In any rapidly-changing technology, there are sometimes branches off the main stream that are critically important, highly developed, and short-lived. People work very hard to perfect something that they need, only to have it replaced by something better a few years later. Structural engineering is not now changing rapidly, but 125 years ago it was. …
I discussed inverted-arch foundations a while back and wanted to briefly return to the topic with this picture. That’s a beautiful example of an inverted arch, carrying the load from two piers in a church apse. The most important thing about it is that it has performed its job properly for over one hundred years. …
For a long time, the standard in New York for excavating foundation pits for new-building construction has been sheeting and shoring. The pit is dug out, by hand or by machine, vertical piles installed at the perimeter and braced with diagonal rakers, and wood plank run between the piles to retain the adjacent earth. It’s …
Every once in a while during design, I remind myself of what various types of structural member do, as a way of thinking about what I need done. For example, the simplest definition of a “beam” that I can come up with is “a linear structure that carries load at right angles to its long …
