It’s all Part of the Job – Site Visits
WRK Engineers, Spencer Straub and Jared Fischer, discuss design details during a recent site visit.
A field trip to a construction site
VANCOUVER, Washington August 6, 2015. We at WRK Engineers are pleased to announce our new blog series, “It’s all part of the job,” which will document and explain various aspects of working as a structural engineer.
The definition of a structural engineer from the UC San Diego, Jacob School of Engineering is “an engineer dealing with the analysis and design of structures that support or resist loads. Most often structural engineers are involved in the design of buildings and structures(non-building structures) such as bridges, monuments, power transmission towers, and so on. A key component of a structural engineer’s job is ensuring that designs satisfy given design criteria, predicated on safety (i.e. structures must not collapse without due warning) or serviceability and performance (i.e. building sway must not cause discomfort to the occupants).”
Structural engineers who focus on building design are responsible for evaluating schematics and ensuring that the structure meets the applicable building code requirements for structural safety, is safe for occupancy, and is constructed according to acceptable practices. The daily tasks of a building structural engineer are divided between site visits and design review.
During a site visit, the structural engineer observes the foundation, bearing walls, beams, columns and joists to ensure compliance with specifications. Through careful observation the engineer can ensure that the actual building meets the drawings provided and that any necessary corrections are made. The engineer is called in to observe at specific stages of project completion, and official approval is often required before the next stage of development can begin. Observations often happen right before the foundation is poured, and once or twice during the framing stage.
This week Project Engineer, Jared Fischer, and Designer, Spencer Straub, made a site visit to a 3 story-30 unit public housing project in downtown Vancouver to observe construction progress. During this visit the engineers walked each floor(including the roof) of the structure with the Project Superintendent to examine anchors, bracing, and construction methods to make sure everything matched the plans. Normally our engineers note any issues they see and then inform the builder using a detailed Observation Report, but after some discussion and clarification with the superintendent WRK Engineers deemed everything to be moving in the right direction and a formal report was not necessary.
Public housing project in downtown Vancouver, Washington.