Tunnelling in Soil and Rock
The relationship between tunnel design and construction is covered with emphasis on case histories of field measurements and performance. A general report emphasizes the importance of...
Building Failures: Design Problems and Solutions
A Building Failures conference of the Engineering Foundation dissected the problems leading to failures and recommended ways to reduce failures. This article discusses value engineering,...
Help with Permits In One Stop
New Jersey State Government has developed a system which enables practicing engineers to identify and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements for a specific project. Publication...
Seismic Design of Airport Control Towers
The paper describes state-of-the-art design in seismically active areas. It includes a review of current code design parameters and specific tower design criteria. Tower design examples...
An Overview of Earthquake Design Requirements at Pacific Bell
Seismic design considerations for the telephone system including outside plant and telephone equipment are discussed with emphasis placed on the requirements incorporated in the design...
Dome
Roofed with the worlds largest diameter wood dome at 530 ft., the Tacoma Dome, a multi-purpose sports and convention center has helped revitalize a blighted part of that Washington state...
Energy Recovery
In Albany, N.Y. the state and city cooperated in designing and building a refuse-into-steam energy plant that has several unique features. In most such facilities, the entire plant is...
Coupled Vertical-Rocking Response of Base-Isolated Structures
A base-isolated building can have a small horizontal eccentricity between the center of mass of the superstructure and the center of rigidity of the supporting bearings. The structure...
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