Structures Congress Honors Fazlur Khan
Speakers at a session of the 1983 ASCE Structures Congress paid tribute to the late Fazlur R. Kahn by describing his work in developing structural systems for highrise buildings that were...
Underground Building Reclaims a Landfill
Oregon's Multnomah County built a road and maintenance facility underground to begin reclaiming an old landfill site. More than 600 precast concrete components make up the...
Redecking with Precast Keeps Traffic Moving
The Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge in Washington, D.C. could not be closed to traffic while a new deck was constructed. The engineers designed a precast prestressed and post-tensioned...
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...
Surveying's New Promise: Centimeters from Space
One centimeter accuracy at far less cost than surveying by traditional methods is promised by the Global Positioning System (GPS). Signals from NAVSTAR satellites are received by two or...
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...
Civil Engineering: At the Center of Technology for Tomorrow
Between now and the year 2000 civil engineers have the opportunity, perhaps more than any other profession, to help create the monuments of our civilization. This will involve projects...
Can Management Techniques Solve Pavement Woes?
Cities are increasingly turning to systematic procedures for allocating scare manpower and funds and measuring pavement repair and rehabilitation needs. Many cities have adopted pavement...
Experiences with Micros in Project Controls
The experience of one and one-half years of microcomputer use in project controls is related, with the intent of helping the system buyer anticipate useful applications, and suggesting...
Construction Estimating Decision Support Systems
A discussion of important considerations in the development of a computerized Decision Support System (DSS) is presented. These considerations include general hardware and software issues...
Automated Control and Robotics for Construction
This paper addresses the potential for automated process control and robotics for remote, large-scale field operations such as those on construction engineering projects. Combining selected...
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...
Managing Overhead in Consulting Engineering Firms
One of the ways an engineering firm can maintain - or increase - profitability is through judicious management of overhead. Yet various industry studies suggest that the typical engineering...
Establishing a Computerized Accounting System in a Consulting Firm
If it has been determined that there is a need for a computer, the next step is to determine the software programming needs. The two distinct options in software are 'packaged'...
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...
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;...
Managing Finances
Managing finances is becoming increasingly complex for the engineering manager. How the engineering manager assesses the impacts of an individual's attitude can have a pronounced...
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